Adult Braces Update 5 | Six Month Progress
Today’s my braces update and I’m happy to celebrate I have survived *six* full months now, lol. I mainly wanted to visually share how things have developed in this official 6 month braces update by piecing together all of my update photos into one, as well as, give a quick debriefing on what’s happened since last check in.
Let’s have cake! Also, happy Memorial Day to my veterans and active duty military. So thankful <3
Progress | Nov. – May 2016
As a refresher, I got my braces to correct some visible crowding that was starting to really bother me cosmetically (started to happen more significantly after I turned 25/got my wisdom teeth removed). The crowding also started to affect my teeth because I couldn’t floss without shredding it. Thus, I started getting a couple of cavities (first in my life). Before things got worse, I decided to get braces at 30 years old and was estimated to have to wear them 12-18 months. Here’s where we started:
Here’s where we are now:
Again, it’s hard to really tell a huge difference on my top teeth since the issues weren’t as noticeable from straight on (it was more something you could see from the side or in person). But maybe you can tell more than I can…
Here’s a month-by-month close up of all of my update pictures:
Here’s my ‘aerial’ shots:
Click here to see last month’s aerial shots.
What’s happened since the last update
Honestly, this may be the most boring braces post I hope to make until we get closer to the end, but again this month – there’s been 0 change to my top teeth since we’re STILL working on the bottom (as discussed last month). I didn’t get rubber bands as I had hoped and we kept the same strength wire on the bottom (so both top/bottom are on their 4th wire overall). Wire ties on those bottom teeth were replaced/tightened, as well. My ortho lightly filed between my bottom two middle teeth to check if there’s even enough space to straighten those teeth out, but he’s extremely conservative with movement/progress, so although I have seen some minor progress this month, I am not sure if it’s going to be enough to add rubber bands yet (#sadface/#fingerscrossed).
In an effort to be 100% transparent, this month I had an emotional breakdown over the damn braces. I am getting pretty frustrated that I’m entering 3 months of no change on my top teeth and these bottom teeth holding everything up. I KNOW that you can’t rush teeth movement, but I also think there’s a happy medium with being conservative and proactive. So my husband (who is a dentist himself) got to deal with my 30-year-old self crying over these braces like I am legitimately 12. I’ve done everything I can to keep my smile healthy and pearly white my whole life, so wearing the braces had been very daunting and feeling like I may not get them off as soon as possible is scary. I want to be able to smile like I used to ASAP. I wish I could just file my teeth down myself -__-
I will be going for my next adjustment in a week and a half, so maybe some miracle will happen over the next 10 days and those bottom teeth will straighten out 110% and I can start making more progress by getting those damn rubber bands to start working on my cross bite already…
For those like me who don’t really understand what a cross bite is, here’s a close up of my teeth as of today (6 months). Although the teeth themselves are looking more straight, you can see my bite is off. The more proper (although not perfect) alignment is seen on (my) right, where the top teeth slightly overlap the bottom.
Have you ever been frustrated with your braces progress or had a similar situation? Let me know in the comments so we can commiserate together. I’d also welcome any inspirational feedback, as I’m definitely less-than-thrilled with my lovely little oral train tracks this month. As always, if you don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment, my email is brighterdarling@gmail.com.
That concludes my (uneventful) 6 month braces update. Check back on June 27th for my 7 month update and some info on the health advantages of getting adult braces (there are quite a few)!
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Happy teeth underneath,
-Steffanie
Not sure I can speak about having adult braces! But, I do want to know if you’d do it again? I had braces as a teen and now have some similar issues as you. With a cross bite and my lower being a little messy. I have been thinking about getting braces, but just don’t know if I can do it! By the way… think your progress is looking awesome! HANG IN THERE!
Hey lady! Even though I’ve been kinda bummed this month, I definitely would do it again simply because I don’t want to be getting more and more cavities since my teeth were SO tight I couldn’t floss properly. I never had cavities until I turned 25 and although they were teeny ones (that Blake even said he probably wouldn’t have filled YET), they were all in between my teeth which obvi is because I couldn’t floss without literally shredding it (once I got floss stuck up under my gum line and had to have a (male) nurse I was dating in Philly remove it for me lmao). So yea… I definitely would rather fix my REAL teeth than go through veneers (which are THOUSANDS more $$$ and need to be replaced over time) or deal with any future jaw/bone problems like my mom and MIL are dealing with in their 50s. If your issues aren’t as dramatic as mine and you had braces as a kid, you may be a bette candidate for Invisalign or those 6-month-smile programs than I was. Mine was too far gone lol!
I’m two days into my braces and I already want them off. So looking online for women going through this is very helpful. Hopefully it gets more managable, because I’m not doing well with the adjustment right now.
YES! Don’t worry – the first month is THE WORST. I cried a few times. I hated the way they looked and how it affected my smile. My mouth was sore a lot. Just stock up on wax and mouthwash to help rinse the food bits out and I promise it gets better 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I got mine put in last Saturday and I HATE THEM. I am 28 years old, in hope to be engage soon…. getting braces its sort of delaying the proposal for me 🙁
Anyways, my situation is similar to yours, I also have a cross bite but my ortho only decided to put the top first (not sure why..) When I first started doing my research and seeing various orthodontics, a few told me I needed a technique called MEAW, originally from Japan, but not many dentists are familiar with this technique. I would suggest for you to do your research on it and see, because it definitely helps with the cross-bite problem. Your posts are helping me to be positive and have patience… THANK YOU AGAIN!
Of course! Sharing my experience has definitely helped others, but honestly, it’s been equally as helpful for me to A – see my progress more and B – know I’m not alone 🙂
I’ll definitely be looking into that MEAW technique. Apparently, it’s been a bit challenging for my doctor just because I’m an adult and it’s so much harder to move the bone. Keep me posted on your journey… It’s interesting to learn of the different ways to get the teeth looking ‘normal’ from all over the world.
Old post I know – but I wanted to share that I also had to wait a few months for my bottom arch to catch up with the top. It was discouraging, plus I kept telling myself (and anyone else who would listen) that I didn’t even care what the bottom look like. Now that they are aligned though I realize how much better everything looks with both arches straightened out. Great blog!
Thanks for the support! Adult braces are so finicky. I’m nearly done (about 2 weeks left) and I’m glad I waited to get the bottom more aligned, as well. Totally makes everything fit so much better. Take care 🙂