Braces at 28 - Columbus, OH

Preface: in about 14 months I am getting married. I have always wanted to straighten my teeth, but couldn't afford to until I started my new job in November. I immediately spoke to my dentist about straightening, and she indicated I would need to have my wisdom teeth out before starting. Had the wisdom teeth surgery (all 4, 2 of which were partial bony impactions), waited several weeks, and then had several consultations with both dentists and orthodontists. Although one orthodontist was the most expensive, he was the one my dentist referred me to and I liked that he sat and answered all of my (loony over-researched) questions. Everyone I spoke to decided I was not a good candidate for Invisalign, so I accepted that traditional braces were my only option. The braces: My orthodontist offers both metal and clear brackets. I chose the clear because I am a new professional and also quite vain lol. I will have several molar bands which will be metal though. My estimated treatment plan duration is 18-24 months, which will include a bite plate and elastics at some point. The doctor agreed to remove my brackets for my wedding, and they will be replaced after my honeymoon, for an extra fee of course (he said a couple hundred dollars, but this was not part of my contract so I don't have a specific figure yet). The clear brackets his office uses are the Radiance plus. Each bracket is made of one solid lab created clear sapphire, so they are much clearer than most other clear brackets (e.g. Clarity, mystique, gac's clear SL). There is one other brand that has a sapphire bracket- Inspire Ice. I'm not sure why one would be better than the other. They both require traditional ligatures, in other words they are not self ligating. I asked about staining with the clear ligature bands, and he said they use white wire ties with the clear brackets, so no staining, although appointments take longer when using wire ties. Also, they use metal colored arch wires, not the white ones, which I actually prefer because the white ones tend to have the white coating scraped off and also because I think all white looks weird from far away. So far: yesterday I had spacers put in to make room for molar bands in the back. From where the spacers are placed, it seems he wants to do bands on all 8 molars, plus all 4 2nd bicuspids. I realized after I got home that you can see my upper 2nd bicuspids when I smile, so at my next appointment I am going to ask if he would be willing to try with regular brackets on those 2 teeth. I know everyone says "just be proud you're doing something for yourself!" but how I look for 2 years of my life does matter. The spacers are still not really causing me pain, except when I chew, but I can chew normal foods gently. I think maybe I keep comparing this to the wisdom teeth removal pain, and I have a feeling nothing will ever come close to the pain of a dry socket. I'm going to attach some pictures of my teeth before the spacers... Don't judge the terrible picture taking :)

As of my last update, spacers not causing me too much pain. HA!! Never have I meant "I spoke too soon" more. To be fair, they were not hurting when I was not attempting to use my mouth, but anything more solid than eggs was wayyy too hard to chew. So, enter my weekend of eggs, avocado, and tuna salad from a bowl. Today, day 5 of spacers, I will attempt to eat a *slightly* more solid lunch of pasta and soft sesame chicken. I can already tell that this braces situation will contribute nicely to my wedding diet plan. Cheers!

So today is my last full day with the spacers in. Initially, the soreness was only for my chewing molars where the spacers actually are. Interestingly after the first week, the soreness made its way forward all the way to my incisors. By this point almost two weeks after installation there is only one spot where they are still causing me pain. One of the spacers seems to be aggravating my gums because they are red and a little swollen over that spot. My first thought was "oh god I definitely have an abscess or something and there's no way I come back from this. I die today." After a bit of G*oogl*ing I now think that this particular spacer has just crept down under my gum line and is causing irritation.

Overall, I feel that I have had a pretty easy time with the spacers, much easier than I was expecting having read how uncomfortable they were for people on this forum and on arch*wired. And also given that I have 10 total, instead of the usual 4 or 8. And also that considerable elbow grease had to go into shoving those bad boys in there with the amount of tightness/crowding I have. Still, I am looking forward to being able to blast back there with my waterpik again. I get a sort of itchy sensation around my gums when I skip doing that or flossing for more than a day, and that is certainly aggravating.

Tomorrow I get these spacers removed and molar bands installed, plus one more set of spacers. Then back next week for the rest of the equipment!