Braces

choccyface2006

I had a brace fitted top and bottom last month. I could speak absolutly fine afterwards although it did feel very strange and I was very self conscious.

If I were you I would apply lots of lip balm before the fitting as my lips got so dry that it took a few days to heal. Also make sure you haven't got any very sharp wires digging in before you leave the orthos, I didn't do this and had to go back the next day because I kept getting my cheek and lip hooked which became quite sore. Make sure you have plenty of warm salty rinses if this happens.

Make sure you have a supply of dental wax (about £1.49 in Superdrug) just in case you have irratation from the brackets/wires. I was given some at the fitting as well as other bits but I would buy some anyway as you are bound to use it. I used it alot at first but your cheeks do get tougher the longer its on so I haven't used it for a while now.

I would practise speaking as much as you can beforehand so that you are as confident as you can be. It does take a while to get use to the hardware, I think ceramic brackets are slighty bulkier than metal and its hard to find a place that your lips feel comfortable at first.

Also, try not to hide your brace as this might just make it more obvious, be proud of it and the fact that you are doing something postive about your teeth. I'm sure it won't be an issue for anyone else but you so try to relax!

Very best of luck with the interview!

Sarah x

Justie

oh actually while I think of it - check what you're having done with your ortho - initially I had the ceramics fitted and then a week later had the wire put on. Without the wire it was A LOT more uncomfortable so if your interview is the day after that then it might be worth postponing it. But if it's after the wire is fitted then you'll be fine.

I've found that the ortho isn't very forthcoming about giving information - I don't know if it's because he's used to dealing with teenagers and so isn't used to having to explain everything to his patients or if it's just him. I've got it sorted now though as I know what to ask but it's taken a while so don't be scared to ask anything you think of.

Also stock up on little bottles of water - I got a very dry mouth - and those tiny Theramed (?) toothpaste packs that you can get in Superdrug as it's the toothpaste that rinses the easiest. I always have one or two of those in my handbag and a kids toothbrush and a bottle of water and have done my teeth in all sorts of hideous places as I found I had to do them after every time I ate.

Nile

Hello angeldeelite

It's many years since I had to wear a brace but I remember doing some speech tests (my dentist asked me to repeat them before I left the chair) during my orthodontic treatment programme. If I remember correctly it was something like 'Six sixpences in Mississippi'...........to check if the brace made me lisp.;)

I hope Toothsmith or Teerah will give us their expert opinion.

Good luck with the brace and the job interview.

Regards

Nile

angeldeelite

thank you all so much for advice, i've written it all down so i know what to ask the ortho.

the company have moved my interview to the morning before i get my brace fitted too so happy news

Buster_Danog

Has anyone had experience of trying to get braces on the NHS. I am asking for treatment despite having been refused once already. It took me about 15 months just to find a dentist who would refer me, then when I eventually seen an orthodontist at a hospital his first comment was "What is someone at your age doing here?". I was 27 then and that was before he even looked at my teeth.

After a lot of homework I have discovered that they have no basis on which to refuse treatment if the overjet (upper teeth overlapping lower) is 7mm or more. I believe I am around that mark, but I do not trust them as far as I can throw them in terms of measuring me. There seems to be a serious aversion to treating adults on the NHS. They encourage private treatment or try to deter you.

I'm going to give it one last try. I contacted an orthodontist that my local primary care trust recommended, but even he sounded reluctant. It's only February and he told me his provision for adults had been used up. I'm not having a good time.

Toothsmith

How does it affect your health?

Why was nothing done when you were younger?

Orthodontics on the NHS is a kids thing, and even then it is being reduced.

I'm not sure that it is specifically forbidden for adults, but I have never heard of an adult getting ortho on the NHS.

If you are to have any chance at all you will have to show that the teeth as they are are detremental to your health - and by that I mean something far more measurable than just "It stops me smiling".

Justie

I was told outright that adults don't get orthodontics on the NHS - if you can find someone then good luck to you.

I have to say the £2300 I've just paid to have my orthodontic work done is the best money I've spent and I wish I'd done it sooner but had it not been causing me pain (teeth digging into the inside of my bottom lip) I wouldn't have found the money to do it.

Buster_Danog

Hi Toothsmith, the only way it affects me is when I engage in contact sports, but the choice to do that is mine and this is incidental to the criteria for treatment.

"The Index of Treatment Need" states that anyone with an overjet of 7mm or more qualifies for treatment so it doesn't really need to affect my health as far as I can make out. I even spoke to someone at the dental reference service who told me the index is all that counts. He was in the know and said he would treat an adult in his practice if they qualified.

Justie, I am thinking I might be refused anyway, so I have started saving. I was told it would be about £1,500 privately. The thing that gets me about this experience is that the misinformation out there is incredible, even among dentists and other health professionals - not to mention NHS orthodontists who don't miss the opportunity to tell you where their private pracitce is based.

Oh, edited to add: My mum told me about a year ago that a dentist recommended I see an orthodontist when I was about 10. Typically for her she didn't pay much attention. Whether I would have wanted them at that age anyway (bullying etc) is another issue.

Ali-OK

I had "track" braces fitted at a similar age to yourself and had to go private.

Annoyingly, our NHS dentist told me it would only be a vanity thing when I was 14 and refused to refer me. At 28, my dentist told me my bite was so far out that he strongly recommended I take it further!

Maybe Toothsmith can confirm or otherwise, but after 2 years of tracks and 2 years of plates, (1 year f/t, 1 year o/night), my teeth have returned to their almost original position - which my orthodentist did say may well happen due to the late age of having them done when they are more set. :mad: I am still so conscious of my teeth and not sure if there's anything I can do about it.

Good luck Franco!

Toothsmith

Hi again Franco.

I understand what you're saying, but I still say you're flogging a dead horse.

I gather from your posts that you have really only seen hospital based NHS consultants - as they have told you where their private practices are. Hospital Orthodontic services have even more stretched budgets than NHS dentistry generally. And that is not exactly flush!

Unless you can demonstrate that it is affecting your health, there is no way you will get treatment here.

The guy from the Dental Reference service was most likely referring to an orthodontic specialist - one grade down from consultant - who have their own 'high street' practices and treat the vast majority of orthodontic cases in this country. A General Practitioner (Like me) refers ortho stuff to specialists if there is one in the area with a half way acceptable waiting list. If it is an unusually complex case, the specialist will refer it up to the consultants in the hospital.

As for Dental reference officers being 'in the know' - that did make me smile a bit. These guys have left practice and depending on how long ago they left, have a rather hazy memory of life at the coal face.

Maybe you could ask him to treat you?? That would make him splutter his tea!

You are right about the misinformation though. We are supposed to have a full and comprehensive NHS dental service. When it comes down to it though, the rules & regulations are so wooly that no-one will be able to tell you exactly WHY you won't qualify for treatment, it's just that everyone knows that if they DO treat you, their proverbials will be cut of by some bean-counter or other, and hung for all to see in the hospital main entrance!