New Here and Getting Braced!

Message

#1 Post by **verona** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:42 pm

Hi everyone, I'm so happy to have found these forums! I've been browsing for a few days and have found so much useful information. Let me introduce myself, I'm Verona, 27 years old, and have been thinking about getting braces for a long time. When I was a child, I got into a small accident and it caused my front teeth to tilt inwards. Everyone in my family has perfect teeth, except me, and I have always felt self-conscious about it. When I was younger, a dentist asked if I wanted braces but being young, afraid of pain (the thought of metal living in my mouth terrified me), and scared of being made fun of, I declined. Boy, I wish I had done it then. Years passed and I got used to hiding my teeth behind my hand and finding inventive ways to smile that didn't show so much of my teeth. I actually feel really sad when I think about all the times I wouldn't smile for photos or just in general when talking to people because of how my teeth looked. As time moved on and as I am nearing 30, I finally decided it was time to make a change and stop hiding myself. I have a good job - with a decent dental plan that will help pay for some of the ortho treatment - why not just do it? For a long time I didn't want to get braces because I didn't like the metal look and I just couldn't justify paying that much money just to straighten two teeth (my two front teeth are really the only teeth I have that are crooked!)

For the past couple months, I've been visiting general dentists, orthodontists, and cosmetic dentists. They all told me I wasn't a candidate for the invisible braces because my front teeth were too rotated. I was very bummed by this. For a time, I even considered not doing braces and just getting porcelain veneers done on my front teeth. That was until I got the estimate, $15-20 thousand!! (The cost for teeth whitening and getting the social six teeth veneered to look right together) I also didn't like hearing they'd have to shave off quite a bit of enamel and that it could damage nerves, resulting in root canals. I have pretty healthy teeth overall and don't feel comfortable with getting this amount of work done on them. Comestic dentistry quickly went out the window.

So here I am...back to braces again. The ortho that I am seeing says I have a slight crossbite and that he can straighten my front teeth along with correcting the crossbite in 15-18 months. I am opting for ceramic brackets since I work in a corporate environment and am meetings quite a bit. I am a little nervous about all of this because after doing a lot of reading here, he hasn't given me a lot of information besides this. I asked a lot of common questions, but didn't know about asking more detailed questions about brackets/ligatures/archwires/etc. I also saw a lot of people here are saying you should always get things in writing. I am planning on e-mailing him and asking him about all of this and asking him to provide me something in writing before I go in for the banding session (which is supposed to happen in two weeks!).

Also he never told me about what types he was going to use. I have so many questions for him that I need to type up a page long e-mail! I don't think he uses Damon or Inovation or those types. I think he uses just the traditional ones. What do you think of traditional vs. Damon/Inovation/etc? Have any of you ever been in my situation where you really old had problems with a few teeth? My other concern is that since my front teeth have been crooked for so long, I've sanded the bottoms of them down. Once my teeth become straight, I can already tell that they will have weird round edges instead of lining up next to eachother nicely. That is what led me to looking into veneers in the beginning. I just don't want to go through getting braces, have straight teeth, and then having to get some veneer-type work just to get them to look right. Please let me know if any of you have gone through anything similar to this.

This is such a great support group and I'm so glad to be here. I look forward to sharing my experience here with you once it happens

#2 Post by **OneTime** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:16 pm

WELCOME!

#3 Post by **mert1225** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:07 pm

Welcome Verona!!!

Ive had my braces for 1 year and Im 35. I have full metal and I think they are pretty cool! I've been selfconsience about my teeth all of my life also and they look so great already even with the braces on, I smile all the time. This site is great and it helps you to remember that you aren;t the only one going through it!!! Congrats

#4 Post by **mert1225** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:09 pm

Welcome Verona,

Im 35 and have had my braces for one year. I smile more now with the braces on than I ever did before. They look great in just a short time. Hang in there and remember this site lets you know you are not alone.

#5 Post by **verona** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:46 pm

Thanks so much to everyone for their support and words of advice! I really appreciate it.

#6 Post by **missing_tooth** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:36 pm

Verona,

Welcome, don't be afraid of a little metal in your mouth. I'm 32 and I went with all metal bracets and enjoy having fun with colored ligs. 15 - 18 months of braces is no time. Many others here like myself were given a 3 - 4 year estimated treatment time. Think of it this way, the sooner you start the sooner you finish.

- Missing Tooth -

#7 Post by **sjsarre** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:47 pm

Hi Verona

Congrats on taking the plunge...

I work in a Corporate environment aswell and to be honest hardly anyone has made comment on my teeth and the ones that have, say they are so glad to see an adult taking care of theirs...

I have severe crowding but no problems with my molars at all. However i've had to have teeth removed in order to make room, so the Ortho is moving everything into place nicely.

I have ceramics and agree with KK.. You have to be careful what you eat with regards to staining... I socialise quite a lot and the first few months were difficult, but the braces have grown on me and almost feel part of me now!

#8 Post by **Kris721** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:56 am

Hi and welcome Verona

,

I also decided just before turning 30 to do something to fix my smile. The quick fix of veneers appealed to me too until I saw the price tag. I guess we all have to do it the old fashioned way.

I think you've made an empowering decision and you should be proud of yourself. I figure we work hard for our money and we should use it to better ourselves, even if our initial concern is cosmetic. You'll have your teeth for a long time so it's not just about how you look but about the health of your teeth.

Congrats on your decision and I look forward to seeing your pix and progress.

#9 Post by **MS1** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:13 am

Hi and Welcome!

I'm 40 and work in a professional environment. I opted for all metal with silver ligs. Why try and hide the fact that you are improving your smile? A personal preference I'm sure. I just don't care for the look of the ceramic braces. My treatment time is about the same as yours. 3 months have already flown by for me.

Good luck with your treatment!

#10 Post by **Yvonne1** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:52 am

Hi and welcome Verona!

Congrats on getting braces!

I think I had the same concerns you had. As my ortho told me that ceramics wouldn't work so good in my case I decided to go with full metal Damon 3's on the top and got braced nearly 3 weeks ago.

I got my braces in the morning and had to go to work afterwards. I am in a corporate environment, too, and I was called into a meeting with some of our executives that day. It was a Video-Conference, too, so I could see myself on the TV screen all the time. I was so self conscious I could hardly say anything at first. But all the people really reacted positive, telling me about their kids or wives that had or have braces, too.
Now I really got used to the braces and don't really think about them all the time.

Good luck with your journey,

Yvonne