Almost 40 and Wearing Braces - Shreveport, LA

Have had my braces on for over a year now and I'm loving it! They are a pain to clean and occasionally cause some discomfort but have made great progress! I'll upload some progress pics I've taken along the way :) The pics are from July to September this year. Very pleased so far and at my last orthodontist appointment, he said I may get them off at 20-22 months instead of the full 24 months. I now have a chain on top & bottom, have had my teeth polished to make my teeth smaller on the sides and smoother on the top edges and wear rubber bands. I'm still pretty much pain free and have been fortunate that I don't get sores in my mouth. So far so good!

I didn't have any pics to upload when I updated my review yesterday. Sorry in advance, I'm a terrible photographer ;-)

Got my new wires on yesterday. Wowza! This is the first real pain I've had since getting my braces on. My front teeth (top & bottom) are VERY sensitive but the pain is more in my face and head than my mouth. I've controlled the pain with Advil (Tylenol did not even come close to touching the pain) so that's a plus. As I type this tonight, the pain is already lessening. Even though it hurt like everything, I've been chomping on gum since they changed my wire yesterday. I swear it helps the soreness/sensitivity go away faster :) My teeth have been "popping" like crazy. My front teeth already feel loose (Yay!!!)... This 8 weeks my top will move forward (HUGE UGH!) but my doc says not to worry, he's pulling them forward to line them up and then we will move them back and get rid of the overbite. He is still projecting that I'll wear them a full two years (bleh). When they changed my wire, one of my brackets came off. They just glued it right back on, no problema :) I also asked for a night guard because I've been grinding my teeth again... They gave me a "Stress Guard". I haven't tried it yet due to the sensitive teeth and I don't think I could grind my teeth right now if I wanted to. So I'll try it out in another day or two when this sensitivity and face pain subsides. The doc mentioned he was very pleased with how much and quickly my teeth have moved. Next visit, I get a full set of x-rays to check root placement and if that is all good, new wire and the ever dreaded, rubber bands :-( Ugh! Not looking forward to that but happy with progress so far and it doesn't seem like it's been 4 months already! August 2017 will be here before we know it! Haha. So despite being uncomfortable from my wire change, I'm still sold on having my adult braces. Even more now than my last post I've noticed how much more I smile and feel confident when I smile... No longer ashamed and hiding my mouth or looking away to smile and laugh! Having that confidence is well worth a little discomfort for sure =D If you you are still undecided, go for it! You won't regret it!! I will try to post pics this week, I haven't taken any since I got the new wire on. My teeth have moved quite a bit since I posted last. I'm trying to capture pics each month to look at when I'm all done :) Hopefully I'll remember to post another update in a month or at my next wire change :-) Ciao for now ;-)