NWR: Orthodontic work.....= Great Diet

tigger9922

I had looked into having Invisalign a few months back, and decided to go with traditional braces because that's what the best orthodontist recommends.  I had all my records taken yesterday and they put in these spacers.....OMG!  If these little things hurt this much, I can't imagine how much pain I'll be in when the actual braces go on.  Mouth pain is the worst!  Nothing I take will even touch it and I don't want to bite down on anything.  I had a chocolate shake for lunch....so on the plus side, I'm sure I'll be able to lose some weight through all this. lol.  

Nebb

Yeah your head is going to hurt every time you have to get wires changed, tightened or anything fiddled with.

Brie2010

I had braces for all of college, unfortunately.  It hurts for a day or two, but goes away.  Pretty soon you won't notice anything. 

Smoothies and soup and ice cream are all good.

opalsky007

Sorry you're sore. Braces are one thing I never had to deal with.

Are you allowed to take anything to dull the pain?

goheels05

They gave you spacers?  Wow, I didn't think they used those torture devices anymore!

I have braces, too.  One year down, one to go, so we can compare notes. 

The day I got my braces on, my whole mouth was sore for days, but each time I've gotten my braces tightened, the pain has been less severe and lasted shorter amounts of time.  The time before last, I didn't have any pain at all.  Last month, though, I had a wire poking me and tried to bend it myself, and ended up breaking off my back bracket.  I was so embarrassed!  But anyway, I had jacked up the wire so bad that they had to take it out and put a new one in, and that hurt like a biotch.  My mouth was so sore.  I was thinking "please don't cry in front of the little kids . . . be brave for the little kids. . . "  it was sad! 

And sad to say, I've not lost any weight.  The milkshake diet did nothing for me. 

tigger9922

yeah, I get cluster migraines anyhow, so this is just making that worse.  They told me to take tylenol or advil for the pain, but it does nothing.  I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I remember taking everything I  could get my hands on and nothing worked.  So I guess I will just have to sleep a lot and not eat anything solid until the pain subsides.  Ho-hum!  Really wishing I had done this when I was younger....

Nebb

Do they still use retainers and elastics and stuff like that when you wear braces? I never wore either that I was told to and my teeth ended up fine and I was always commended on how great my progress was going. I think its just a money grab.

nda_roxybabe

The day I got my braces on I wanted to take a plier to them and rib them off. Instead I trashed my bedroom (I was 11, it was the next best thing).
Why cant I remember what spacers are?

raynes

Ugh, I had braces for 5 years, and truly, nothing can compare to mouth pain.  I usually had my adjustment apointment in the evening, so I'd make sure to eat first, and then I'd maybe have to resort to oatmeal or V8 for breakfast the next day, but after that it was usually alright.

After they took off my braces I got a permanent retainer.  That thing is the hugest PITA.  I finally convinved them to take off the bottom one, since it just kept breaking.

FutureMrsTR

Yeah, I had braces for a year and a half back in fifth/sixth grade.  They also coincided with my super short haircut and giagantic glasses.  Not a good look, btw.  Anyway, like pp said you'll be sore for a few days every time they tighten them.  I recommend mashed potatoes because they're more filling than soup, but still soft.  I do NOT recommend biting down on Tootsie Pops.  Trust me.

I never wore my retainer afterwards either and my teeth are fine.

laurenclaire1386

Braces were pure misery for me the entire four years I had them. I used to have really long hair, almost to my waist. I went in for an ortho visit once, and they had to replace a bracket. The dumbwhore of a dental assistant dropped a glob of that industrial strength tooth glue into my hair. I had to cut a 10 inch chunk out of my hair because the glue was at the root.

Nebb

I got stuck with wires on the back of my teeth (since grade 9) to keep my teeth from moving since my braces were taken off. One of the teeth became detatched from the wire at some point and its noticably crooked. I had it reattached but I hate how it looks now.

MeaghanandMichael

I want braces big time. Mike thinks it is a waste of money. Boohoo.

laurenclaire1386

Oh yeah Nebb, I've got a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth. It hasn't given me any problems since I got my braces off about six years ago, thank god. It does kind of weird me out though that that wire will be on the back of my teeth for possibly forever.

Nebb

It makes eating apples a bitch to have the wires on, but id rather have to pick stuff out of my teeth than have them go crooked again. I have them on the top and bottom so its a real pain in the ass. I dont even know what the normal backs of my teeth feel like, its been so long, 13 years.

nda_roxybabe

I wish they would have given me a permanent retainer. My bottom teeth are all crooked again and the top ones have bucked out (I'm ok with that though-not super noticeable).

laurenclaire1386

I had to have 8 teeth pulled when they put the braces on and now if I don't wear my retainer (yup I'm 23 and I sleep in my retainer and have done so since I got my braces off) my front teeth get this little gap in them. I guess because I have extra room after they pulled the teeth. FI makes fun of my retainer every.single.night.

Nebb

Gah that sucks I had 4 permanent teeth pulled when I got the braces to make room and then when they took my braces off was informed they left them on too long or something and if I got my wisdom teeth in it might cause a sever underbite requiring jaw surgery. My wisdom teeth did start to come in so I had to get them all cut out of my head before they could disrupt my teeth. That sucked.

Braces are the devil.

Galaxy8227

I hated getting my braces on (had them from age 12-14) but after a few days you get used to them and almost forget they are there.  Hope you feel better soon!

goheels05

Spacers are those little colored things they put between your teeth to literally create space that they later close up.  I guess it's used to turn teeth that are crooked.  New technology makes them unnecessary, though.  The wires I have expand with the heat of your mouth, which naturally creates space, and then they go in later and remove and re-apply brackets as necessary and add .  

[QUOTE]Do they still use retainers and elastics and stuff like that when you wear braces? I never wore either that I was told to and my teeth ended up fine and I was always commended on how great my progress was going. I think its just a money grab.
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

New technology can also make retainers obsolete, but I'm going to get them because after paying thousands for straight teeth, I'm not taking any chances.  What they can do is move your teeth just a little farther than they need to go, and then when your teeth try to move back to their original state, they will be in the proper position.

I think rubber bands were originally used to move teeth backwards and forwards, and the expanding wires I mentioned before makes rubber bands unnecessary.  I think they may also be used to correct overbite, though.  I'm having surgery to correct mine, and I'll have rubber bands on while I heal.

I think a lot of orthodontists still probably use the old school stuff, but my guy is pretty advanced; his whole family is orthodontists and his dad invented a lot of the current technology, so he's pretty advanced.  I ask tons of questions because I'm fascinated by the whole process.  I even talked about going back to school for dental stuff for a while.

laurenclaire1386

Yeah that was one of the major reasons my ortho gave for getting my wisdom teeth out. If I didn't, when they came in, they would totally undo what braces had done by cramming my teeth all together again. Apparently, and totally contrary to how much I like to hear myself talk, I have a very small mouth.

goheels05

Oh, and I have these other things on my upper teeth right now to close space, I forget what they are called, but they are kind of like rubber bands and they are annoying.  They make my braces very noticeable. 

SpookieCat

I'm with you all on the braces are the devil thing.  I had braces and head gear for two years through grades 5 and 6.  I'm thankful that it managed to correct my horrifying overbite, but unfortunately I have never been able to sleep the same way since I had to slee with the headgear on.  Kids are lucky they stopped using those. 

I will say though that having uniform and good looking teeth is a godsend.  My mom complains about hers all the time but will probably never do anything about it.

nda_roxybabe

I don't think I had spacers. Maybe though.
I really want invisalign right now. In order to fix my over bit though they'd have to brake the palate and follow it up with braces. It doesn't bug me enough to go through surgery for.
The worst thing I had was the jaw expander that kept me from pronouncing words like "key"

laurenclaire1386

Spooky, you're absolutely right. As painful and miserable as it was, it was totally worth it. I'm glad I went through it because straight teeth ended up being way more important to me than I realized.

FutureMrsTR

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-orthodontic-work-great-diet?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:06eaab0c-c90a-4e40-b8da-56e1ef17cc04Post:4eb51923-e8df-4bee-8a5b-ec0952115910">Re: NWR: Orthodontic work.....= Great Diet</a>:
[QUOTE]Spooky, you're absolutely right. As painful and miserable as it was, it was totally worth it. I'm glad I went through it because straight teeth ended up being way more important to me than I realized.
Posted by laurenclaire1386[/QUOTE]

haha I actually had a really drunk chick stumble into me in a bar one time and say, "Oh my <em>GOD</em>, you have the most beautiful teeth!"  Seriously?  Um...thanks?

goheels05

I couldn't have Invisalign b/c of my overbite.  I mean, I could, but it wasn't going to correct my overbite, it was just going to straighten my teeth.  And I felt like if I was going to spend $5,000, I damn well better come out of them with perfect teeth, not just, like, halfway there teeth.

Some of these stories make me sad.  There are orthodontists out there who will do anything to make a buck--putting braces on young children knowing that they will need them again when their perm teeth come in, etc.  My dentist warned me about that kind of thing and made sure I went with someone reputable and honest.  My ortho has been very upfront with me about everything, including surgery, and the decision was very much mine whether or not to go through with it, what options I wanted, how much I wanted to pay for, etc. 

nda_roxybabe

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_nwr-orthodontic-work-great-diet?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:06eaab0c-c90a-4e40-b8da-56e1ef17cc04Post:4198d9da-485d-465e-955b-db5da3036fb3">Re: NWR: Orthodontic work.....= Great Diet</a>:
[QUOTE]I couldn't have Invisalign b/c of my overbite.  I mean, I could, but it wasn't going to correct my overbite, it was just going to straighten my teeth.  And I felt like if I was going to spend $5,000, I damn well better come out of them with perfect teeth, not just, like, halfway there teeth. Some of these stories make me sad.  There are orthodontists out there who will do anything to make a buck--putting braces on young children knowing that they will need them again when their perm teeth come in, etc.  My dentist warned me about that kind of thing and made sure I went with someone reputable and honest.  My ortho has been very upfront with me about everything, including surgery, and the decision was very much mine whether or not to go through with it, what options I wanted, how much I wanted to pay for, etc. 
Posted by goheels05[/QUOTE]

Thats my situation I suppose. I never really though about it from that perspective though (not sure why, it makes sense). My overbite is bad -I can stick most of my tongue through it. Thats what I get for sucking my thumg until I was 11 (yup).