Tell me about your braces experience please

[marakesh]

I'm not sure if this is the right section let alone the right forum, but I need to ask a serious question.

I went to a cosmetic dentist to discuss the innocent process of teeth whitening. He really was an amazing dentist but my simple request for Zoom turned into something a bit more serious.

I've known since I was a **** that I have a bad overbite. I'm now "mature" and that hasn't stopped this dentist referring me to an orthodontist and dental surgeon because my overbite is really bad. I can continue to ignore the problem which will just just get worse, or I can get it fixed.

Getting it fixed means braces top and bottom for 2 years or so and {gulp) breaking the lower jaw and repositioning it. I know it should get done and my husband wants me to do it too.

So my question is, have any of you had braces done? Did you get your jaw repositioned.
I really want you to tell me your braces experience please .

[Manda Panda]

This is not exactly the same situation as yourself but its similar.

I knew I needed braces and had put it off for years. There was always some event that was due to happen imminently withing 12 months that made me put it off for yet another year. I got them put on at 18 knowing I would have them on for my formal and a couple of other big parties.

I was going to put it off but realised there was just never a "right time" to have it done. If I waited longer there would be 21st parties. Longer than that and my brother's would finally have weddings.

So I got them put on. The new braces are quite good. I paid (my parents did anyway) extra for the transparent low visibility ones so no one ever really saw them.

I didn't need surgery but the braces really didn't effect my life that much. The only thing is I wish I had got it done sooner. All those 16th birthday parties I had been worried about were pretty irrelevent in retrospect.


I know this is a bit different to your situtaion. I was never going to need surgery. And another motivating factor was I wanted it done whilst I was still on my parents family health insurance :)

I wish you good luck in your decision.

[Sleepless in Sydney]

Can't they use a jaw advancement splint instead of breaking the jaw?

Do they really have to do such radical things as breaking the jaw just to correct an overbite?


Like the previous poster I had braces quite late, well after high school. The braces themselves aren't too bad. The modern ones are pretty hard to see during everyday living.

I don't know about getting my jaw broken though. It sounds like you would need a lot of time off work

[Dom2]

hi marakech is the overbite really causing such a bad cosmetic issue?


If you had never really noticed how bad it was until you went in for teeth whitening than is it really something about your features you dislike?


I see this quite frequently. People come in for a procedure thats relatively affordable (eg teeth whitening, or a filling) and get convinced they need veneers or surgery.

I got upgraded from teeth whitening to 3 porcelain veneers. But really I had neer really stressed about the teeth that much until the dentist pointed it out.

[marakesh]

It's good to hear other peoples thoughts on this. My appointment with the ortho is in late September, it was the dentist who told me what he (the ortho) would "more than likely" need to do.

I've known since I was a kid that my bite was a problem. It has got worse over the years too. If I didn't care about how I looked, I could probably just not do anything.

I will more than likely proceed with the straightening work, I just don't know yet about the repositioning of the jaw.

If I was ever going to do have PS, it would have been to get a chin implant. Correcting the teeth and the bite/ jaw position does away with the need for that. :)
I guess I'll find out more when they do the assessment.

[Golden Pigeon]

Don't rush into getting a chin implant!

My daughter was seriously looking at one but I happened to mention it in passing to my doctor. They can use restylane or some other product (??radiance) to build up the chin the same way they built up my deep nasolabial folds.


I guess at some point Janice (my daughter) and I might go ahead and get the surgery done but it was nice to fill it temporarily to see what it looks like.

The radiance is supposed to last about 18 months. We went for restylane at first but am thinking of swapping to the longer lasting stuff for the second go at her chin.

[Emily]

Was it a good cosmetic result for your daughter golden pigeon?

How much did it cost?

I haven't read anything about using restylane to do chin implants and there's nothing on the kiora website about it.

I wonder how cost effective getting chin implants is. I know I've priced up plastic surgery chin implants and it costs about 12 thousand dollars.

[starfish]

Don't rush into getting a chin implant!

My daughter was seriously looking at one but I happened to mention it in passing to my doctor. They can use restylane or some other product (??radiance) to build up the chin the same way they built up my deep nasolabial folds.


I guess at some point Janice (my daughter) and I might go ahead and get the surgery done but it was nice to fill it temporarily to see what it looks like.

The radiance is supposed to last about 18 months. We went for restylane at first but am thinking of swapping to the longer lasting stuff for the second go at her chin.


I think you are meaning Radiesse not Radiance golden pigeon! Radiesse lasts for about 18 months, it lasts longer than restylane because it doesn't just fill the area it stimulates new collagen growth.

[aurora50]

hi marakech is the overbite really causing such a bad cosmetic issue?


If you had never really noticed how bad it was until you went in for teeth whitening than is it really something about your features you dislike?


I see this quite frequently. People come in for a procedure thats relatively affordable (eg teeth whitening, or a filling) and get convinced they need veneers or surgery.

I got upgraded from teeth whitening to 3 porcelain veneers. But really I had neer really stressed about the teeth that much until the dentist pointed it out.



Thats an interesting point of view dom2.

I wonder how much cosmetic work we do because a doctor pointed out there was a problem?

I know my doctor is at pains to sit me down and ask me what I would like done.

I think his line goes something like this "I can do practically anything to your face but you tell me what feature you are unhappy with. There's no point in me doing work on features that never worried you in the first place."

Just a thought. Its like that first ding in your new car someone else points out to you. You had never noticed, it never worried you but suddenly you become obsessed about this tiny ding. If only they had never pointed it out to you first!

[Bruce the Robert]

That has to get the award for analogy of the forum.

I know exactly what you mean when that first ding is pointed out on your pride and joy (my new BMW). Suddenly all the other great features pale into nothingness when faced with your mind obsessing over a tiny 1cm ding.

I guess when a cosmetic doc points out a flaw of which you were previously and blissfully ignorant could have the same effect

[I dream of Jeannie]

Hi Marakesh,
You should check out the website: ******** I stumbled across it while seeking solace after recently getting braces (as an adult). I found that reading about other people's experiences really helped me. Good luck.

[marakesh]

Thank you so much for that link!!:)

[Pennysou]

Marakesh
I took my son to the dentist for a general check up and cleaning, he told me he needed braces which I already knew because of his overbite but couldnt afford to do them when he was younger, he is 18 now.
The orthodontist told him he would need braces and a jaw advancement splint. Now that may not work(we left it a bit late), but he told us that there is a reasonable chance that it will because he is still young. Otherwise the other alternative is to break his jaw and reposition it. So it depends really on the age of the individual, he put on the braces and the jaw advancement splint thing will go on in a few months, After which time the orthodontist will tell if it is working or not.
So my dilemma is whether or not to break or not if it dosn't work, obviously we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will work. But there is definitely an improvement on the jaw line if done.

[marakesh]

Thanks pennysou, I've been through the *****ren with braces scenario three times now, so I know what you mean about the hard decisions.

I was introduced to one of the part time hairdressers at my salon this week and she had the jaw break thing done at age 32. She is living with some pain ( 12 months after the op) which is a risk apparently but she said she would do it again because the benefits outweight the drawbacks.

I guess being over 18 your son will want to make his own decision about whether to proceed or not.

I just know that as I get older, the discomfort of non aligned jaw bones gets worse. So I will have the op. It doesn't happen until most of the straightening is done though. (around 18 months).

[wellcareclinic]

Hello...
I have seen some article on the internet 3 day ago in that they have mentioned that now no need to wear metal braces because their technology gives braces which are not visible.
I as much as effective as older one....

[juliamo]

As we all know by now home teeth whitening is safe method, especially when you use a tray with gel and light. The same as the dentist does, but with home teeth whitening your teeth will be better of. Simply because 1 session at the dentistry should whiten your teeth directly while a home teeth whitening kit you can do 4 sessions to get the same result. Just bleech nice and easy. I use WhiteLight from whiteteethstore.com