Braces at 30 experience - only 5 weeks until I get my bridges!

Posted on 4:00pm Friday 24th Aug 2018

Welcome to my latest Braces at 30 blog post where I share my experience of wearing a brace as an adult with updates from each appointment.

I had my braces fitted when I was 30 years old. I’m now 32 and wore braces for 28 months in total having had the lower set removed two weeks ago!

Below I share what happened at my latest appointment.

What’s been happening with my adult braces in August

It’s been one month today since my last update, quite a break as I had so many appointments in July including having the bottom brace removed, a fixed bonded brace to the lower teeth, a tooth removed at the top, a partial denture made and more!

I had a whole stack of appointments in July!

In August I’ve just had two appointments.

I explained my disappointment with my NHS denture in my last blog post and had decided to go back to a cosmetic dentist. You may remember me previously going for an implant consultation and then saying in this article that I was going to a new dentist as the implant dentist never got back to me!

Well, I sent two emails and spoke to someone on the phone and never got a reply, which is why I went back to my normal NHS dentist. I then got an email from the private (implant) dentist inviting me for a consultation! I replied saying I’ve already been for the consultation, emailed twice, phoned once and never had a response to my queries.

The woman could not have been more apologetic. She said this never happens and is so sorry it happened to me. She found my emails and record of phone call and confirmed there had been a mix up with communication and I’d accidently not been responded to. If I wanted to return they’d offer a discount.

At that point I declined as I had already gone to my old dentist.

But then, as you may have seen, my denture was awful! Tiny little teeth pretty much identical to the baby teeth I had removed 2.5 years ago at the start of this whole journey! I definitely didn’t want them doing my bridges if this was the type of work to expect!

Braces at 30 experience - only 5 weeks until I get my bridges!

I have a clear Essix retainer with two false lateral incisors placed in it. Can you tell?

My options for false teeth at a private cosmetic dentist

So I did return to the private cosmetic dentist and he took some moulds. Today I returned to see all my options and the prices, etc. For reference, if you haven’t been following, my braces are now all off and I have missing lateral incisors (the two teeth next to your top front teeth). I still need to wear retainers for a while too.

The options were:

·         Traditional 3 point bridge on each side
·         Maryland bridge on each side
·         Composite bonding
·         Implant on one side and one of the above options on the other (the space between my roots is too narrow on the other side)

My decision

The problem with the Maryland bridge is that my teeth are quite thin so the metal plate that holds the false teeth, which is attached to the back of the surrounding teeth, may make my teeth look grey. So I ruled that one out. A waste of over £3000 if it discolours my teeth and I have to choose another option anyway!

The composite bonding was the cheapest at £650 per side, but it would stain and discolour so need replacing every 2-3 years! So I ruled that one out as that’s quite an ongoing expense and I wouldn’t want the staining.

I ruled out having an implant too. Unless I can have them on each side I figure I may as well go for the first option which is…

Traditional 3 point bridge on each side! Scary stuff!

So in effect I’ll have 6 false teeth in a row!

They’ll file down my front teeth and canine teeth into peg teeth, then create the bridge which has a false tooth in the middle and a hollow crown either side which fits over the peg teeth they create.

I’ll have this on both sides, so 6 false teeth in a row!

At a staggering cost of £3135 which included a 5% discount and they’re throwing in tooth whitening for free as a goodwill gesture due to not responding to me three times before!

The benefits of a fixed bridge for me

So why did I choose the fixed bridge?

These should last a good 7-10 years, so no worrying about anything in a couple of years. I’ve seen people say theirs have even lasted 20 years from private dentists.
They don’t stain or discolour.
I’ll have six teeth in a row created for the top front of my mouth, so they can be created as perfectly as possible! Cosmetically, these will look the best.

Click here to see exactly what a fixed bridge is.

The disadvantages of a fixed bridge for me

I have to have four teeth made into peg teeth. Terrifying. But I will get something to wear for the 2 weeks in-between this happening and getting my bridges!
They might fall out! As with any of the options presented to me, it will fall out at some point. Eek! But at least I’ll have a new clear Essix retainer made to hold my teeth in place and I’ll be able to simply pop the fallen out teeth in this and it will cover the gaps until I can have one made. Going private means I can get appointments very quickly.
The cost. It’s over three grand and I may have to pay this every 7-10 years, but hopefully it will last a lot longer.

What’s next?

So next week I have the whitening. Then two weeks after I have my teeth prepared (4 peg teeth made out of my front teeth and canines), then two weeks after that I get my fixed bridges!

In just under 5 weeks I will have my permanent false teeth!

I can’t believe it as the other dentist was possibly going to make me wait until next March!

So happy I will have teeth by Christmas.

This whole process from the start of my braces journey has been three years now from my first consultation! 26 months of wearing braces. Nearly three months of having two missing teeth at the top front and not being able to eat in front of people or go out with friends for food.

SOOOOOOOOO ready to have my mouth back!