My teeth...just because!

[musicalme]

Hi all! I'm bored. And obsessing. Boredly obsessing? The follow up appointment to my initial consultation is a week from tomorrow and I definitely have braces on the brain! I'm equally worried that they will tell me I need something that is a deal-breaker (surgery, possibly extractions) as I am that they won't tell me anything at all, like at my first appointment. If the latter happens, and I have no more information than I currently do, I'll never be able to decide!

Ahem...

Anyway, my husband is tired of hearing about it (he's too nice to admit it), so I thought I'd come obsess to you guys for awhile. You don't mind, do you? Here's what I know so far:

*I have moderate crowding, upper and lower
*More specifically, my two front teeth overlap slightly and my right lateral incisor sticks out a little. On the bottom I have one rotated tooth and some general mild wonkiness.
*When the ortho was looking at my bite, I heard her say 4mm overjet and 50% overbite. I really feel like my overjet is a little bigger than that though. I also told her that I didn't think my molars touched (just my canines) but I'm not sure she believed me.

I attached the picture that made me decide to look into this ("wow, is that what it looks like to everyone else?"). Sometimes when I look in the mirror it still looks that bad to me. Other times, it just looks like me!

Thanks for letting me share! Would love some funny/interesting stories (braces related or otherwise) to give me something other than my teeth to think about for the next week!

[musicalme]

Here's one more photo to show why I'm so confused and change my mind 12 times a day. This was taken within a month or two of the first one, and it looks fine to me! I'm sure it's all about angle and lighting, but which one do I go with?

[carolyndowdy]

lol......I had mine overlap like that too. I am 15 months into treatment. My hubby gets tired of me obsessing about it too. Crazy part is I stared at 51 years old and I still obsess. I want this over so I have some time to enjoy straight. teeth.

[Tobilei]

I was the same once I knew I had an appointment. My teeth, while in an up close photo look bad, didn't look horrendous from a small distance and most people never even noticed my issues. Once I saw my ortho though he told me if I didn't do something about it, the gaps in front could get worse as I got older but I wouldn't be able to change it and that with the issues I had at the back that this could actually save me in the long run (for example I will only need 1 implant or crown/bridge, not 2). In the end I decided that it was worth it not to have big problems later on.

Good luck with your follow up and feel free to obsess as much as you need to! I think all of us here are currently a little teeth obsessed

[redwine]

I've been obsessed about my teeth since... well, forever. Now that I have begun to get them fixed properly, I find myself checking out everyone else's teeth! However, my teeth were/are much worse than yours to beging with. Get the braces - or at least a consult (or two) and be done with it. It's kind of fun watching the changes, and at the end: voila, a lovely smile that will make you proud! I've got a long way to go, but already feel better just for having done something about it.

[Ellabelle]

My teeth are very similar to yours. One front tooth slightly overlaps the other, so it's totally a lighting/ angle issue as to how they look in a picture, sometimes normal sometimes wonky. Some lower crowding, overbite, overjet. After thinking about it for years, wavering between "theyre fine" and "I really want braces" since my preteens, I'm finally taking the plunge at 25. Making the decision has made me even more tooth-obsessed, if that's possible. My fiancé is probably getting a little sick of hearing about it too, and so this site is such a great outlet for me. He's happy I'm so excited though, and he's actually getting braced the same day, so I'll have a buddy in all this.

Yes, feel free to obsess as much as you need to. And for what it's worth, after reading dozens (or maybe even hundreds by now) of stories and blogs from adults who got braces, none have expressed ANY regret about doing it, except maybe that they didn't do it sooner.

Good luck at your follow up and keep us posted. And your teeth are gorgeous, by the way.

[musicalme]

So glad I'm not the only one obsessing! Ellabelle - thank you for the compliment on my teeth! That's actually one of the reasons why I've been so unsure about going through with this. I don't have the same story as many on here of being embarrassed to smile and show my teeth. They've really never bothered me until recently, but lately I've been looking at recent pictures and I don't like the shadow that frequently shows up on my front tooth. But I've never been one to be particularly concerned about my looks, so I'm having trouble justifying this to myself.

My other worry is that maybe I'm trying to fix something that isn't broken in the first place. Yeah, my teeth overlap, and yeah, my back teeth don't touch, but it's not like it's causing me any serious problems right now (other than inefficient chewing!). It seems like there's been a lot of stories on here about people having bad results from braces and I don't want to end up with worse teeth from all of this.

On the other hand, I have at least partial coverage through my employer that I may not have in 12 months, so it would be to my benefit to move on this now.

On the other other hand, I just can't picture what 2 years in braces will be like, and that scares me. A lot.

*Sigh* My husband tells me I worry too much. Gee, I wonder where he got that idea?

[Ellabelle]

I can totally relate to your arguments for vs against getting braces. I know it's a huge decision that can be harder to make when the problem isn't huge. If you have partial coverage from your employer now, that sounds like a compelling reason to get the ball rolling on treatment. Yes, 2 years with braces does seem like an insanely long time. That's my sentence too. But the thing is, those 2 years will pass regardless. I figure the sooner I get them on the sooner I can get them off and enjoy the rest of my life with a great smile. Cosmetic issues aside, a healthy bite is important for even tooth wear, so you can keep all those pretty teeth til you're 100.

You'll probably waver back and forth a bunch more before you finally make a decision, but we all do it, and this is a great place to obsess with others who have braces-brain (and give our significant others a break!)

[Dee17]

Hi,
Just wanted to comment about your posting. I think that when you're facing a huge decision such as trying decide whether or not to get braces, it's normal to become somewhat "obsessed" with the idea. I think we've all been through that process. It will pass. It sounds like you have some very good reasons to pursue treatment. As Ellabelle said, the two years will pass regardless so don't let the length of time of treatment stand in your way. I also got a two year sentence and it seemed completely overwhelming when he first told me. Now, after having been in my braces for almost three months, it doesn't seem so bad. In fact,I really don't know where the last three months has gone, they've gone by so quickly. The time will fly by and when you're all finished you will have an even prettier smile than the one you have right now. Don't be nervous. You'll be making a good, positive decision for yourself and your long-term dental health.

[musicalme]

Had my follow up consultation today. Turns out if I really want to fix everything (profile and bite) I will need surgery. As I am in nowhere near the mental readiness to go for surgery, not to mention I had never given my profile a second thought prior to this, my second option is braces and a forsus to move my bottom teeth forward. The good news is no extractions will be needed.

Still don't know what I am going to do. The forsus looks complicated and scary. I think part of me hoped they would tell me something major, like "your teeth will fall out if you don't get braces" to make the decision easier. Instead, I have to decide purely on the basis of whether straight teeth is important enough to me to go through all this, and I just don't know.

[Ellabelle]

I know the feeling. I'll have an appliance with my braces too, somewhat like the forsus (and another consult specifically recommended the forsus). I figured we regret the things we don't do more than the things we do. I've never heard of someone wishing they hadn't gotten treatment. But it is a lot harder to make that decision when the alternative isn't that bad. Sleep on it. You'll know what you should do, trust your intuition. And keep us posted. Good luck making your decision, my similar-mouthed friend.

[Dee17]

Sounds like a big decision. But I agree with Ellabelle, sleep on it. Things may seem clearer after you do that. Keep in touch with us.

[Ellabelle]

How're you feeling today, mm?

[musicalme]

Better! I thought long and hard about it and decided if I didn't do it, it would be because I'm scared, and I don't want to give in to my fear. Plus, I think I was worried that other people would think I'm dumb for wanting braces since my teeth aren't that bad, but I realized if they're bad enough to bother me, that's all that matters.

That being said, I think I'm going to wait at least a month or two to get started. We just started looking to buy a house this week (our first!) and I can only think about one major life change at a time!

How are you doing with your new braces?

[Ellabelle]

Atta girl. It's something you're doing for YOU and so your opinion is really the only one that matters. As women we often spend a lot of time, energy, and thought caring for/about others, and I think doing something purely for ourselves is a beautiful, rare, positive thing.

Congrats on beginning the hunt for your first home, how very exciting!!

I'm doing good, a little sore but it's all in the name of progress, so I'll take it.

Keep us posted on everything!