Considering braces again 20 yrs after getting the first lot

[steviesloth]

Hi guys

I'm 34 years old and had braces originally when I was 11-14 years old, then a retainer (sort of) for another year following.

I had major "buck teeth" back then and although they were straight when the braces came off, there was still a fairly "narrow" smile / jawline and only the first 4-6 teeth were visible when smiling.

Several years ago I noticed the smile seemed to be getting more and more narrow and now I definitely have a very noticeable overjet (I think as opposed to a general overbite). I can put a pencil between my 4 frontmost upper and lower teeth when biting down.

It used to just bother me when I smiled, as all you can see are those 4 front teeth, but now I think even when not smiling, my lower face looks sort of...a bit flat / sunken around the jaw area as the bite is so narrow and sharply angled back without much fullness or width. Also, when my mouth is closed, I often find I am holding my lips a bit weirdly. Either the top front teeth are slightly out, or I have to "pout" to cover them properly, which is not really ideal! lol

I don't know if braces would help me, as I've heard adult teeth are more stubborn than children's teeth and my teeth moved back after 4 years of braces so what's to stop them doing the same thing now?

I also can't afford the $8,000 it'd cost me. I don't know if health insurance covers this sort of thing in Australia.

Anyway, sorry to blab on! Very pleased to be here!

[sweetcynic]

I had similar dental issues(overjet, lip incompetence which is the technical term for having your teeth stick out when you relax your lips). In my particular case I had some treatment as a child with a palate expander when I was 5-7, it didn't really produce long term results, I was getting braces recommended again when I was 11, neither I nor my parents were too keen on paying for/going through what we feared would again give unstable results. My teeth were actually fine by the time I was in high school, but then when my wisdom teeth came in, they got really bad, and I hated them. I do suspect that any nonextraction treatment(and possibly extraction) treatment I might have had at 11 would have been ruined by my wisdom teeth. Anyway, long story short, I got 2 upper premolar extractions and am in the process of having my top teeth pulled back in order to address my overjet and lip incompetence, along with other things.

[steviesloth]

Lip incompetance. That sounds very strange. lol. Not that actual thing that it is, but just the name strikes me as funny.

Anyway, I don't have a LOT of lip incompetance, but it is there. As a kid, I used to always be biting my bottom lip just cause that's where my teeth rested all the time. Now it's not anywhere near as bad, but I'm just aware of always holding my mouth in slightly unnatural ways to try and get a "natural" look. I can never get one no matter what position I put my mouth / lips in.

I also noticed this more over the past year or so when I've been doing some webcam work and am more accustomed to watching myself on camera, talking, smiling, from different angles and facial expressions. Mostly I'm ok but I just notice I don't really look quite how I used to in the mouth area, and it displeases me greatly.

[Ciara]

I also had braces as a child, ages 8-10, and 13-15, for an anterior cross-bite, diastema (I could put a gummy bear between my front teeth) and an over jet. I had a retainer for several years but my teeth have moved again. Now I have a deep bite and a posterior cross-bite. From reading this board there seems to be a lot of us on our second round. My ortho said too that adult teeth move more slowly and she prefers to be more cautious with adults so as to prevent root resorption. I've been told 3 years and they go on this month, Nov. 23rd. I've also told I will have a "retainer for life" so as to stop them from moving again!
Anyway, welcome to the board!

Ciara

[Ashybear]

Hi guys

I also can't afford the $8,000 it'd cost me. I don't know if health insurance covers this sort of thing in Australia.

Anyway, sorry to blab on! Very pleased to be here!

Health insurance can cover some of it in Aus.. Just depends on who you're with and what kind of cover you have. I have extras cover with HCF, and orthodontic treatment accrues at something like $440 a year per year you've held your cover. So once I paid my deposit for my braces ($2400), I got something like $1320 back from HCF I also pay off my treatment at $235 per month, so ultimately my treatment, whilst at the end will have cost me something like $8000, doesn't seem so costly on a month to month basis

[plugnickel69]

I'm on my secong go round 50 years after my original start. It was bite issues for me. As others have said here it's no big deal as far as the rest of the world is concerned, and I can tell you the process is a whole lot easier than it used to be when I was a kid. Expense can be an issue, but you want to keep your teeth for life, and you may find as I did after consultation that there are more problems than you realized. You certainly want to keep things from getting worse.

Please choose a cetified orthodontist, not a dentist. Make sure it is someone you can talk to and question without feeling intimidated. And good luck!

[SuperSeven]

I've just started braces round two at age 41 after having had braces as a teenager.
You'd probably want a retainer after the braces to keep the teeth in place.