Has anyone thought braces couldn't sort their teeth out the been pleasantly surprised with the results?

[BertieBeats]

Hi there guys ,I'm a new member and been browsing for the past weeks to get an idea of what to expect with braces. Basically, last year I had a dental implant lower back as my top opposing tooth had over errupted and needed the support. As the errupted tooth was going into the gap we were going to use a temporary crown to slowly move the tooth out the way and make room for the permanent crown. However ,this year my baby tooth on the other side (in place of one of my premolars) felt sore so asked dentist about getting another implant if it fell out but was advised to get braces to close gap instead.

So next month I will be getting fixed ceramic top and bottom braces (£4,000's worth !!) I'm not exactly rolling in money but I have savings and think it's a good investment (that's what I keep telling myself as I have a family so sometimes the guilt creeps up on me when I think of how much I'm spending on my teeth - don't worry, they're not going without ).

So ,this brings me to my question. Has anyone honestly thought their teeth were that bad they couldn't be sorted ? And been happy with the results ? I suppose I just want to make sure I won't be disappointed at the end of the 2-3 years. I also wanted to replace my crown before I got the braces as it's one of the metal ones so with my teeth moving about it might be more visible over time. I was hoping to get it swapped for a porcelain one and worry that if I wait until after braces are off I won't be able to afford it (I wanted to do it now whilst I can afford it). I will ask my orthodontist when I see him but as he's in high demand (a good sign I'm sure ) my next appointment isn't until mid next month. So what would you recommend?

Thanks guys :)

[Ziggy]

I'm only three months in so I can't speak for myself, but I will say I've seen some before and after pictures that blew my mind. Since you are your orthos advertising when all is said and done, if he or she says they can do it I'd trust them.

[BertieBeats]

Thank you. The orthodontist is in high demand in my area hence the 2 month wait between appointments (will be closer together once braces are on ,of course ) so have every faith in him. I think my teeth are horrendous (1 missing tooth ,a dental implant, a big filling and a crowned root canal) but be didn't seem shocked when he looked in my mouth and said my gums and bone density is perfect for braces. He seemed pretty confident he could fix my teeth (yay). It's just the waiting now, lol.

[littlething]

Well, my teeth were such a giant mess before the braces that I was convinced that I'd never get them healthy enough for orthodontics and that I'd end up in dentures instead. So I've been very pleasantly surprised that I was able get them to the point where the orthodontics could be done. I had 4 teeth that couldn't be saved, so that makes my case a bit more complicated in closing the gaps (2 of the teeth that need to be moved are wisdom teeth). I'm still very early in my treatment (6 weeks in), so we will see how everything turns out, but I really have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly everything is moving,and I have complete faith in my ortho, so I am very excited for the final result!

[BertieBeats]

Makes me feel better :) I had a premolar and molar removed at bottom when I was a kid (right next to each other) and have had one implant in its place to hopefully support upper molar as it over erupting. I'm a bit precious with my teeth now as you can imagine, lol , so hoping the one baby tooth remaining (upper premolar) will be the only tooth he'll be removing. Hope your treatment works out well for you. Once I get the braces on I'll record it on here as hopefully it'll give other people thinking of getting braces some hope.

Thank you.

[littlething]

Good luck with your treatment! The advice I have for you is to make sure you like and trust your ortho, and ask lots of questions! My case took a lot of planning, and it was 9 months between my first ortho consult and when I got braced (some of that time was to get the restorative work done, and also I took a 2 month break over the holidays). My treatment planning has been a collaborative effort between me, my dentist, and my ortho, and my ortho made absolutely sure that my treatment plan was realistic and do-able before he gave me anything in writing. It was frustrating to have a lot of unknowns at first, but I feel confident that there will be no surprises along the way, and I absolutely trust my ortho. Make sure they're not just telling you what you want to hear.

Looking forward to following along with your progress.