Braces

[beef_bourito]

I just wanted to announce that I JUST GOT MY BRACES OFF!!!!!

i had them on for 2.5 years (half as long as my sister) and man am i glad to have them off. now all i need to do is learn to talk with a retainer and not sound like i have a "insert word here" in my mouth.

how many of you have or had braces, how long, and how was it?

the most annoying part for me was getting food stuck in my teeth. eating any kind of bread was the absolute worst, i'd eat for 5 mins and clean for 20, it was all stuck above my teeth against my gums, it looked nasty.

[turtlecrxsi]

I had braces when I was a kid. I used those rubberband things and a night brace. When the braces came off, I had to wear a retainer for only a short time and only at night and that was it. But I guess it depends on your individual situation cuz some people have to wear retainers for a long time.

[vinnym86]

yay! no more awkward lisps and girlfriend's lips caught in ur teeth!

wear ur retainer!! i have perfect teeth now, except for ONE fucker who moved back.

[stieh2000]

Hmmmmm, where do I begin...

My dental history is quite epic. It took me a while for me to start losing my teeth, which my dentist attributed to my extra tough gums. If I remember correctly, I had 11 teeth pulled for various reasons. Either the adult teeth came in behind my baby teeth, or the adult teeth had trouble pushing out the baby teeth. I also had my front teeth knocked out in fourth grade.

After a while it was apparent that my adult front teeth were growing their roots with only a little bit of the teeth sticking out past the gum line. So I had no choice but to go to an oral surgeon to have my front four teeth exposed by cutting the gum and stitching it back up above the teeth.

Once some of my other teeth started coming in, it was obvious that I would need braces. I went to see an orthodontist, and long story short, he had to simply wait for a lot of my teeth to come in, again because of, as he put it, my "fiberglass gums." Finally, in June of seventh grade, braces went on my top teeth, and I had to wear headgear to bed for about six months. In about November of my Freshman year in HS, the bottom ones went on.

At this point, I would like to extend some advice to those of you who have braces. If your planning a two week backpacking trip into the wilderness with bears so you have to swallow your toothpaste (which is morbidly disgusting btw) so the scent of the toothpaste doesn't attract bears, DO NOT see your orthodontist soon afterwards, because he will be quite pissed with your lack of hygiene at that point. You know what, just keep your teeth clean anyway, something I never had the patience for.

After a while, I had to go back to an oral surgeon because more adult teeth decided they would be shy. This time, my gums would be cut and stitched back like before, and the teeth would then be glued to a chain, which was attached to the braces. The chain would be shortened link by link over time, pulling the teeth down. I set a personal record for my surgeon for performing this procedure three time in one sitting. The norm is only one, rarely two.

So after that was done, it was pretty much downhill form there. Except for the fact that my braces kept irritating this one spot on the inside of my cheek, and I got an Irritation Fibroma. That is a really big word for a harmless funky looking growth that stuck out of my mouth. So it was back to the oral surgeon to have that lopped off.

And then the big day came, Monday June 15, 2004. My braces were off 4 years to the week after they went on. So much for the estimate of 2-3 years I was originally given. But that’s life.


-Oh, and I almost forgot, I am missing three adult bicuspids, which mean I’m still not done. At some point I will have implants put in. Stupid genes, thanks a lot mom.

[beef_bourito]

haha nice stieh, yeah i was supposed to have them on for 2 years, they stayed for 2.5, not bad concidering my sister was supposed to have them on for 2 and had them for 5.

i didn't really care about my bite ( overbite or underbite, whichever is the one where the top goes over the bottom) so i didn't need retainer. i had really crooked bottome teeth, i guess my bottom jaw was too small for the teeth, and my right adult canine had grown sideways in the middle of my jaw just below my four front teeth. that had to be removed, it was quite a painful surgery, my jaw hurt like hell for the next few weeks, but i found out that nitrous oxide isn't just fun in cars. so i'm missing one of my canines.

[stieh2000]

For the record, you have an overbite.

My last two surgeries really weren't that painful, they just pumped me chuck full of novicane. Afterwards I only used one dose of tylenol w/ codine. Then I was just sore for a while, and it only really hurt when I laughed because of the the stiches poking around in my mouth. It is a testament to my high pain tolerence, which was pretty much ineveitable consitering how screwed up my mouth is.

[driftinggrifter2]

Never really had braces except when I got my jaw broke and they had to wire it shut with medical braces. I lost about 40lbs that month.

[jcsaleen]

Got mine off after 3 years god that was hell...

[marcre]

Braces, that brings back some memories.

I had mine on for six years (from 6th until senior year). It was only supposed to be for a couple of years max. My original orthodontist was old and somewhat incompetent, the braces kept breaking. Naturally he blamed me. Finally he retired and his son took over. It still took forever. My teeth were pretty bad.

I wore my retainer for a while, top and bottom. My bottom retainer was the permanent type and I removed it myself after a period of time (I don't remember how long, maybe a year and a half). I've never been back for a "final" visit. It's been 12 years since I've had them off and I still have glue residue (very little at this point) on the backs of a few teeth. My regular dentist always mentions it and asks me if I want him to remove it, but I don't mind, it's a memory.

[speediva]

I got my braces on about a month into my HS Freshman year. Lucky me, I got top and bottom, but no need for headgear or those bands. I was told 18 months MAX. I think it was September of my HS Senior year that they came off. I wore my retainers... oh, every now and again. The top teeth are mostly okay, but when my wisdom teeth came in, my bottom teeth decided they were much happier where they were originally.

As for why I had my braces on... My bottom teeth were crooked (which they are again, so I'll have to get bottom braces again), I had an overbite just in my 2 front-most incisors (which did return in part), I had a cuspid that would not drop down, even after I had the baby tooth removed, and there were some gaps in my upper teeth. The most painful aspect was when the cuspid finally came in (after shifting all my other teeth away from the area, they then had to attach an extra wire to pull the cuspid the rest of the way down. For the rest of my life, one of my cuspids will be "sharper" than the other b/c it has about 5 or 6 years less wear than the other.

[publicenemy137]

I HATE BRACES! i have em on right now, I am 21 also! Had braces all during my college years, it sucks. I hate how sometimes the side of your tongue will scrape against one your braces in the rear, and it hurts like shit.

[Toksin]

I stopped wearing my retainer after a short time - well, I wore it 24/7 for a few months, but my teeth were shifting too much that if I only put it on at night it still hurt like a motherfucker. Eventually got sick of it.

My teeth moved a bit, partly cos of my wisdom teeth, but they still look better than they used to.

[beef_bourito]

i guess as long as you're happy with them it's fine. i mean there are still little imperfections in my teeth that i probably could get fixed but it's not worth the trouble. like my overbite could be fixed but i don't want to wear headgear for a super long time and i honestly dont care about it.

[KustmAce]

I had em for 2 years. The girlfriend just got em a couple months ago.

[Steel]

i swear, braces are just a moneymaking enterprise, unless your teeth are morbidly crooked. Now my dentist wants to pull all four of my wisdom teeth. I told him 'they don't hurt yet, and im 22... no'. and he said that they WILL start to hurt. Then i told him that i'll wait until then. then he just trying to convince me over and over. Ain't gonna happen.

I HATE HATE HATE HATE going to the dentist. Now that i'm not on my moms dental insurance anymore, i don't have to go! yipee!