Fitting Day!

Heading to the orthodontics I was feeling pretty anxious if I’m honest. I’m a born worrier so had spent the last week fretting about pain, lisping, drooling, not being able to eat properly, being self-conscious  etc. But ultimately I realise that if I don’t do this now my teeth will only get worse so I need to suck it up and get on with it.

Once I was settled into the treatment chair I was given a pair of funky shades to wear and fitted with a mouth piece so my orthodontist could get proper access to all my teeth, along with a couple of cotton wads to keep my tongue out of the way. 

He started off by cleaning my teeth and drying them with air and then used a small brush to apply the bonding agent. He then positioned a bracket onto each tooth and set the bonding agent with blue light. Next he measured out the wire and slotted it into each of the brackets before fixing the wire to each bracket with the small elastic bands. The wire was trimmed and voila – they were on. I couldn’t have been in the chair for more than 40 minutes at very most.

Pain

During the fitting the most painful part was the air he used to dry my teeth; I always find that my teeth are particularly sensitive to it for some reason. The amount of pressure he placed on each tooth whilst positioning the brackets was also a little uncomfortable too.

It’s now 6 hours since they were fitted and whilst a couple of my teeth feel a bit sensitive and achey, there’s not been any severe pain and I haven’t felt the need to take any painkillers. 

From what I read, the 2^nd and 3^rd days onwards tend to be when the pain sets in (if it’s going to) as that’s when your teeth start moving. My mouth is really though so I’ve been guzzling water all day. Apparently you tend to be a dribbler or a dry mouther and so far I’m the latter which I have to say I think I prefer!

It’s such an odd sensation having a mouth full of ‘stuff’. I’m also surprised at how rough the surface of the brackets are. I think I expected them to be quite smooth but they’re pretty bumpy – I can see now why they rub on your gums!

Eating

I plumped for a bowl of soup for lunch which wasn’t too traumatic. The liquid part obviously slipped down easily but I had to more or less tip each spoonful into my mouth as the feeling of the metal spoon touching the brackets was freaking me out. Mr Tinsel Teeth is picking me up some plastic cutlery on his way home! The soup had quite chunky bits of potato in and I managed to eat most of them by manoeuvring them to my back teeth and chewing gently. There was no pain but I was paranoid that a bracket would pop off any moment. It will take a while to get used to the fact that they are cemented on!

Afterwards my mouth felt pretty horrid as if the braces were clogged full of food. A quick check in the mirror revealed it wasn’t as bad as it felt but I still gave them a thorough brush and a good rinse with mouthwash.

Speech

I phoned Mr Tinsel Teeth straight after leaving the surgery and he commented that I sounded pretty much the same, to his surprise. I can notice that I have a bit of a lisp – especially when saying an S or F but it’s not nearly as substantial as I expected. I made sure I went straight to the shops from the appointment so I would be out in public, speaking to shop assistants etc before any paranoia had chance to set in!

I found this passage on another brace wearer’s blog so am going to read that a couple of times a day to see if that helps the lisp to clear up.

Photos

And here they are…

I have to say I’m really pleased with the way they look. The brackets are coincidentally a perfect match to the colour of my teeth and from a few feet away you can’t even notice they’re there. I met someone I know in the supermarket and even after chatting for 5 minutes or so, they didn’t even realise I’d had them fitted to my bottom teeth!

The photo gives you a bit of an idea of how my teeth are out of line. My bottom 4 middle teeth sit at funny angles, a bit like a zig zag and my top teeth are crowded causing my one of my central incisors to protrude forward and overlap the two teeth either side of it.

So there you have it, my braces are on and the countdown to pretty teeth has begun. My first adjustment is booked for 20th December (7 weeks time) but I plan to update the blog weekly with my progress so see you in 7 days!

The Consultation

The orthodontist started by examining my teeth and then taking a couple of x-rays. He advised that a traditional fixed brace would be most effective for the type of crowding I have (which was what I expected to hear anyway) and that I could expect treatment to take 18 months. He explained that it would be up to me to make the decision as to whether I want ceramic or metal brackets and whether to go for just top or bottom. Coincidentally he didn’t say anything about needing me any fillings but he did recommend a wee trip to the hygienist! ;-)

I‘ve known from the very start that I would definitely be opting for ceramic brackets. I’m already self-conscious about my teeth so didn’t want to draw more attention to them than absolutely necessary. Heading into my consultation I was also fairly sure that I’d only be opting for braces on the top as it’s my upper teeth that bother me the most, but as Becky the patient care coordinator ran me through the prices I did a total 180 and decided to have both. 

I realised that I’d save in the region of £1000 by having both upper and lower done at same time. I’ve also had a sneaking suspicion that once my top teeth are straight the bottom ones will look worse and bother me more. So with my decision made all that was left was for Becky to email me the treatment plan and 24 hours later I’d signed up.

The next step was an appointment to have my moulds and photos taken. It was really quick (10 minutes max) and pretty stress-free. Having the moulds taken is not the nicest of experiences and your mouth feels uncomfortably full but the mould is only in there for 10 seconds or so. The worst part is probably when they remove the mould as it feels like your teeth are going to go with it. But obviously they don’t and it’s discomfort rather than pain. I was booked in to have my braces fitted a week later. Next up…its fitting day!

Choosing Dentalign

I was referred to Dentalign by my NHS dentist but I almost ended up being treated by another company. I think it’s probably better that they remain nameless but we’ll call them the almost-orthodontist :-)

When I first started thinking that I wanted braces I didn’t even consider mentioning it to my dentist. I assumed that as I’m an adult and it was a cosmetic treatment that my NHS dentist wouldn’t really be able to help. So I did my own research online and came across a local company that I liked the look of. I actually got as far as having moulds and photos taken when it’s started to unravel. The orthodontist had spotted two ‘fillings’ that he wanted me to have sorted before I could have the braces fitted. While I agree that your teeth should be in good condition before you get your braces the problem started when he shared the costs.

Almost-orthodontist wanted in excess of £100 per tooth for the fillings so I confirmed that I’d go back to my NHS dentists and ask him to carry out the work. However having checked my teeth, my NHS dentist (politely) refused to do the work as the ‘fillings’ were simply marks on my teeth. Hence I was in a catch 22 situation. The almost orthodontist wouldn’t fit my braces without the fillings but NHS dentist claimed no work was needed. I couldn’t justify spending over £200 and more importantly didn’t want to if an experienced dentist didn’t think it was necessary.

Perhaps I overreacted but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth (if you’ll excuse the pun!) so I decide to abandon the almost-orthodontist. Whilst my dentist was examining my teeth he’d mentioned that he could refer me to another local orthodontist – Dentalign and I booked in for a consultation later this week. I’ll share that experience in my next post :-)

Well hello there!

Hi & welcome to my first post!

After disliking my teeth for several years I’ve taken the plunge and at the age of 30 29 and 10 months have had top and bottom ceramic braces fitted.

Whilst preparing to get braced I found other wearer’s blogs to be an awesome source of information and reassurance so I thought I’d share my experience too along with any tips I gather along the way.

So here goes. …!

Rachael