I've been told ever since I was in primary school that I should have braces, but I never did because my mum didn't want to cause me the pain that went along with having them. So I went happily into adulthood braces-free, and I probably would have continued that way into middle age and beyond if I hadn't noticed some movement in my teeth over the last year or so. It was becoming uncomfortable to chew, and I thought that I should probably get things looked at once and for all, to avoid more problems later.
So I went to the dentist for a checkup, and to enquire about getting braces. He referred me to an orthodontist, although I procrastinated for a couple of months before finally calling and making an appointment in June. I was extremely pleased with the initial consultation. He was very thorough, and gave me a little mirror so I could see for myself what the issues were that he would be addressing with treatment, and he explained everything very clearly. It was honestly the best dental consultation I'd ever had, because it was the first time that I hadn't felt that I was being rushed out the door so they could see the next patient.
At that initial consultation, he asked whether I had any questions, and at the time my main one was how long I'd have to have the braces on for. Someone I know had braces recently and he only had to have his for 5 months, so I was hoping that since my teeth weren't too bad (or so I thought) that I might get away with something similar - even a year would be pretty good. Unfortunately my hopes were dashed when I was told that treatment would be two years. It was what I'd realistically been expecting, but it was still a bit difficult for me to hear.
I had several moulds and x-rays made and photos taken, and I went back to see him a week later to find out his suggestions for treatment. I was given two options - I could have surgery to lengthen my jaw and then braces, but with no extractions, or I could choose a surgery-free option, but with one extraction and braces.
At the end of that appointment, he said that he'd send me a letter outlining everything we'd discussed, as well as the options for treatment, and for me to let him know if I wanted to proceed.
There began more procrastination. I was still thinking about the surgery versus an extraction, and I didn't know what to do.
I decided to get another opinion, so I saw the orthodontist that the guy I knew was going to. Since I'd already had the x-rays done, they were just sent over to his office, ready for my appointment. I went to see him in August and I wasn't happy with him at all. He didn't give me any indication that he'd even looked at the x-rays, and he said that I'd need braces but with no extractions and no surgery. This had me worried because the other orthodontist had explained very clearly and logically what would happen if I had braces with no extractions or surgery, so it didn't give me much confidence in the second ortho. He just struck me as a little incompetent.
After my appointment with him, I was feeling pretty unsettled; I hadn't felt comfortable with him, and I kept thinking of questions to ask him once I'd left and it was too late. The fact that I felt a bit rushed didn't really give me the motivation to see him again.
So, after more procrastination, I rang the first ortho in September and went back to see him with a list of questions that I'd written down. He was very patient and answered every single one to my satisfaction. A big question of mine was whether to go with surgery or not, but he didn't want to be drawn in one way or the other in saying which option I should take. I eventually asked him whether there'd be any significant benefits to having the surgery over not, and he said there weren't, so that decided things for me. To be honest, I was scared of having surgery because of the obvious change it would make to my profile, and I was worried that if the surgeon made a mistake, I'd end up with a profile I hated. I know it sounds paranoid, and plenty of people have completely successful procedures done, but it really did concern me.
So I said that I'd like to proceed with the non-surgical treatment. I was initially scheduled to have the extraction in early October, then spacers a couple of weeks later and braces a week after that, but I was going overseas for a few weeks at the beginning of November and I would only have had the braces for a week before having to leave, and I was worried that I might not be used to them or something. So I rescheduled the appointments for when I got back home.
I had the extraction on November 23rd. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be, which I think was at least partly due to me expecting it to be so awful! I'd never had any injections at the dentist (I've never had a filling), so I didn't know what to expect. The dentist was great, though, and the anaesthetic and extraction went fine, although my roots snapped as he was trying to take the tooth out, so he had to dig them out separately and put a stitch in. He prescribed antibiotics and told me to take painkillers. Fortunately I didn't experience any pain at all after the extraction, so I stopped taking the painkillers after the first day.
The spacers were put in on December 6th., and they were a rather different story pain-wise. I was very sore for the first few days, with the pain level slowly decreasing until finally disappearing yesterday. It's still a little uncomfortable to chew, but at least it doesn't take me 25 minutes to eat a sandwich any more!
And as my last meal before getting braces, I went out and had Mexican for dinner tonight. Yummy! The up side to the pain was that I wasn't been snacking between meals because there was nothing really in the house that I could comfortably eat
So that's my story so far. I'm getting my upper braces and some lower (not all, because I have an overbite and there isn't enough room at the moment to put brackets on the front lower teeth) put on tomorrow (December 13th), with the rest of the lowers in a few months, and I'm actually looking forward to it. As for what brackets I'm getting, I'm having Damon 3mx on the lower teeth and some of the uppers, but for the front 6 upper teeth I'm still trying to decide between clear or having 3mx all round. I thought I'd decided on all metal, but then I change my mind and I think I'm back to the clear again. I wish I knew what to do! I'll ask to see the metal and clear brackets side by side and I'll just have to decide then. I haven't been able to find many photos of the 3mx and I'm worried about how they're going to look on my teeth, since the brackets look quite large and my teeth aren't that big. Maybe the pictures I've seen haven't given me an accurate idea of how they'll look, I don't know.
I keep thinking that if I hadn't taken so long since my first appointment to decide what to do, I could possibly have had braces for 4 or 5 months already, but I'm well on my way now and I'm looking forward to getting started after so many years of putting it off!
), while he saw a couple of other patients, and then he came back to me. Next he fitted the molar bands, which felt a bit awkward but wasn't too bad, and marked them in the spots where he'd have to weld the tubes. Then the bands came off while he welded, and that was it for the second stage. So far so good! I read more of the magazine, and looked with envy at the girl in the chair next to me who had already gone through the braces journey and was on to retainers, and had just finished Year 10 this year (I heard her telling the ortho 
I've done it a couple of times since then, though, and I think I'm improving!
Maybe it's a case of not being used to the look of myself in braces, but I'm wondering whether I should have gone all-metal after all. Ah well, it's another thing to get used to, and it's only the first day - once my teeth start moving and the brackets line up a bit better, I might like them more.