Adult Braces - Damon Clear - Niles, MI
I am 46 years old and got my braces yesterday -...
I am 46 years old and got my braces yesterday - clear on top, metal on bottom. I have always hated my smile - when I smiled you couldn't see much teeth. Also, a little crowded, some small gaps, some teeth are a little rotated, and my entire top teeth were shifted a little. My bite was straight on (basically no overlap in either direction) and was causing my teeth to wear down. I noticed things getting worse, so I thought I'm gonna do something about it. So my dentist recommended an orthodontist and I went through with the braces. I originally was looking at Invisalign, but decided to go with the damon system because they are pulling my top teeth down and broadening my arches? to give me a bigger smile. At this point in time you cannot really tell I have braces on my top teeth unless you look closely. That is except for 1 elastic I am wearing to bring those front teeth down (so I will have a more toothy smile); I change these clear elastics 3 times per day so no staining issues. An unexpected thing, my molars were hitting bracket so I got a coating to protect the brackets. Unfortunately, I will have an open bite for about 10 weeks. Oh well, the price we pay - my price will be talking like Sylvester the putty tat for 10 weeks. Not painful to put them on - but the braces feel uncomfortable and I'm a little sore today. I have a small mouth - i.e. small teeth, which presents a flossing challenge. I will try to post updates as I will be in these for about 2 years.
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Day 2: No big deal, A little more pressure felt. ...
Day 3: Holy cow, just constant pressure, feels like you have food caught between you teeth, but every tooth! Its very annoying and distracting. The elastics on the top are causing a line indention into my gums above my teeth and are seriously irritating my gums. I couldn't find a blog on how to deal with this, as everyone says to put was on the bracket; since my bracket is so high, wax on the bracket was not going to help. So it took "alot" of patience to do the following, rolled wax into a snake like configuration, flattened it, and placed it directly onto my gum indention. THEN I carefully made sure that when I attached the elastics that portion rested on top of the wax. So the was was a buffer between my elastics and gums. This really helped, but of course the soreness was still there. Im also getting some small sores from the brackets on the very back molars.
Day 4: Discomfort is a bit less than yesterday. Removed the wax from my upper gum to show bleeding. It stopped, which is very important to me as I am on blood thinners, warfarin to be exact. So I reapplied the wax and new elastic. It is much easier to take a q-tip and dab it on your gums to lightly dry so the wax will stick. When I brushed after lunch, no bleeding, irritation is much less. I did notice that one of my teeth is sensitive to brushing, so it must be moving! I gotta say my sonicare has been great; however, when brushing say lower jaw, if you accidentally let the head of the brush touch the top jaw it will shake your world!! Makes sense considering your teeth are wired together. Lessons learned!
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Day 5 & 6: I need to update on the "tip" I...
Another update is the Sonicare I so love. Let me say there is NO LOVE when a tooth is moving/loosening and becomes sensitive. I have reverted back to the old manual toothbrush for now.
I have felt my teeth shifting slightly since day 1. I am now on day 7 and still no noticeable movement.
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Sorry to hear you are getting some sores and irritations as your mouth adjusts to having the braces in there. The good news is the tissue will toughen up, so the sores should be a temporary thing at least.
I'm glad you figured out a way to make the wax stick. It can be tricky. There are also a couple different kinds of ortho wax, one is a more clear, softer wax and it doesn't seem to stick as well, the other one is a bit cloudier and firmer and seems to stick to the brackets better. Ask your ortho if you can try both kinds. I bet they would be happy to give you some. There are also little rubber guards that can push on over your brackets to give you some relief while you are adjusting, so you can ask if they have any of those as well.
Keep us posted on how things are feeling!
Wow, good going with the Macgyver rubber band fix!! That is great that there was a different way to hook up your elastics so you weren't stuck with the discomfort.
Don't get discouraged by not seeing any movement yet, it will happen. :)
That is exciting that you just started with your ortho!! Congrats! How are your lips and cheeks holding up to the brackets rubbing on them?