My braces did not work and now my teeth are moving back because of my wisdom teeth. I am lucky to have all of my teeth, and I have a fairly decent set of chompers in my mouth. When I say I have decent teeth, what I mean is that they have a nice shape (no vampire teeth…), aren’t rotten (no discoloration), and I have them all at this point. They also USED to be straight. The keyword is “used.”
When I was around 13 years old, I got braces for the first time. I had a slight overbite, a few misaligned teeth, and that was the main problem. So I had braces for about 3 years to correct everything. I hated every minute of it too. When I first got the braces, I couldn’t eat a solid meal for about 2 weeks. My teeth hurt so badly that I couldn’t even bite bread. It was terrible.
Finally that wore off, and the rest of the time wasn’t that bad (if you don’t include the countless canker sores and busted lips I endured thanks to my oral railroad tracks). I was so happy when I got my braces removed, and I absolutely loved my teeth. In fact, my wife still tells me that she loved my teeth when she first met me.
My Wisdom Teeth Began Growing-They Were Impacted!
My teeth looked great for about 2-3 years after I got my braces removed. I was very happy with them. Then something happened–my lower wisdom teeth began to grow. Not only that, but my wisdom teeth were impacted (which means growing sideways against my other teeth). When my dentist showed me the x-ray, I was shocked that teeth could grow sideways inside your jaw like that. But sure enough, they can.
Because my wisdom teeth were impacted, they were putting pressure on my jaw and causing my lower teeth to “overcrowd.” That is a fancy way of saying, my bottom teeth were starting to jumble together and the center ones got slightly crooked.
So at the insistence of my dentist, I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed in a very painful surgery. My cheeks swelled up like a hamster, and I couldn’t eat for a week. I also vomited after the surgery from swallowing blood (sorry for the visual). It was terrible. And I was so happy to find out that I would never get top wisdom teeth (I just had both bottom one’s removed).
I was hoping that after the surgery, my bottom teeth may stop overcrowding. They did finally stop, but not before it left me with slightly crooked bottom teeth in the middle. It isn’t noticeable to most people, because the top teeth are the most visible when I talk or smile. But it does annoy me and feels funny when I floss and brush.
My Top Teeth Moved Too–Do Braces Even Work?
About 5 years after this, I noticed that my top teeth were very slowly moving into their overbite position again. This is really what made me frustrated. At this point, I am questioned whether braces even work at all. I wore my retainer as directed (which was only for a year or two after my braces were removed). Yet after all of that, they still moved back. It seems they only work for about 10 years or so.
Not only that, but my wife’s teeth are slightly returning to their original position (she had braces too). So we are both like, “what is going on?” My nephew has also made a comment about his teeth slightly changing after getting his braces removed, and he still wears his retainer.
So it looks like my mom spent $3,000 (which she really couldn’t afford at the time) to fix my teeth, only to have them nearly returned to the same position on the top, and get even worse on the bottom.
So I am frustrated. I don’t want to get braces again, because I am almost 28 years old now. They are painful, uncomfortable, and make you look 15 years old. They are also terribly expensive. Yet at the same time, I am no longer happy with my teeth as I once was. When I eat hard foods, it irritates the gums just behind my top teeth (because they slightly slant forward).
I would like to do something like invisalign, but it is rather expensive and seems less effective than the metal gear (which apparently only works for a decade or two anyway).
So it looks like I will just have to live with my slight overbite and “overcrowded” lower teeth. I honestly can’t see myself ever getting braces again. Grrr!