Like a lot of people, I've needed braces for a long time. I'm congenitally missing my eye teeth (or incisors). This makes my upper arch a lot smaller than the lower, and squeezes the bottom teeth. Family couldn't afford them when I was a kid, so I started looking into them as an adult. My bottom teeth have been twisting for years because of the pressure from the uppers and I have a slight case of TMJ, so it seemed like a good thing to do! The first ortho I saw wanted to break both jaws, expand my upper palate and insert my missing teeth, expand the bottom, remove my never-separated-from-my-jaw lower wisdom teeth and fix the crowding on the bottom. I about fell out of the chair.
Nevermind all the surgery, the cost would have been insane! I didn't go back.Fast forward a few years where I had my upper wisdom teeth removed (easier than I ever imagined!) and the bottom really started to go to hell. My dentist has always been extremely nice, but when one of my bottom teeth moved completely behind the others, he telling me about all the terrible ways I could loose it. I finally scheduled another ortho consult. It was a hard thing though, because I love my dentist, but his office doesn't accept the DMO insurance that gives orthodontic coverage.
But this ortho said my teeth could be cleaned up without surgery, and only about 18 months of braces. I jumped.I have ceramic on the top six, and will have ceramic on the bottom also in about a year or so, once there's room for them! I'll have my canines and first bicuspids rotated to look more like the teeth that *should* be there, and then some grinding and shaping to complete the illusion. The tooth that's behind the rest on the bottom will be pulled.
I'll try to put pictures up once my hubby gets up, I can't get the camera to focus on my teeth instead of my nose!
I feel a bit crazy for taking all this on (especially when my teeth are this sore!) but I know it will be worth it in the end!
