Patient Care Co-ordinator Lindsay gives a personal account of life with lingual braces
Before Braces
Monday 3rd October 2011
I have a confession to make…
Like most people, I ignored the advice of my childhood orthodontist after having my train tracks removed and I probably wore my retainer for the grand total of about 10 days. If that.
Over time my teeth slowly crept back to their original alignment, becoming crowded at the bottom and overlapping at the top. This wasn’t really an issue for me until I had to face the dreaded camera lens. The shadows created by the inset teeth on my right side would really bother me, to the point where I would only be photographed from my left side.
Although most of my friends and colleagues would disagree (to my face, at least) my once straight teeth have undeniably become crowded and unattractive. As a dental nurse, I feel almost duty-bound that I should exhibit beautifully white, straight and healthy teeth. Healthy and white they may be. Straight they are not.
Along with the advice of our orthodontist Dr Asif Chatoo, I have decided that the best option for me would be fixed lingual braces (namely fixed brackets on the inside surfaces of my upper and lower teeth). Removable appliances like Invisalign would not be an option for me as I require re-alignment of my bite plus (I know what I’m like) if I’m given the freedom of wearing something that I can remove, it will spend more time on my bedside table than in my mouth.
So after set of impressions taken 2 weeks ago with Asif, my lab work is now back and we are ready to proceed with treatment tomorrow afternoon.
I’ll keep you updated on my progress…
Lindsay
October 20th 2011
Well this is new…
Its been 2 weeks now since my upper brace was fitted and earlier this week, the lower brace was put into place. As it takes a while for the mouth to adjust, Asif fits the upper and lower brackets in 2 separate appointments 2 weeks apart.
The experience itself was both a big adjustment and a pleasant surprise! My memories of childhood orthodontics were of very long, uncomfortable appointments followed by lots of aches and pains. I was relieved when the application itself only took 45 minutes and the discomfort lasted only a day or 2.
On the 1st day, my tongue was naturally very inquisitive and as with anything new in the mouth the brace initially felt huge! I had a slight lisp for the first couple of days but once my mouth adjusted to my new addition, this settled very quickly and the brace felt as if it had always been there. Diet wise I’ve been eating mostly soft foods as biting can be a bit tender, hard and crunchy foods are definitely out of the question…
My first adjustment is in 4 weeks, I’m looking forward to seeing some movement soon!
as well known is that regular flossing prevents heart disease. Better still, a recent study by gerontologists (ageing doctors) in the United States have recently discovered that regular flossing and good oral hygiene could add up to 6 years to the average life expectancy!
Well-known cosmetic dentist James Goolnik has become the fourth person to be named number one in this poll, following in the footsteps of Kevin Lewis (2006-2008), Eddie Crouch (2009), and Edward Lynch (2010).
