anyone had dental braces - for an adult

One of my close friends had her permanent brace removed in January after 2 years and 9 months! She is 47. Her teeth now look absolutely fab! She said it was worth the hours of meticulous cleaning, and the avoidance of any berry fruits (raspberry pips being the worst trouble!!). She did suffer slightly, but ibuprofen on really difficult days helped a lot.

Hi there JTH

...permanent brace removed in January after 2 years and 9 months!....

That's why I chose the Inman Aligner - you only need it for 3-4 months if you wear it 20 hours per day. You take it out when you eat, and when you brush your teeth. Plus it's cheaper (£1300).

My front teeth are squint and I have a big v-shaped gap between my two front teeth. I think you can only correct a maximum of 6 teeth with the Inman Aligner, so perhaps your friend also had problems with the teeth further back. I could not possibly (with my low self-esteem) wear train-track braces for nearly three years like your friend did. I admire her strength and commitment. Good to hear too that she's happy with the outcome - that's the main thing!

Ava x

Hi Ava,

I wore "train track" wire braces for the best part of 4 years when I was in my mid 30's in the '90's. And then again in my 40's for a little while.
I had a very narrow upper pallette and prominent front teeth, so no bite. I finally met a dentist who understood the problems and referred me to a wonderful team at York who "transformed" me.

I had braces on all my teeth, as well as a brace inside my upper jaw (which was needed to widen my top pallette) for 2 years before the op.
Initially the discomfort was due to the friction of the studs on the inside of my mouth and the ends of the wires, which I could aleiviate with special wax that they provided, but as the braces were gradually tightened over the time the pain from the teeth could be quite high so pain killers were needed. It felt more like they had been banged rather than the pain that you would associate with needing a filling etc.

As it was something that I was 100% determined to do, and being in my mid 30's I was not fazed at all being around people wearing them. My family all supported me, I carried a small toothbrush kit so I could clean my teeth after eating. I was told not to eat sticky foods, chewing gum etc.
I had a busy job managing people in a factory so talking to people had to be done! I suppose I lisped a bit, infact I do a bit now anyway! Most people I met were fascinated by the process. I suppose it was a bit more unusual back then as it was before the celebs all started having it done.
I don't remember any worries kissing apart from when things were painful initially! 😉

I was shown a computer image of how I would look post op but nothing prepares you for the final outcome really.
I was given a photo album of my experience by my orthodentist at the end.

I needed an operation to remove 9 mm of bone from my upper jaw and have my lower jaw rotated to give me a perfect bite. My jaws were then wired up together for 6 weeks afterwards.

Once all the ironwork was removed I had to wear a retainer every night on my top jaw (I have relaxed to one night a week now) and I have a fixed brace behind my lower teeth which is glued in place.

I did have to wear braces for a while again in my 40's as teeth do have a habit of wandering and mine seemed to want try to return to their old places!! 😀

Absolutely no regrets - apart from finally being able to bite a sandwich etc I now have a wonderful profile so a lot more confidence, even 14 years on 🙂

Hi, I am in the process of wearing Invisilign. They, I have got to say are great. I have been wearing them for 3 months and I think I got about 6 - 8 weeks left. They have not caused me any pain.

I would definately recommend it! If it is makes you happy, well that is what is important. Whats a year out of your lifetime.

I will also add here that I have had train tracks twice, and also the head gear that went with it......strong chance that I will be wearing my plate for the rest of my life. But I can already feel the difference inside me when I go out. I want to smile, I want to strike up a conversations with people.

Goodluck!

Hi gaiaholistix

Wow and oh my goodness! From your description I can clearly see that there is a world apart from the need for train-track braces, and what I am getting. My front two teeth have a big v-shaped gap between them (5mm at its widest) and they are squint. The next two teeth are also squint, but not so bad. I don't have any deeper orthodontic problems.

From the Inman Aligner website pics they show some amazing results with people who look like they had a lot of bad misalignment. That's why I wondered what the story was for people undergoing YEARS of train-tracks, rather than WEEKS of Inman Aligner. I do suspect that folk with lesser problems may be unnecessarily wearing train-tracks, maybe because their dentist isn't aware of the modern options. But, evidently there are cases where orthodontic surgery and years of train-tracks are the only way to sort out dental problems.

I worry that you now have a lisp, whereas before you didn't. I'm going to double-check with my dentist that that'll not be the case for me. I absolutely utterly hate the sound of whistles when people talk - I actually leave the room when I hear a woman with a whistle-sounding-'s' - it's like chalk down a blackboard to me. God, you've got me worried now!

Thanks for sharing your adventure with me. And it's great to hear that you're happy with the outcome. Fingers crossed that I have a happy result to share in 4 months time.

Ava x

Hi lineyd

I actually thought that I was getting Invisalign - I did some reading on it before I met with my dentist. Luckily I had one short appointment before the assessment bit and he dropped in the words 'Inman Aligner'... so I scuttled off some to read about that instead. My understanding of the system is that it looks very much like a mouth-guard that you'd wear when you are doing a home teeth-whitening treatment? And it is clear plastic, and you wear it over your teeth all day (24/7)? And that you get a new one made every month? Is that right?

If that is the case then it's very different from the [DLMURL="http://www.inmanaligner.com/images/whitebow.jpg"]Inman Aligner[/DLMURL]. This has a clear plastic bar which sits in front of your teeth, and has a springed thing which sits behind your teeth and pushes them into position. Or rather into their new aligned position.

I have to ask if you've noticed any permanent changes to your speech, as a result of your train-tracks and now your Invisalign? I'm now worried about that.

Only two more days before I get it fitted. I'm nervous and excited.

Ava x

Hi Ava,

Don't worry it is only a slight lissssssssssssp 🙂
It sounds like a soft "th" rather than a shrill "s"!!

Seriously, mine is due to the fact that my top pallette has been widened so it is flatter and my front teeth have been completely re-sited so my tongue has had to adapt.
A small price to pay for all the positive results. 😉

I shall be thinking about you on Thursday.
Be positive and visualise the outcome that you want.

Don't worry it is only a slight lissssssssssssp 🙂
It sounds like a soft "th" rather than a shrill "s"!!

Whew! OK - I'm not so worried now.

I'll be brave and put a photo up of my teeth 'before' (i.e. now), one with the contraption on, and then one when the treatment is over.

Ava x

Well, it's been fitted. I'm sitting here now with the Inman Aligner in. I was told to go straight home and take an Ibuprofen because for the first day it would trigger inflammation and pain. However, I feel nothing, at all, whatsoever. It's been in for 5 hours.

At the surgery I was shown how to put it in and take it out. I am pretty sure that it's sitting in my mouth in the right place, but I don't get the feeling that it's touching where it's supposed to. Mind you there is only one place it can go... cos it has grooves which sit in the grooves of my teeth... but the pushy pressurey hingy thing behind my teeth doesn't seem to be touching all the teeth evenly. My dentist is away tomorrow and Monday. If I'm still unsure on Tuesday I'll email him.

Mind you, I should be pleased there is no pain or discomfort. However, the dentist said that his name would be mud all weekend I was expecting something by now. The dentist is very very good - and he spent 20 minutes adjusting the aligner to make sure it fitted me properly. So, I shouldn't doubt that everything isn't AOK. It's purely cos I feel no pain that I'm doubting that something isn't right. Maybe the pain comes later??

Mind you when I speak I sound like someone who is seriously drunk. Oh, my, God! I have [url]this passage to recite[/url] - and I promise you I am going to do it three times an hour until I go to work on Monday. I've already read it a dozen times. I have a hairdressing appointment tomorrow - hooly dooly cos hairdressers like to talk. And I have a new flatmate moving in on the weekend (and I can't just ignore her). One of my flatmates came past and told me his good news re getting funding for his course, and telling me which courses he is taking, and honestly this is something I would normally have gushed about with delight with him but I instead put my hand over my mouth and mumbled that it was great news. I'm feeling very self-conscious about my speech.

Oh, I have taken before photos - they are very close-up. Very frightening. My teeth look much worse at that degree of closeness than they do in real life.

I'd love to make a recording of myself talking for you guys to hear. Honestly it is hilarious!

Ava x

Oh, and I am producing so much saliva (your body thinks there is food in your mouth) that I would make a dog envious. So, not only do I sound like a drunk person, but I am having to break my speach every minute or so to swallow a gallon of saliva.

This had better be worth it! 😉

Ava x

p.s. the dentist showed me a plaster-cast model of how my teeth should look at the end of the treatment. Very interesting.

Thanks for the update Ava! hope all goes well over the weekend and the pain is not too uncomfortable - I'll be thinking of you!

Thanks for the update Ava!

Ha, bless - you almost had me believe that you are interested! 😉

OK. I know it's a bit too much detail, but for me it's totally weird new territory.

I still have no pain. But, honestly, the lisp (or multiple lisps!) is really really obvious. Really obvious. It's not a lisp, it's a major speech impediment. My flatmate's eyes were watering with polite restrained laughter when I was talking to him. One of my pals put his nephew onto the phone to have me speak with him, and when he went off I could hear him doubled up with laughter. Apparently I don't sound like I am drunk - but like I have "been drugged by some weird drug and am being interrogated by Russians".

Oh, people can be so cruel 😉

I can only imagine what work on Monday is going to be like. I think I'm getting better at reciting the bit of text, but I'm drowning in my own saliva... and that makes me stop and swallow at least every 30 seconds.

It's certainly going to be an interesting 4 months!

Ava x

Hi Ava
I do wish you well and believe me, you will get used to it in no time. However, I'm glad that I'm writing to you to tell you this, rather than speaking with you as I have a lisp. I'm not sure how you would describe it but I think your attitude of 'not being able to be in the same room as a woman with a lisp' is just a tad immature, if you'll forgive me. It's what's inside that's important, as you probably well know. Your family are only laughing because your speech is different from your normal speech. Other people, who don't know you, would treat you with more respect. Don't be paranoid about it: it's what you say that matters, after all.
I'm sure you won't lisp at all once the braces are off but, let's face it, it's not the end of the world if you do.
xxx

Ha, bless - you almost had me believe that you are interested! 😉

Ava x

Ava - how could you think I was NOT interested!! I may not have posted, because I had nothing constructive to add! but I have read every word, believe you me! - and was concerned for your possible discomfort too :D. As for the lisp - that can be very sexy 😉 - now there's a thought 🙂

Oh, Sunanda/Caroline... if only it were a sexy lisp. But it's a major speech impediment! I'm slurring and tripping over my tongue... and there isn't the room in my mouth for my tongue to find the shapes to make the letters. I phoned my solicitor today to cancel an appointment and the lass on the other end put the phone down on me whilst was trying to explain that I had an orthodontic brace and may be hard to understand. My mouth also fills with saliva because the plate tells my brain that there's food in my mouth, so I have to swallow every 30 secs, especially when I am talking. Talking is really hard work. I'm told it'll get better, but the bare facts are that there is a thing in my mouth taking up space where my tongue would go to make specific letters/sounds. I may adapt, but it'll always be very pronounced. I do find it amusing. The alternative is to get really depressed at the effect it's already having on my life, and will continue to do for the next 4 months.

Ava x

It's like anything new it just takes some time to adapt.

Hi Ava

I'm not laughing. So sorry to hear you are struggling, but no doubt it will settle in a few days - hope so!

Big hugs :hug:

Love and Light :1kis:

I read [url]this article[/url] in yesterday's London Evening Standard and thought of you, Ava. How are you getting on?

xxx

Sunanda, how thoughtful of you. Yes that is exactly the aligner that I have - and yep, I wear it 20 hours a day (taking it out to eat). However, lucky lass, only had hers in for 6 weeks. 6 weeks! My dentist is telling me 12-18 weeks, and that seems to be the length most folk have it in as per comments on a forum I belong to.

I think that article is an advertorial though: beautiful young girl, 6 weeks, £600. It doesn't cost £600, and it most certainly wouldn't by London prices. You pay £1200-1600, depending on your dentist.

Oh, you asked how I am going. There's no pain at all - even when I take it in and put it back. I can't yet see any change to the position of the teeth. My speech has improved - probably because I've become more relaxed about it. It is still very very distorted. I can be understood, once the person has tuned into me (much the way you do when someone has a heavy accent). Whenever I speak to someone new... like posting things at the Post Office which requires a bit of talking... I point to my aligner and explain that I've just had it fitted and I'm not yet used to speaking with it in. I've soldiered on and had a session with a counsellor, a meeting with my solicitor, a meeting with my boss, and many phone conversations... whilst wearing it. I return to work next week... which will be a challenge.

I've been wearing it for 7 days. Only 153 more to go (!) - which takes me up to Christmas. It will align my teeth, but won't fully close the gap - which has to be done by the dentist by building it up with porcelain. I'm hoping all of this will be finished by January. Apart from being very hard work speaking, it's no trouble at all.

Ava x

Well, four weeks has passed since I had it fitted. Today I had my 4-week review of the aligner.

[Note: I didn't have a proper review because by miserable coincidence I have a terrible toothache on one of my bottom teeth, and that had to be given the appointment slot. We aren't sure which tooth is the problem one - we had a series of tests but they are inconclusive, so I'm being put on antibiotics for 5 days. I'm not happy, but I have no choice. The infection will die down, but when it returns it will apparently be more focused and easy to identify the problem tooth. Whichever tooth it is it will require root canal work. That'll be my 6th root canal in 3 years. Yes, my teeth really are that bad.]

Over the last four weeks, the first two weeks were the worst. Every time I spoke I swallowed a gallon of saliva, and I lisped so heavily that talking was really hard work and I had to concentrate on every syllable. I would read a passage of text every hour on the hour to improve my speech. My speech is still bad - the lisp is still bad, but I've just had to get on with it.

Apart from the awful speech impediment it's all fine. I'm seeing some improvement - two of my teeth are aligning nicely - and I'm hoping that the other two will begin to move this month. Today the dentist tightened the aligner a bit... but I'm not sure if he overdid it because it doesn't fit on one side. I'll be seeing him soon re my toothache tooth and will check.

The orthodontics message boards all whinge and complain about the lisp, and they feel annoyed that it wasn't made more explicit. We all agree that it gets really boring having to repeat yourself EVERY time you speak to someone, unless they are looking straight at you. My direct manager isn't impressed with the lisp - he hasn't said anything but I know that he would prefer that I take it out when he meets with me. He's noticed that I take it out to eat and so comes to see me then... but, I put it back in and tell him that if I'm not eating I'll wear it. The longer it's out, the longer the treatment (in weeks) will take.

One month down, 2 or 3 months to go - and no problems other than the damned lisp!

Ava x

Glad to read that things are progressing well 🙂

Keep focusing on the final outcome.

Hope your lower tooth infections sorts out quickly for you.

Pictures of my awful teeth... as they begin to look nicer

I've been meaning to post up a pic of my teeth before I started wearing the aligner, and one of the 4-week update.

Remember that the treatment duration is 6-18 weeks. This pic is only of the 4-week point.

A few things to say:

1. the 'Before' pic is rubbish
2. the aligner stains your teeth (my teeth aren't normally this yellow)
3. there is some change, but not a lot, it's only 1/4 the way into the treatment time
4. the dentist attached lumps to my teeth so that the aligner doesn't slip (so that's not food stuck to my teeth!)

Warning - I have really horrible teeth. This is not pleasant viewing.

I'll post another update at the 8-week point.

Ava

Hi Ava,
Thanks for posting up the thumbnails. 🙂
You can certainly see the changes already - so keep going!

Thanks very much, GH. I am quite excited about getting to the 8-week point... because even in the 7 days since the 4-week photo was taken there are noticeable changes. I am hopeful that the treatment length will be nearer 8 weeks, than 18 weeks. Well, we'll see!

Ava x

Attached is the 8-week update photo.

I'm disappointed because very little has happened in the last 4 weeks. As I mentioned above, I didn't get a proper 4-week review appointment because it was given over to an emergency appointment for my root canal pain. So, I don't think he adjusted it properly - since much of the aligner sits below my teeth, rather than behind them.

[I've not been able to go back to do anything about it because a week later I got a bad cold, then when that cleared up the tooth flared up a second time, and then when that settled I got the second dose of a cold. And now my appointment is next week, so no point going a week earlier.]

Anyway, I've got some improvement - more noticable when you compare it to Day One photo.

Ava x

I think it's looking pretty good, Ava. And your teeth look very white to me.

xxx

Thank you, Sunanda. I used to be quite excited about how the results were progressing (around the 5-week mark I was checking them several times a day). Now I've lost interest and just want the treatment finished. I feeling miffed that the poor fitting has added many weeks to my treatment time - and that so little has changed in the last 4 weeks. I was pretty sure that an alignment problem as small as mine would only take 6-8 weeks. The maximum duration is 18 weeks. At this rate I now can't see it finishing in much under that. I had hoped it would be all over by Christmas. It's the inconvenience of speaking with this thing on which is getting to me.

Ava x

Hang on in there. It will be over and you will be looking back on this time and it will all fade away. Just keep on keeping on.
xxx

Yep, indeed... keep my eyes on the horizon!