Should I get braces as a 1L? Forum

[angiej]

When I first got my braces it was so painful I couldn't eat for weeks. If you go this route do it before 1L so you have time to adjust before you need to focus.

[soaponarope]

Are you serious? Get those hee-haw teeth fixed, asap. Who cares what these Chinese people, who you will never see again, think... I mean, you don't want a jury (or your peers), gawking at your crooked azz teeth all day, do you? The only people in this country without straight teeth are those who cannot afford braces. I think if you can afford to get em fixed, and you don't, illustrates (to me) that you just don't care. I'm not going to hire someone who doesn't value, or "care" about their appearance.

ps. I do not have spellcheck.

[BigA]

^ My post is still worth reading and talking to your dentist/orthodontist about. If you are a good candidate for them, you won't regret going that route instead of outside braces.

Will do. I appreciate it, but as with Invisaline, my hunch is that my teeth will be too bad for this kind of treatment. Not quite this bad though:

Are you serious? Get those hee-haw teeth fixed, asap. Who cares what these Chinese people, who you will never see again, think... I mean, you don't want a jury (or your peers), gawking at your crooked azz teeth all day, do you? The only people in this country without straight teeth are those who cannot afford braces. I think if you can afford to get em fixed, and you don't, illustrates (to me) that you just don't care. I'm not going to hire someone who doesn't value, or "care" about their appearance.

ps. I do not have spellcheck.

[JOThompson]

I'd just get them now and get it over with.

The vast majority of interviews won't be until you are a 2L/3L anyways. Get it done now, then in a year you could have them taken off before fall OCI as a 2L (if having them bothers you, that is).

+1

I'm a decent candidate for braces and if I had the money, I'd get them done sooner rather than later.

[thalassocrat]

I'd just get them now and get it over with.

The vast majority of interviews won't be until you are a 2L/3L anyways. Get it done now, then in a year you could have them taken off before fall OCI as a 2L (if having them bothers you, that is).

+1

I'm a decent candidate for braces and if I had the money, I'd get them done sooner rather than later.

+1 I've been looking into the dental clinic at my school & self-ligating braces (like the Damon system mentioned upthread--they're supposed to take less time). If you can do it now, I'd say go for it.

[Barbie]

I'm also curious about the price of vinears (sp)?

[kmap]

My mom (middle-aged) got Invisalign a few years ago. Her teeth were pretty bad to start (overlapping, etc.) and now they look pretty good. Sure, they are expensive, and the whole process takes longer, but you only wear the retainers at night, and no one's the wiser. I don't think it's impossible even if your teeth are really crooked. I'd get a second opinion from an orthodontist.

[sibley]

I'm also curious about the price of vinears (sp)?

They're relatively cheap, but can't do a whole lot on their own.

When I first got my braces it was so painful I couldn't eat for weeks. If you go this route do it before 1L so you have time to adjust before you need to focus.

When I had mine the only issue I had was the tylenol I took made me slightly loopy. The feeling when you have braces is similar to that loose-tooth feeling plus a sort of stinging. But you only experience it for about the first week you get a new wire put in. With invisalign that's how it'll feel every morning when you wake up for the first few weeks. But since you can take them out the pain will quickly subside (within an hour probably), though your teeth will feel a little looser than you'll like. After my braces I got a clear retainer, very similar to invisalign. I still wear it about twice a month to make sure my teeth aren't planning an escape.

So, I think the pain associated with either method will be quite tolerable. Just skip seeing the orthodontist right before exams. Plus... this is totally off the wall, but have you heard of pressure vests? They're used by some doctors for children with severe ADD and also with Autism. There's little research but they seem to be ineffective. However, the underlying hypothesis is decent and has found to be valid with methods other than the pressure vest. If you have a simple sensation to focus on it could help you weed out background stimuli while you focus on another task. Maybe having braces would actually help you study.

[03121202698008]

I'll have braces as a 1L. Apparently my orthodontist when I was a kid didn't account for my jaw not aligning right. So, he aligned my teeth on a crooked base. Now I have to wear a splint for ~1-2 months under my tongue and then get braces. I'm hoping I can go the Invisalign way but may not be able to.

[sibley]

I'll have braces as a 1L. Apparently my orthodontist when I was a kid didn't account for my jaw not aligning right. So, he aligned my teeth on a crooked base. Now I have to wear a splint for ~1-2 months under my tongue and then get braces. I'm hoping I can go the Invisalign way but may not be able to.

It could be worse. You could have my bite, which, if you wanted it fixed, would require you to get braces AGAIN and then undergo some sort of major surgery where they break your jaw and make it a shape where your front teeth can actually work together... and then you eat out of a straw for 6 weeks. It'd be a good diet I guess.

[12262010]

You also need to consider that you will have to wear a retainer all day every day for another year after your braces come off. I say the sooner the better if you ever want to get it done.

you can do the retainer only at night. I had braces for 5 years when I was a youngin, so I'm an expert.

[03121202698008]

I'll have braces as a 1L. Apparently my orthodontist when I was a kid didn't account for my jaw not aligning right. So, he aligned my teeth on a crooked base. Now I have to wear a splint for ~1-2 months under my tongue and then get braces. I'm hoping I can go the Invisalign way but may not be able to.

It could be worse. You could have my bite, which, if you wanted it fixed, would require you to get braces AGAIN and then undergo some sort of major surgery where they break your jaw and make it a shape where your front teeth can actually work together... and then you eat out of a straw for 6 weeks. It'd be a good diet I guess.

You may want to check with another orthodontist. Most would break my jaw...the guy I am going to uses a splint to pull the jaw forward. It's actually named after him...the bowbeer splint. He even showed me a bunch of articles written about it and him in orthodontist journals. Also, he told me that when they do break jaws now they no longer wire them. They have internal supports they use and you can eat soft food within hours of the surgery and talk normally within a day.

[sibley]

I'll have braces as a 1L. Apparently my orthodontist when I was a kid didn't account for my jaw not aligning right. So, he aligned my teeth on a crooked base. Now I have to wear a splint for ~1-2 months under my tongue and then get braces. I'm hoping I can go the Invisalign way but may not be able to.

It could be worse. You could have my bite, which, if you wanted it fixed, would require you to get braces AGAIN and then undergo some sort of major surgery where they break your jaw and make it a shape where your front teeth can actually work together... and then you eat out of a straw for 6 weeks. It'd be a good diet I guess.

You may want to check with another orthodontist. Most would break my jaw...the guy I am going to uses a splint to pull the jaw forward. It's actually named after him...the bowbeer splint. He even showed me a bunch of articles written about it and him in orthodontist journals. Also, he told me that when they do break jaws now they no longer wire them. They have internal supports they use and you can eat soft food within hours of the surgery and talk normally within a day.

See I would do that. I called this place here that one of my coworkers went to for hers (I have no respect for her so I should have known...) and the receptionist told me I'd have to get braces first. I will look thanks. It would be nice not to have to bite on the side... it was better before my wisdom teeth came in, now my jaw won't close as well.

[Barbie]

I'm also curious about the price of vinears (sp)?

They're relatively cheap, but can't do a whole lot on their own.

When I first got my braces it was so painful I couldn't eat for weeks. If you go this route do it before 1L so you have time to adjust before you need to focus.

When I had mine the only issue I had was the tylenol I took made me slightly loopy. The feeling when you have braces is similar to that loose-tooth feeling plus a sort of stinging. But you only experience it for about the first week you get a new wire put in. With invisalign that's how it'll feel every morning when you wake up for the first few weeks. But since you can take them out the pain will quickly subside (within an hour probably), though your teeth will feel a little looser than you'll like. After my braces I got a clear retainer, very similar to invisalign. I still wear it about twice a month to make sure my teeth aren't planning an escape.

So, I think the pain associated with either method will be quite tolerable. Just skip seeing the orthodontist right before exams. Plus... this is totally off the wall, but have you heard of pressure vests? They're used by some doctors for children with severe ADD and also with Autism. There's little research but they seem to be ineffective. However, the underlying hypothesis is decent and has found to be valid with methods other than the pressure vest. If you have a simple sensation to focus on it could help you weed out background stimuli while you focus on another task. Maybe having braces would actually help you study.

This is what I'm afraid of! I'm crazy about my teeth and have really bad dreams about them being loose! My bottom teeth are perfect but my top teeth are essentially "buck". The two center ones are out a little further than the two right beside them. I want to see if there is some type of top of mouth applicance that will push these 2 teeth forward, but nothing is ever that simple...

[sibley]

This is what I'm afraid of! I'm crazy about my teeth and have really bad dreams about them being loose! My bottom teeth are perfect but my top teeth are essentially "buck". The two center ones are out a little further than the two right beside them. I want to see if there is some type of top of mouth applicance that will push these 2 teeth forward, but nothing is ever that simple...

Sometimes I have bad dreams about all my teeth falling out... but... well, you're a grown up. You know they won't actually fall out.