Metal Mouth Message Board

Hey everyone! I am new to the forum and just wanted to share my journey to hopefully help others out. I had braces when I was 14-15 and soon after my bottom teeth started moving. As you can see from the picture they have since moved a lot (I am now 24). I always thought it was too expensive and embarrassing to get this fixed, but after reading on this site I got the courage to do it. If anyone is thinking about braces and just wish to have the bottoms fixed here are a couple things I have found- the dentist wont do it if your bite is off. The reason he will do it for me is that the previous round of braces fixed my bite as much as can be fixed. Only the front 4 have shifted. I read on here some people saying that it cost the same for top, bottom or both. Not the case- it is a bit less. A full set would have cost around $5,000. A partial set of lowers (front 6 teeth only, no brackets around the molars) is costing me around $3,000- this is for ceramics. Still pretty pricey, but less. I will still have a slight overjet, but at this point the only thing that could fix it permanently is jaw surgery and I am not willing to do that. I hope this information is helpful! I will keep everyone updated.

Before:
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/ ... ccfb3e.jpg

Getting braced 5/31/07!

Welcome, I looked at your picture and it looks like only 1 tooth is off, but I'm not an orthodontist!

<snip>Only the front 4 have shifted. I read on here some people saying that it cost the same for top, bottom or both. Not the case- it is a bit less. A full set would have cost around $5,000. A partial set of lowers (front 6 teeth only, no brackets around the molars) is costing me around $3,000- this is for ceramics. Still pretty pricey, but less. <snip>
Getting braced 5/31/07!

That is pricey for just 6 teeth I'd think; have you checked other Ortho's to see what they would charge?

Good luck.

Unfortunately I live in a small town and choices for orthodontist are very limited. So I went with the most reputable even though it was a little more than I planned on spending. Even though it is only 6 teeth, the number of visits are the same for a 9 month treatment with a full set so I guess that is where a lot of the cost comes in. It will be worth it in the end though.

Congrats on getting started. You are fortunate that you have the small overjet. I also had relapse on my lower front teeth and kept going from consultation to consultation trying to find an ortho that could just do the lower arch. Since I didn't have an overjet, it simply wasn't possible. I still have the 9-12 month timeframe and was around $3000 even though I had to get braces on both arches. It hasn't been bad though.

He expects 9 months, plus or minus 3 depending on how I respond. I can't wait to get started.