Would it be weird if I got braces in med school?

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Invisaligns don't look that great and take forever. Lingual braces are the way to go. 👍
 
and I felt bad having my braces my freshman year...
 
Lol. I have braces as an MS1. I'd say 10-15 of us have braces on atm.

Medical students are adults. We're not 12 year old angry teenagers. 🙂
 
I don't think it would be weird, go for it if you want.
 
Braces are fine. I had braces while working a heavily client-facing job and it was a non-issue. I opted to get the white/clear braces rather than the metal ones. A lot of people won't even notice you have them and, if they do, they look fine. Also, they're much less expensive than invisalign.
 
Rach83 said:
Invisaligns don't look that great and take forever. Lingual braces are the way to go. 👍
Click to expand...

Lingual braces are awful to your tongue and gingiva and aren't an option for a lot of people (Because your mandibular anterior teeth will occlude against the maxillary lingual brackets). Invisalign is a great option for certain misalignments/malocclusions but the treatment options for which it's very useful are limited.

I say go for the braces/ask your orthodontist if invisalign is an option for what you want to accomplish. Most treatment times for traditional braces are 1.5-2 years so if you keep up with recall you might be able to get them off before starting your clerkships.

Also, Invisalign is very aesthetically acceptable. The aligners are more or less invisable and the buttons are usually not on the "Social 6" (Front 6 upper teeth) unless you have specific issues with those that need addressing (severe rotations, extrusion)
 
Just ask him to be aggressive w/ the tightening ;p

By the way: IT HURTS. OH GOD IT HURTS.

But not as bad as that hemorrhoidectomy.

Now that was... something.
 
Ugh, good god, don't do it. Rescind acceptances and go hide during the ~2yrs it will take to get you looking normal!
 
armorshell said:
Lingual braces are awful to your tongue and gingiva and aren't an option for a lot of people (Because your mandibular anterior teeth will occlude against the maxillary lingual brackets). Invisalign is a great option for certain misalignments/malocclusions but the treatment options for which it's very useful are limited.
Click to expand...

Well they might be awful but I had lingual braces and never had any problems with them. Of course they aren't appropriate for everyone but there's no harm in looking into all options.
 
Morsetlis said:
Just ask him to be aggressive w/ the tightening ;p

By the way: IT HURTS. OH GOD IT HURTS.

But not as bad as that hemorrhoidectomy.

Now that was... something.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize that was possible.

And what are the arrows pointing to in your x-ray avatar? A rib?
 
armorshell said:
Lingual braces are awful to your tongue and gingiva and aren't an option for a lot of people (Because your mandibular anterior teeth will occlude against the maxillary lingual brackets). Invisalign is a great option for certain misalignments/malocclusions but the treatment options for which it's very useful are limited.

I say go for the braces/ask your orthodontist if invisalign is an option for what you want to accomplish. Most treatment times for traditional braces are 1.5-2 years so if you keep up with recall you might be able to get them off before starting your clerkships.

Also, Invisalign is very aesthetically acceptable. The aligners are more or less invisable and the buttons are usually not on the "Social 6" (Front 6 upper teeth) unless you have specific issues with those that need addressing (severe rotations, extrusion)
Click to expand...

You just blew my mind.
 
How often do you have to make adjustments with Invisalign? Once a month? I just saw my dentist today, and he recommended that I get braces (again, since I had them 10+ yrs ago, but my bite is now imprecise due to shifting). Just didn't know how much of a hassle this will be since I'll be starting med school this fall...but like someone previously mentioned, probably better to do it now and not deal w/ it during residency or later.
 
I am thinking about getting braces.
I had braces in the past, but my teeth happened to shift a little bit over the years.

Would it be weird? Maybe, but who cares?
 
thomasyorke said:
i had invisaligns from summer after sophomore year of college to the middle of senior year. My orthodontist had me switch either 2,3, or 4 weeks depending on my progress. It was usually 3 weeks per set. My orthodontist estimated an optimistic finishing date; it took a few months longer than anticipated.

It was a little embarrassing at the time, people definitely notice them. It gave me a bit of a lisp for awhile. It's also VERY annoying when you go out to eat. I would carry a little toothbrush with me if I was going to be out for more than a couple hours.

I had great results because I never took the damn things off. I think the worst stretch I had was about 3 hours and it hurt like hell when I put them back on.

Also, I had to get 4 teeth removed because my mouth was too crowded. I got dry sockets from 2 of them which hurt pretty bad for a couple weeks.

All in all, it was a painful experience but I got the results I wanted. Definitely worth it if you value what your face looks like. If you can't handle wearing them ALL THE TIME, then don't bother because it won't do anything.
Click to expand...

Thanks! This is helpful. I was worried about having to go back to him for adjustments every 3-4 wks, mainly b/c I'd have to fly back (only 1.5 hr flight, but probably still stressful to deal w/ during med school). I will probably just ask him to refer me to an orthodontist located closer to the med school.

Ah yes, I remember the lisp (say it, don't spray it) and carrying around the toothbrush and floss w/ the special lasso back in the day...can't wait for braces again.
 
I'll probably get them at some point again 🙁 I should have kept up with my retainers.
 
just the idea makes me shudder **puts in retainers**. brings back some memories.

adult braces are totally fine, i see it all over my hospital. believe or not, they aren't supposed to hurt THAT bad (per dentist friend). if it hurts so bad you can't eat/chew/have to take tylenol, they are way too tight.
 
My clear retainers (go over your teeth like invasalign) that I got after getting my braces off are much more uncomfortable than my braces ever were. I only wear them at night because I cannot stand to wear them when I'm awake. If invisalign feels like my retainers do, I would caution you.

Again, I think clear/white braces are the way to go. Thousands of dollars cheaper.
 
**** it man, i've never been to a dentist all my life and i'm 22 years old. My teeth are pretty healthy except that there are nice wide gaps between each tooth on my lower jaw and a gap between the front two teeth on my upper jaw.
I know I have to get it fixed and the longer I wait, the more akward it's going to be. I'm going to get my braces in med school. Hopefully that will keep me from chasing women (the primary thing I wasted time on in undergrad) and help me get those A's 😀
 
Are patients less likely to trust doctors with funny-looking teeth?
 
Thank God that I can finally have braces off my teeth before my interviews (if I will be lucky enough to have any, lol 😀)..
 
do ceramics. they're much cheaper and easier to do than lingual or invisilign and look much better than traditional.
 
Morsetlis said:
Just ask him to be aggressive w/ the tightening ;p

By the way: IT HURTS. OH GOD IT HURTS.

But not as bad as that hemorrhoidectomy.

Now that was... something.
Click to expand...

with the new-ish Damen system, no tightening required, so not that painful.

i got braces at 23, in grad school. ugh. i felt self conscious for a while but you get used to it and so does everybody else. i agree that its better to get it over with ASAP though. luckily i got them off before i started applying/interviewing.

i also noticed lots of braces at my MCW interview. random.

i don't know if you are a guy or girl, and whether you are single. but at the time i got them, i was single, and thought i'd be doomed to stay that way for the next two years because of them. not the case at all. i think i actually got more (positive) attention with them on then i had been getting right before i got them. maybe because then i reminded dudes of the cheerleader with braces they liked in high school, but whatever the reason it was pretty cool. anyway now that they are off i am so glad i had them. i dont regret doing it, like you, it was something i always wanted. so i am glad i went ahead and got it over with so i could stop obsessing over it.
 
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