Intro + a question about ratio of men vs. women in braces

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Update: ortho consult was today, still need to talk to an OMS to find out more. The ortho wasn't sure about whether or not a SARPE would be needed first because a lot of the crossbite is both dental and skeletal. I don't see any version of me not going through with this and I've come to grips with it mentally, unless there is some weirdo anatomical variation that would make it a bad idea it's going to happen one way or the other.

I didn't bother asking about the gender ratio because it really doesn't matter anyway, but I will say that from what I've seen lately women outnumber men by at least 4:1.

Reverse overjet of -14.4mm (seemed pretty high, but that's what he said)...outstanding! Can't wait to see that when it's decompensated

[Prometheus]

SC: Sorry for being late to the discussion. I'm a guy and went through with full braces at 58, I'm now 60 and looking at at least another year. My crossbite was/is unilateral, just on one side. I never had it fixed when I should have, and over time it caused me to develop arthritis in my TMJ. The TMJ pain was extreme so I had no choice but to finally fix it. As everyone else here has said, few people have commented about my braces and none were negative in any way. I think you made the right decision to fix it now, at 40, which is better than at 60! Best of luck with your journey. -P

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SC: Sorry for being late to the discussion. I'm a guy and went through with full braces at 58, I'm now 60 and looking at at least another year. My crossbite was/is unilateral, just on one side. I never had it fixed when I should have, and over time it caused me to develop arthritis in my TMJ. The TMJ pain was extreme so I had no choice but to finally fix it. As everyone else here has said, few people have commented about my braces and none were negative in any way. I think you made the right decision to fix it now, at 40, which is better than at 60! Best of luck with your journey. -P

Thanks, the ortho also said that I'm extremely lucky to have no TMJ at all except occasional popping on the right side when I open really wide (his expression was more like WTF??? How is this even possible?). I'm in the same situation with the rest of the issues, trying to ignore the problems only makes them get worse so there is no point in me waiting any longer and there is always the possibility that I'll have TMJ issues start crashing down all of a sudden.

Otherwise, I didn't hear anything that I didn't already expect from reading the information on this forum and elsewhere, it's the standard 18 months in braces, then surgery (assuming no expansion first), then up to a year after that to finish off.

[BattaliaF26]

I ran into a male friend the other day (i am female) who he has VERY crooked teeth, i was talking about my braces and he told me that i should indeed fix my teeth cause i am a woman while his are not a big deal because he is a man. I found that funny since his teeth are way worse than mine but he somehow thinks i am the one with the ugly smile that needs fixing...

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I ran into a male friend the other day (i am female) who he has VERY crooked teeth, i was talking about my braces and he told me that i should indeed fix my teeth cause i am a woman while his are not a big deal because he is a man. I found that funny since his teeth are way worse than mine but he somehow thinks i am the one with the ugly smile that needs fixing...

Thanks for mentioning that, I've noticed that the people who mention in blogs and elsewhere that others have commented on their teeth seem to be all women, as bad as mine are no one has ever commented on them, not even once (and I used to work in sales too, plus now lecturing to large groups on a daily basis). I think it's more socially acceptable for men to be "rough around the edges," and TBH if it was only a cosmetic issue I wouldn't go down this road with all the aggravation, risks, and expense involved. I would also hazard a guess that women are way more likely to talk about each other's appearances, where with men the conversation will more likely be about each other's cars.

I'm going to drop in to the office of the OMS I was referred to tomorrow and ask about insurance coverage first off, before I set an appointment or pay any consultation fees. They seem to be really proud of their fancy office in their website, which always means gimme more $$$$$. I'm ok with the ortho I saw, he was willing to answer all of my questions and wasn't in any hurry to rush me out the door. He's been practicing for about 10 years, the other ortho that he's teamed up with started out in the late 1970's, which probably explains the lack of any online presence.

I noticed on my pano that the root of either #8 or #9 actually crosses the line where they open up the gap for a SARPE, so if they tell me that I have to have braces for x months before even that can take place I wouldn't be surprised either.

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Update......both good and bad news.

Good:

1. No SARPE needed, the amount of expansion that can be done with a LeFort is sufficient. A lot of the crossbite is dental, so that makes it look worse than it really is from a skeletal level.
2. The OMS I consulted with won't balance bill for the jaw surgery even though he isn't in network on my insurance, I'm told that it's a favor to the orthodontist I'm working with because they've been working together for quite a while.
3. He says that getting approval from Anthem BC isn't an issue, my measurements are wacko enough that they can't argue that it's a borderline case.

Bad:

1. The OMS doesn't accept my dental insurance and I need all wisdom teeth out, since he's not going to charge above and beyond the insurance reimbursement for the jaw surgery I still may come out ahead if I just pay out of pocket for that. I don't know how critical it is but it seems like it's better to only deal with one OMS, rather than going all over town and having work done piecemeal by different surgeons. I could get that part fully covered by dental insurance with a different OMS, then potentially wind up with a bill for $10k for the jaw surgery fee which could make the total cost substantially more.
2. I have some kind of weird cyst right above my upper incisors that will have to be addressed at the same time as the wisdom teeth, it's not an abscess but it's pretty large and some tooth roots are actually curved around it. Apparently they go in and clean it out, then it refills with bone over a certain period of time.
3. Double jaw....just as I figured. BSSO is also needed

Other than the cyst, no surprises at all, what he told me was exactly what I predicted from looking at blogs and case studies. It's still depressing to hear it confirmed though.....

[FlossWrangler]

You already know that most adults in braces are women, I have no idea of the ratio. I've been in braces for about 20 months and have only ever seen two other men in the ortho's office. Probably only about 5 women.
My teeth weren't all that bad - several people were surprised I got braces since they thought I already had straight teeth. Most of my problem was crowding of the mandibular teeth that caused a lot of wear on my anteriors and extremely tight contacts in the molars. It's actually easier to floss now with my braces on than it was before them.
I still feel like I made the right decision to go through with ortho treatment. In your case, you will be so glad in a few years that you did this and will only regret not having done it sooner. I've taken care of a lot of people having LeFortes and BSSO. They all look horrendous for the first few days, but when they recover the results are life-changing. One of the OMS I used to work with told me that most married women who have these surgeries end up getting divorced because they realize they're now so much better-looking than their husbands!

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You already know that most adults in braces are women, I have no idea of the ratio. I've been in braces for about 20 months and have only ever seen two other men in the ortho's office. Probably only about 5 women.
My teeth weren't all that bad - several people were surprised I got braces since they thought I already had straight teeth. Most of my problem was crowding of the mandibular teeth that caused a lot of wear on my anteriors and extremely tight contacts in the molars. It's actually easier to floss now with my braces on than it was before them.
I still feel like I made the right decision to go through with ortho treatment. In your case, you will be so glad in a few years that you did this and will only regret not having done it sooner. I've taken care of a lot of people having LeFortes and BSSO. They all look horrendous for the first few days, but when they recover the results are life-changing. One of the OMS I used to work with told me that most married women who have these surgeries end up getting divorced because they realize they're now so much better-looking than their husbands!

Thanks for the encouragement, appointment for wisdom teeth is set for a Friday in mid Feb. unless I chicken out and change my mind. I hope I can make it back to work the following Monday, it's not too bad though because I only have to lecture for 2 hours with a 3 hour break in between so if I have to go and lay down in the car I'll have time. I'm already going to have to cancel class that Friday, I have to limit the cancellations as much as I can because these are engineering classes and it plays hell with the lab schedules.

I have the same problem with flossing, several of my upper molars are so tight together that when I had some fillings done last week my general dentist wasn't even able to get the matrix band in all the way and had to trim it with scissors. I have to pull really hard to get floss in there, and sometimes it snaps into my gums which makes them bleed. I hate to even think of the spacers, just having a little bit of something stuck between two teeth with no floss immediately at hand is already unbearable

Happy New Year everyone

[verso]

I ran into a male friend the other day (i am female) who he has VERY crooked teeth, i was talking about my braces and he told me that i should indeed fix my teeth cause i am a woman while his are not a big deal because he is a man. I found that funny since his teeth are way worse than mine but he somehow thinks i am the one with the ugly smile that needs fixing...

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Even if one were to minimize or think little of the aesthetic benefits of orthodontic work, what about the long-term health benefits? It's really a form of preventative dentistry.

I'm a guy, and I like to take care of myself; I like to look good, look presentable. I understand that other guys may not feel the same way, may not want to put as much thought into styling their hair or picking out their outfits. That's fine. But your teeth? Your smile? Come on! Has nothing to do with what's masculine or what's feminine.

[djspeece]

I ran into a male friend the other day (i am female) who he has VERY crooked teeth, i was talking about my braces and he told me that i should indeed fix my teeth cause i am a woman while his are not a big deal because he is a man. I found that funny since his teeth are way worse than mine but he somehow thinks i am the one with the ugly smile that needs fixing...

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Even if one were to minimize or think little of the aesthetic benefits of orthodontic work, what about the long-term health benefits? It's really a form of preventative dentistry.

I'm a guy, and I like to take care of myself; I like to look good, look presentable. I understand that other guys may not feel the same way, may not want to put as much thought into styling their hair or picking out their outfits. That's fine. But your teeth? Your smile? Come on! Has nothing to do with what's masculine or what's feminine.

Well said, verso. My main motivation for braces was to correct issues that my dentist identified and for downstream benefits; cosmetic issues were a distant second. Unfortunately verso I think we have to conclude that many of our colleagues of the XY persuasion are idiots.

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Ortho treatment hasn't started yet and already a taste of chronic suffering...I had fillings done on #4, #14, and #15 at the same appointment last month and they were all severely and equally sensitive to chewing, hot, and cold. I had one really deep filling done on a lower molar last summer and it wasn't sensitive to chewing but took quite a while for the temperature sensitivity to go away, so I thought I would also be a hero and wait it out this time...not. #4 has been getting better, but the other side never improved then got much worse after 3 weeks.

Drilling irritates the nerve and can cause sensitivity for a while, but the sensitivity doesn't start improving after a few days call your dentist and have them check your bite to make sure the filling isn't too high. On Monday it will be a month that I've been suffering with this, last week it got so bad that it was impossible to put anything in my mouth that wasn't exactly body temperature and the pain was starting to linger for hours. Even the smallest whiff of cold air would set it off like you wouldn't believe. I would have sworn that the filling wasn't too high but my dentist scolded me for not coming in earlier and said that it was, just a tiny bit, so she trimmed it a little and since yesterday things are starting to improve. If the tooth keeps getting aggravated like this it can turn into irreversible pulpitis, then the next step is the nerve dying and requiring a root canal.

I think she must have been right, now when I bite down the only upper tooth on the left side that makes contact with my bottom teeth at all is #12, better be careful not to clench

I'm going to talk to the OMS who is in network on my dental "insurance" to see if I can avoid paying out of pocket for the wisdom teeth removal, I don't know yet what his consultation schedule is like but I'm most likely going to have to postpone or cancel the existing appointment with the other OMS for this until I find out. I'm not very hopeful because according to the EOC booklet they won't even cover the removal of impacted wisdom teeth (mine aren't even impacted at all) unless they are actually causing problems, but maybe they have a certain way of writing up the case that will get it authorized. My ortho said I could choose to have him do the jaw surgery also but I don't think I will, given that he is very fresh out of school and just bought his practice from another doctor who retired, and has a very limited track record with my ortho. I'm really surprised that the dental insurance covers what it does, the employer contribution is only $26 a month so they must be counting on having a huge pool of patients that need nothing more than cleanings every 6 months.

Oh, and when I stopped by the orthodontist's office last week, I did see a guy in the chair who had to be at least my age or older

[tonyk]

It sounds like you really need some treatment (surgery, ortho, whatever)... Does it really matter how many orthodontic patients are men?

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It sounds like you really need some treatment (surgery, ortho, whatever)... Does it really matter how many orthodontic patients are men?

It doesn't, but I'm one of "those" who love to wallow in useless facts and information.

So, going with the in-network OMS for wisdom teeth will cut my out of pocket cost by 2/3 (extractions are covered, cyst and sleep chemicals aren't).....I guess I'll just throw the EOC booklet away because there doesn't seem to be any point in reading it