Braces on!

Finally got my braces on yesterday! I was all set to get metal damon upper and lower..... thats what I paid for. Then at the last minute the ortho said he had some innovation C (the clear brackets) and that he would use those on my upper front 4 teeth as they would work best for what needed to be done. I hadn't really been bothered about my braces being noticeable, as I have had full fixed braces before with coloured ligatures and everything, however now they are on I can see the clear brackets do make a massive difference at the front. I realised this the first time I looked in the mirror with my mouth in its resting position - because of my large overjet (9mm!) my lips don't close naturally when my mouth is relaxed anyway. This is obviously worse with brackets on top of my teeth, and I can see the bottoms of the brackets rest under the line of my lip. Had the front ones been metal they would be visible all the time, even when my mouth was supposedly closed!

Anyway, the whole installation process was easy and much more better than the last time I had it done (probably 12 years ago). The biggest difference for me was the lack of spacers and not having molar bands this time....so much more comfortable! Also the self ligating brackets mean the wire goes in a lot quicker. The bits I like less however are the brackets with the little hooks on for the elastics I will need further along the line. Last time I had braces I did have elastics for a while but they did not attach to the brackets. Instead a small loop was made in the wire and they hooked around that, so there were no stick-out pointy hooks. This time I am finding the hooks are a pain and catch my cheeks, especially since there is nothing attached to them yet.

So far yet there has been little discomfort....nothing like the pain I experienced first time around, although I can't chew properly or bite down fully as there is one lower bracket that I will break off if I do.

I have taken some pictures tonight, after day one. I wish I had taken them straight away now, because I can already notice some difference in the positioning of my front teeth. Even after just one day they are forming less of a triangular pointy arch at the front.

a little smile!

biting down. you can see here how big my overjet is!

open, so you can see all my lovely brackets!

top arch...very narrow at the moment.

bottom arch