Yup yup.
But be careful. Some dentist are very lazy to follow up. In terms of different phases of aligning the teeth.
So sometimes they would even suggest removing teeth even when you could do it without removing any.
Once you remove, no turning back.

If you can, whenever possible. Try to opt for not removing. It's faster, but a lot of downsides. Crowding issues especially very prone to removal.
Depending on the doctor's expertise also, can opt not to do x-ray.
I didnt do xray, just straight up made mould. Saved a lot of money.

This post has been edited by nightshade_nova: Nov 12 2018, 11:15 AM

After 3 years, I am still wearing retainer every night. Might just cheat a day or two, but I don't dare to take the risk.
I have a friend, 12 years and still wearing retainer.

If you don't want to wear the retainer, you might have to redo your braces again if your teeth move.
You are lucky if it is not.

My dentist told me, the retainer will be there for your lifetime unless you give up.

Hope you understand that.

duly noted
but i have 2 wisdom teeth one left one right
so yea they need to go too before the bracing

yea thats my main concern
to wear retainer lifetime...

but since nightshade_nova shared his story about the "slow" bracing and without retainer, this gives me some hope

I see. All the best.

I've been bracing for 5 months now..Initially my dentist told me to extract 4 teeth but I didn't want to so he said we wait and see.

My overcrowded bottom teeth now all straighten but it still look a bit protruding. So during my last visit he suggest to me to extract that 4 teeth again cos I can't close my mouth fully unless I prefer it protruding. I told him I'll think about it but honestly I prefer not to.

Has anyone go for second opinion half way thru bracing before?

Im doing my braces with Dr Anitawaty at Subang Perdana. You should meet her before you decide.
My case is one of the pioneers, which doesnt involve extraction.
Today I just put on my power chains, cos I think the gaps made are enough already. (yup, made gaps without extraction)
So, its time to pull the teeth in.

Actually, next Saturday I also have to participate in a mini showcase of how successful the new method is.
She's gonna give a brief or something to fellow practitioners.

From what I understand, the literature (which is a lot of bull) said something about if youre more than 12 years old.
Any attempt on rearrangement of the teeth will result in nerve complications.
It's not really proven, but dentists everywhere have taken it as gospel so they just pull out your teeth.

Thanks. Mind pm me her contact/clinic details?

Sure. I just got back from the clinic. Feels weird having a dozen people staring into your mouth haha.

I have not done with my braces yet so can’t tell how good is my current orthodontist so it’s unfair for me to recommend him to you but so far I’m satisfied. If you are still interested, pm me for his contacts. Thanks.

I have not done with my braces yet so can’t tell how good is my current orthodontist so it’s unfair for me to recommend him to you but so far I’m satisfied. If you are still interested, pm me for his contacts. Thanks.

Was told to do X-ray of my teeth. Wondering, how much would be a reasonable price for the X-ray?

I dont know the price. But you can actually do braces without x-ray if the dentist is good enough.
Usually x-ray is only necessary if your teeth are really badly arranged, and need a lot of planning.

X-ray record is good to keep if you are changing dentist, so the future dentist to work on you have an overview of how your teeth used to be.
Other than documentation purposes, you can save money if you dont do x-ray.

My dental record only used picture documentation.

I find the above comment to be very misleading.

X-Rays are one of the essential records for orthodontic treatments. To save 200-300 on x rays and going ahead with ~2 years of treatment based on guesstimation is not right, no matter how easy or difficult the treatment is.

I would not want to go ahead with a compromised treatment plan.

Dentist wants to get my full-mouth impression, but I am having problems with gagging. how to minimise that? dentist say impression would take around 10mins..

depending on what type of x-ray, for braces purpose they'll usually take and
1. OPG (Orthopantomogram) which is to see all your teeth and if there any unerupted teeth (usually wisdom), or any impacted teeth.
2. Lateral Cephalogram which is to see your facial bone structure to determine what class you're in which affects the treatment plan.

OPG can range from 80-250, depending on clinic price. Usually hospitals charge it cheaper. But you might need a referral letter for it
Lateral Ceph probably 80-150, again depending on the clinic

Be it a simple or complex case, dentists can only see in the mouth on the surface what is happening and the condition.
Any x ray helps to see whatever that is happening under the gums and helps to discover if there are any hidden issues as well.
As an example, someone has an impacted tooth, meaning the tooth does not come out and stays below the gum, if braces are done straight away, the impacted tooth might prevent other tooth from moving, may cause future periodontal problems etc.

In health care today, everyone wants to be able to predict the outcome and with all these investigation, it will help the dentist plan the treatment and inform the patient of the possible outcome.

Information is everything today, I believe if we as patients are well informed of the treatment outcome, compromise, we would be able to make the decision for ourselves

Basically the procedure is 10mins, the impression tray and the material (alginate) will be in your mouth for around 1-2mins for each jaw, so total time in your mouth probably less than 5 mins

Not much can be done unfortunately, during impression, dentist will probably ask you tilt your head down or forward to minimize the gag, raise your legs, breath through your nose to divert your attention on the gag

From your side, maybe you have to train your self not to gag too much, what you can do is insert ur toothbrush or something daily and practice, or if possible, request your dentist for the impression tray and practice it at home by putting into your mouth for a week or so.



This post has been edited by Batusai: Dec 26 2018, 12:25 PM

I feel you... always had this problem... the last time the doc used a smaller tray and a less full tray of putty... and on my part I tried concentrating on wiggling my toes and breathing through my nose...

That said whole process is probably 10mins but the trays don’t sit in the mouth for the whole 10mins... hate it but let’s just say it’s necessary before and after braces... just got to deal with it.

I disagree wit u.... XRAY is to see whetner ur teeth root is healthy or not...

Some people are not recommended to do braces due to. Short teeth roots. This only can be detected by X Ray