The ortho himself was a great listener and very much able to work with me. He said that surgery was probably the best and easiest option to correct my overbite. I explained to him by anxieties over surgery, mainly the costs (I can't really afford surgery along with the braces, even with insurance), but also the downtime and risks. He said that he has sucessfully treated younger adults like me with Herbst appliances (the ortho at my first consult also gave me this option), and that if a Herbst Appliance didn't fully correct my overjet it would at least mostly correct it, giving me a very good compromise solution to my bite (plus in that case I could elect to do surgery or extractions). He outlined my treatment plan in great detail: I'm sentenced to 31 months (2 1/2 years), more or less.
I had x-rays as part of the consultation, and then for records the assistant took pictures of my teeth and profile and then I had to do impressions. Bleh- those tasted like slightly vanilla-flavored Gak! The impressions were not as bad as I thought they would be, though, I was sure I would gag after reading stories on here (I gag easily) but I didn't.
OK, I'm rambling, but just I'm so excited to be finally getting started! I'm visiting my family for the holidays (leaving on Friday) so I won't be able to get the braces until 2007. Can't wait to get this over with though!
