Thursday, August 4, 2011

A Life with Braces - Step 1

You read that right. At 34 years of age I have to get braces. Now, I had no idea I had teeth problems. My teeth look great - at least I thought they were until my dentist mentioned it. And now I can notice what the issue is.
My top teeth, instead of coming straight down, are coming down at an angle in towards the inside of my mouth. This is putting undue pressure and rubbing of both my bottom and top teeth. This is causing my teeth to wear and crack - to the point I actually have fracture lines on my front teeth.
The braces are going to move my teeth back in to the correct angle and improve my bite so my teeth will stop wearing away. How long is this going to take? About 12-15 months - maybe longer depending on how my teeth respond.

Now, I'm not one to worry about how things look so I didn't have a problem with the possibility of having a mouth full of wires and brackets for a good year and a half. But there are more choices these days aside from the "old fashioned" braces that everyone is used to. The choice I have made is Invisalign.

My orthodontist was really good at explaining out and describing all the choices I had when it came to fixing my teeth. And after listening to them all, I decided that, for the ease of care alone, Invisalign was the best route for me.

This route, if appropriate to use for what you have to have fixed, is the easiest for adults to adjust to. You don't have to worry about the discomfort of having all those wires and brackets in your mouth. And you can take them out for eating and cleaning your teeth. The best part is the ease of still getting your regular teeth cleanings with your dentist. No trip to the orthodontist first to remove the wires, then to the dentist for the cleaning, then back to the orthodontist to have the wires put back on. With Invisalign, you just pop them out for the cleaning and pop them back in when you're done.
Mind you, they are more expensive than "normal" braces but I think that for the ease alone it is worth it!
Today I went for my consultation, paperwork and set up. Of course, since each Invisalign is made for each individual, you don't get them right away.

I had to get "molded" so my orthodontist can then send them to the company to be made just for me. They should receive my personalized set of trays back in 4 weeks. That's when I go back and really get the ball rolling.

Now, the molding experience was a deal in and of itself! They had these special molding trays that they put some nasty tasting stuff in and then stuck to my teeth for 3 minutes! Top and bottom, one at a time. The part that sucked the most was that they had to do the top twice because the first time my back teeth got cut off! So they had to force the tray farther back in my mouth the second time and I had to overextend my jaw and hold it for 3 minutes until the mold set! Very uncomfortable, I tell you! And when they pulled the molds off my teeth, it was stuck to my lips as if I had gum stuck on them and I had to peel it off. And the taste of the stuff lingered!
After that, they had to do another set of molds for their own use. Fortunately, I got to pick a flavor for that one (watermelon!) and it was one mold, my mouth closed around it to get both top and bottom at the same time. But my mouth still hurts, hours later!

But now the first hurdle is done. I should be getting a phone call in about 4 weeks from my orthodontist telling me my Invisalign is ready for me... and that's when the real fun begins!

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