Teeth straightening brace tomorrow, advice?

[Bikergran]

I am 72 and am having a fixed brace fitted tomorrow. My teeth have always been crowded and crooked, plus I had one front tooth that was dead and discoloured. That has been removed, and I am having a brace on my lower jaw to align the teeth properly, this will take about 12 months. I will be having a brace on the top jaw fitted in about 6 months, as they are not so severely crooked, then they will remove them both together.

Any tips on managing pain/discomfort, and how long did this take to settle down? Getting a bit nervous....😕.....but I now have a gap in my front teeth, so can't back out now.

Fantastic! I had fixed braces in my 30s, so pleased I did, I really found the whole process interesting.

My advice is plan soft food for the first few days, cover the brackets in the wax they give you (don’t wait for them to start rubbing) and warm the wax up first so it’s nice and soft and you don’t have to press in it too hard.

No advice but wishing you lots of luck, I am in the same position although just starting the process at 56. I wish I had be brave enough years ago.

Can I ask how long ago you had the tooth out?

I’ve been told that I need a tooth out at the centre front ( lower jaw) I’ve been told that 6 weeks after that the braces can go on, I’m unsure if that is from a healing aspect or if the orthodontist is just so busy they can’t see me until then?

Both my DC had braces and from memory only waited 2 weeks after teeth were removed.

I’d love to hear how your journey progresses as I will be a couple of months behind you.

Hiya, I had the tooth out last week, so they are fitting it tomorrow, 7 days after the extraction. My dentist and the orthodontist both recommended this as otherwise other teeth can start to move once the sudeways pressure is off. Both are highly experienced and very well qualified, so I trust them absolutely.

Thank you so much @Zippidy123 that's helpful, I've made a big pan of home-made soup!!!

Thank you, other teeth moving is a concern I have along with having a gap in the front centre for 6 weeks, I think part of the problem is the orthodontist is so incredibly busy as they take all the NHS referrals for the area along with private patients, when I was there 3 weeks ago they were booking a teenager in for their next appointment and the earliest date available was in 10 weeks.

I saw my dentist today for X-rays and she has recommended a different orthodontist, I’m now waiting to hear when they can see me.

Good luck today, I hope the brace fitting goes well, please keep us updated.

@Imfreezingcoldtoday fitting went well, only took 20 minutes. Brace not as intrusive feeling as I feared, but feels distinctly odd when eating, and I can see I may be biting my lip or insides of mouth.

Glad it went well, I hope the discomfort stays to a minimum, I’d be really interested to know when you start to notice a difference in your teeth as I’m going to be a couple of months behind you.