Oi Brace Face... Wheres your Brace?

So today was D-Day... Dentist Day and the first day I can smile with confidence.


I got to the orthodontist a little early as I was excited to get my braces off. I was quoted 18-24 months and its only been 14 so I am really pleased.

For the last few visits Ive had the bar bent and put back in to move one or two teeth slightly until the orthodontist was happy with them. The gap has filled in, and this has been helped along by overties. Its like fishing wire thats wound round the brackets and twisted tighter, along with  power chains which are little elastic bands that are joined together.

Then I had to decide whether or not to have the fixed retainer or not, I spoke to a lot of people, its surprising the amount of people who have them, and the orthodontist has guaranteed it for a year, if anything goes wrong its free to fix. So I went with them and had the mould taken for the wire on my last visit four weeks ago.

Today the first Job was to attach the fixed retainer behind the top and bottom teeth. this was done while my Damon All Clear Brace was still in place. It feels a little odd essentially its a metal bar glued to the back of your front teeth and its feels like the brackets and bar thats on the front, I am sure you just get used to it.

Next came the removal of the Damon system. this took a while and was a little painful at times when the brace was tightly bonded on and the tooth a little sensitive to being bitten down on. but I survived! The teeth were then cleaned and polished and the big reveal was nigh.


I am so Happy!!!! I am no longer a girl in her Thirties with a brace! (well one you can see!) I can smile!


They are straight... The overbite is reduced to a normal gap and the bottom teeth are amazing!

Last of all I had the moulds taken for the Vivera retainers from Invisalign. I collect these in a couple of weeks and start the teeth whitening process.

I have this man to thank. http://www.kissdental.co.uk/manchester-cosmetic-dentist-brahma.html

Promising Progress

So I've had the Damon clear brace on a for nearly a year. They have moved so much it's unbelievable.

Every 4-6 weeks I visit the Dentist and have something added or changed and I think I am nearing the end of the treatment.

I am not going to lie it hurts. Not as bad as the Old NHS metal train tracks I had 20 years ago, but still it hurts. It rubs less on your gums and so I have not needed the dental wax and is defiantly less noticeable. It is a consistent pain though. Your teeth are constantly moving and this is what aches, eating food is a pain as there is only so much soft food out there! I can't wait for a blue steak with stilton sauces and new potatoes and asparagus!

Bottom jaw now straight

Within three months my bottom teeth had straighten, a feat that my previous dentist had given up on and said couldn't be done! I wish I could show him now! His incompetence and unwillingness to try has cost me a lot of money and a lot of my life being unconfident about my smile.

Soon the only thing I will have to worry about in pictures is whether my eyes are open or not!

Power chain fitted

I think the last thing left is to level the teeth which the dentist said he was going to start to do on the bottom next visit, and now that the gaps are filled on the top to spread the arc of the teeth wider so that my bite is aligned, currently if I bite together on the left side my teeth on the right side don't connect and visa versa, which makes chewing food difficult.

Christmas dinner

I did lose weight over Christmas which is amazing as everyone usually puts on a few pounds! Having a brace has its advantages sometimes! You have to get used to all your food looking like a brown runny poo, and choking like a cat if a piece of spinach leaf hasn't blended properly, and it gets stuck on your brace and half gets swallowed leaving it stuck down you throat, you look like a cat coughing up a hairball as you fish it out our mouth and then sit there in shock that you survived the ordeal. I have lived off soup and pasta  dishes for nearly a year, being able to bite a biscuit without it first being dipped in tea will be heaven!

I've been really happy with how quick everything has progressed with this Damon Clear Brace system. Friends can't believe how different my teeth look and some people ask if I still have the brace on as they can't even see it.

Fixed Brace behind the teeth

I still haven't yet decided what to do at the end of the treatment regarding a fixed brace to the back of the teeth to keep them there, or just the night time Invisalign trays. I had these a few years back and while I wore them constantly during the treatment I didn't keep it up once they had moved to where the needed to be. I get the Invisalign trays anyway as part of my treatment as they also double as teeth whitening trays, but will I wear them at night after a few months? Its an extra £400 for the fixed brace to be added at the back of the teeth so no one sees them, but I have asked a few people with them and they have had them break, do I have time to make emergency deal trips to have it fixed? the hygienist I visit also isn't a fan, as it makes flossing and cleaning more difficult. But I still have time to decide on this so will keep asking peoples opinions.

Mush and Slush

So I've had my braces for three months now. In that time I have had three new bars on the top teeth and two on the bottom.

frozen summer berries, Lemon yoghurt,
Pineapple chunks,  mango juice.

Blending with a hand blender

Unlike the braces of old NHS style, you don't get the one week of pain as they are tightened then once they have moved into place, a few weeks of normal life till you go back to have them tightened again, these are constantly moving. This is good because its quicker, and I could see results in a few weeks, with my bottom teeth moving into an arch, but also bad as the pain is annoying and makes everyday life difficult.

Eating out is difficult you see lots of stuff you want to eat on the menu but are reduced to ordering the softest, mushiest thing you think you can macerate with your tongue, as chewing is impossible with the shooting pains of various teeth through your jaw being unbearable.

Homemade Chicken Curry Blended

With work we are currently stuck on a country estate with no nearby shops so catering is put on, this means I have had to take a hand blender with me to work in order to reduce the lunch to a baby food consistency.

Icecream is great it cool all the swelling down and stops the pain for a little bit. When I say pain its not a really bad pain its more of a constant dull ache, only biting or chewing causes shooting pains so soft mush is all you can really eat.

Eating at home is really easy, much like a mother you can prepare the food for everyone then blend yours to a palatable consistency.

Before Damon Clear Braces

After 3 Months

The elastics that are connecting my top and bottom jaw regularly snap at the most inconvenient times. usually when  I have a mouth full of food or in the middle of the woods when I have mud all over my hands from moving cables. So the emergency pencil case that the dentist gave me has been added to and you have to take it everywhere. It now contains, spare elastic bands, toothpaste and brush, mouth wash, mirror and hand wipes.

At the last appointment I had more brackets added to my back teeth, these rub a bit on my cheek and often get court, so I'm left with sore cheeks and sometimes the taste of blood in my mouth, where they have cut the cheek lining. I
can see that the top tooth that the elastic is attached to is starting to move backwards to fill the gap from the premolar removal, but have another appointment in a few weeks so will hopefully have an update then.

A lot of people didn't even know I had Braces till I pointed it out so that great.

The Fitting.

So two days after the last lot of extractions and I am back in the dentists chair. This time its the original orthodontist that I saw. He checks the extraction areas and then gets ready to fit my Damon Clear brace. He informs me that in some cases if patients have to travel from London or further then you can have your brace fitted an hour after you've had your teeth out if needed.

First of all a latex round tube was put in mouth to isolate my teeth from my cheeks, this makes the process of bonding the brackets to my teeth quicker as it keeps the teeth from getting wet from saliva.

Each tooth was acid etched in order for the glue to have a surface to bond too. Then the bracket was dabbed with glue and placed on the tooth. The dental assistant held a blue light over the bracket for a few seconds to harden the glue and that was that, all stuck.

After all the brackets were attached the wire was measured and snipped and then clipped into the brackets. There was a slight discomfort during this on my bottom teeth, as the wire had to be bent and twisted to follow the pattern of my twisted teeth. But it was nowhere near as bad as the brace pain i had as a child!

Damon Clear Braces with elastics

As well as the brace I need to use elastic bands to help pull the teeth around. so before I left the dentist I had to prove I could put them in. I am on the dolphin set at the moment these are not all that strong and the dentist said the next time I would be on stronger ones to really pull stuff into place.  The Dolphins are 7.9mm of medium 4.5oz, and attach to the top tooth number 3 next to the gap and bottom number 6 the molar.

Damon Clear Braces

And now its a diet of soft food and constant teeth cleaning, which is difficult when you have work which provides you with a meal, and you want to eat out with your friends. For the first few days I had pain in my bottom jaw but this was the same pain I had had from the wisdom tooth extraction on the opposite side, and not really from the brace. The elastic bands also caused some pain when i was trying to sleep and I kept waking up after biting my tongue. this is because the jaws are now clamped together  and so I took them off at night for a few days just so I could get some sleep.

Elastic pulling teeth back to fill gap.

Now the pain from the tooth extraction is gone but the teeth are still a little sensitive and I can't bite or chew. I have lived off soup and porridge for a few days but its starting to get very boring. I am craving biting into a nice piece of cheese or a steak and chocolate would be great right now.

Losing your Wisdom

So I went to the dentist expecting to have my bottom two wisdom teeth out in the first instance followed by the top SXLA 4's out at a later date.

I saw a different dentist for the extractions but he made me feel at ease and had a look in my mouth. I was quite nervous having heard horror stories from my friends about having your wisdom teeth out.

 The dentist explained that he couldn't remove both lower wisdom teeth in the same appointment as due to the local anaesthetic you could choke on your tongue! But we could keep the treatment plan to two visits by combining the extractions of the top and bottom on each side.

Right Hand side Extractions 

So he injected my mouth with the anaesthetic which tasted a little metallic or oniony as the top was starting to numb, I went off to the X-ray room to have an X-ray, in order for the dentist to double check he could remove the bottom wisdom tooth without any issues.

Back in the chair I was ready for my first ever tooth extraction, the dentist pushed up and wiggled the tooth to make it loose then pulled it out. I could only feel a weird pulling sensation not a yank or anything and no pain but I could tell something was happening.

After the top one was removed he went off to check the X-ray and I had a giggle with the nurses who where chatting about what to have for lunch. I pointed out I only had soup to look forward too!! The dentist came back and said the X-ray was good no bone over the  wisdom tooth just gum so we could get it whipped out too.

Wisdom tooth and SXLA4 in a little box

Tooth Extraction Pliers

This one was a bit of a fight and as they kept diving into my mouth with different pliers and clamps I decided to close my eyes it all seemed better if I couldn't tell what was happening. after about a minute it was out and i was sent off with my teeth in a little box and a little care pack with instructions for after care and some padding if it kept bleeding. All in all I was in the room a total of 32 minutes in which time I'd had two teeth numbed and removed and my jaw X-rayed.

I didn't need the padding as it didn't bleed at all. As I was driven home I took an Ibuprofen and the pain went away. I sent a picture of my face to my friend and they replied saying its wasn't as swollen as they thought it would be. So all good. I couldn't book in to have the other side done for three weeks so I had plenty of time for this side to recover.

For 24 hours you cant rinse your mouth, so I had some yoghurt and went to bed. I took painkillers every 4 hours and it mostly kept the pain at bay.

After a day I could rinse my mouth with salt water which was a welcome as there was a horrible metallic taste in my mouth. I brushed my teeth as normal and rinsed with salt water a few times a day and it all healed nicely. The top extraction presented no pain at all. The Wisdom tooth area didn't really hurt but further down the jaw bone was where the pain was the most. I think this was because all the teeth where now relaxing after being crushed by the wisdom tooth trying to push its way through.

Tooth Fairy

After a week and a half it was completely fine and no pain.

A couple of weeks later I was back in the chair for the same again on the left hand side. This time i wasn't too worried and didn't I take my teeth home. I found out the tooth fairy doesn't visit you when your and adult. Which is a shame, I thought I'd get a good price on a wisdom tooth and could put it towards the cost of the brace! I was in the Room a total of 16 minutes this time, thats local anaesthetic and more two teeth removed.

Due to a cancellation I was booked in for the brace to be fixed on in two days time, so no room for a few weeks recovery this time.

The Treatment Plan......

What you gonna do about it?

Well three plans were drawn up by the orthodontist and his assistant. I just had to choose which one.

Plan A; Surgery to brake my jaw pull it forward and cure the overbite. Then a brace.  X

Plan B; Remove some teeth and have a brace for the next 2 years.   ✓

Plan C; Do nothing X 

Plan B it is at a total cost of £4305. Not cheap when I had braces on the NHS as a teenager.

Wonky front tooth

mangled mess of my bottom teeth

The lower metal train track I had kept popping off, and the dentist at the time didn't seem all that bothered by the mangled mess my bottom teeth were left like. This was caused by severe overcrowding in my small lower jaw. The top were left vaguely straight but with a wonky front tooth. With the pushing through of my wisdom teeth in my twenties my over-jet was pushed further out.

Overbite 11mm

So the treatment plan of my new orthodontist is hopefully going to resolve all this. It involves at least 12 visits to the dentist in the next 2 years but maybe quicker depending on how I get on with the new brace. I'm opting for Damon clear braces. As an adult its rubbish enough having to have braces so this system is clear and will hopefully reduce the noticeability of having to have train tracks again.

The options 

To cure the overbite i am having the SXLA4 removed on each side at the top and my teeth pulled back with the brace to fill the gap. if you have a large overbite and the dentist says to take some teeth out, have it done!

Face profile with overbite 11mm

On the bottom I'm having my SSXL8 (wisdom tooth) removed on both sides as I have so much overcrowding, and then the brace to spread the arch and straighten then up.

So. my first appointment is next week to have the wisdom teeth removed. I have never had any teeth out before so I am dreading it. But its the start of the journey.....

Oi Smile it might never happen......

Oi Smile it might never happen......

I hear this all the time, its very boring. I cant smile! I have two looks if I try too.

Smile 1

The Duckface

=

Smile 2

The Rabbitface

=

So you can see these teeth need correcting so I can smile like a normal person. 

I had my yearly check up with the dentist and after complaining about the pain in my jaw from my wisdom teeth trying to push through into an already crowded lower jaw he suggested I saw the orthodontist.

So a few weeks later I was back for my smile makeover consultation, where a treatment plan and estimate were put together, in order for me to achieve a semi decent smile. These guys cant work miracles so you have to be realistic, but anything is going to be better than the duck/rabbit combo!

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