Considering braces for the third time after ortho messed up my front teeth

[vividi]

I'm 33 and finished my second treatment a year and a half ago. The first one was in my late teens and had a great result, but I stupidly stopped wearing my retainer and eventually relapsed. My second treatment I thought would be very straight-forward as I only had mild crowding.I very naively assumed that any ortho should be able to do this and just went to a random local doctor. I chose metal Damons and he predicted around 1.5 years. Surprisingly it took 2.5 years and I don't know why as he wasn't very communicative. Not only that, but I also wasn't very happy with the result as I had one central incisor protruding a bit. I asked if he could fix that and I regret doing so every day.

Every time he tried it would get worse, then he suddenly rearranged the brackets on my front teeth without telling me what he was about to do so my teeth ended up tilted. I asked him to reverse that and then he just butchered my front teeth, each tooth was tilted in a different direction and had a different length. I was then seen by a more senior ortho at the practice who was borderline rude and mostly made things worse.

After 3 years of braces I ended up with sort of aligned teeth, but a rather unsymmetrical slanted smile and very uneven front teeth. My bite suffered as they rushed the debracing so it's now less comfortable than before the "treatment". Speaking is also weird because of how my central incisors ended up - one sticking out and the other pushed in so I'm sort of hitting it with my lower teeth and it's become quite sensitive.

Every time I look at my teeth I feel like crying as they look off and I know they could have ended up much better. It's really affected my self-confidence and I just can't accept them even after such a long time. I'm very angry at the orthos and myself for letting this happen.

I've since seen several orthos and most of them said these are minor things that are tricky to correct and it could get worse. I'm also aware that I've spent too much time in braces so could end up damaging my bones.

Only one of the orthos I saw, who has great reviews on google, said he could improve it with 4-6 months in upper fixed brace. I'm very tempted to try but also scared it would get worse or that I would completely ruin my teeth. Or maybe I just have BDD and will never be happy with how they look.

I guess the reasonable thing to do is keep wearing the retainer I have which keeps them in an uncomfortable and weird position and spend my money on counselling instead...

I'd really appreciate your thoughts / advice, especially if you've dealt with something similar.

[assertives]

You mentioned that you have consulted a few other orthos, and majority of them have mentioned that the issues are minor and are tricky to fix. Could it be that this really is the best your teeth could get? Perhaps it may not be realistic to cannot compare the result you got when you were in your late teens, to when you are in your 30s, because there will be other issues at play such as aging, gum recession, general wear and tear of teeth and perhaps jaw joints as well, etc? I personally would manage my expectations and be cautious to ask that one ortho what he thinks he could do differently when several others before him have up front told you it would be tricky.

But, aesthetics aside, if your bite has been uncomfortable after treatment, it may be worthwhile to get it sorted out, because bite problems are progressive and degenerative, which will only get worse with time and uneven wear and tear of not just your teeth but also your jaw joints.

That said, there is no such thing as a risk-free treatment. So if you do decide to go ahead for the 3rd time, you should probably be mentally and emotionally prepared that things could get worse, along with other side effects like root resorption. But, whether you have root resorption or not, an x-ray would be able to tell, and from what I have read, generally root resorption do not progress further when the forces applied to the teeth causing the resorption stops. As for damaging your bones, I'm not sure if one could mess up their bones from braces treatment, because from what I've read, our bones are constantly remodeling and regenerating throughout our whole life, but, I'm not a medical professional, so my understanding may be flawed.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, weigh the pros and cons, be fully aware of the potential risks of treatment (or non-treatment) and then make your decision. Also, recognize is that there really is a limit to what orthodontic work can do.

[pcspinheiro]

My only 2 cts are: perfect is the worst enemy of good, and that's why I'm suffering from my treatment. I wanted it good but my ortho had always been aiming for perfect, making things much worse as I let myself go along her plan... If your bite if off maybe that will cause more problems in the future if left unsolved. If it's just a few minor quirks then just learn to let it be...

Good luck with that!

[vividi]

Thank you both for your honest opinions and advice.

@pcspinheiro so sorry that you’re going through this, it’s really unfair to go through so much discomfort, only to end up with more problems. I hope things work out for you!

Basically I went to 4 orthos who all said my teeth don’t look bad and maybe I should leave them as they are, but 2 of them offered treatment (I’m not considering the second one as everything is done by a therapist and you never actually meet the ortho).

I don’t think I’m after perfection anymore, I mostly want to not be in discomfort when I speak, which I think would involve pushing a tooth slightly forward. The other thing is I would really like is to reverse the things that were done without my permission and the damage caused by their sloppy attempts to fix that, just so I’m not reminded about them every time I look at my teeth. The problem is they are really subtle to everyone but me and I guess I have to accept that this has already been done and would be impossible to reverse completely.

I guess I had too high expectations about what braces can accomplish because the first time around I was wearing those old-fashioned removable braces (like Hawley retainer?); then when considering braces as an adult I read that fixed braces were much more precise about how they move teeth as there’s a bracket on each tooth. Since I got a worse result from the fixed braces I thought it must be that the ortho is not very good (I still think he’s not great based on numerous other problems I had with him). I also learned too late that the Damon braces I was in are not the best for making small adjustments, while the ortho acted as if he could do any correction imaginable and never mentioned risks.

So yeah, after 3 years in braces for what was a cosmetic issue to begin with, I feel kind of cheated.

[yogurtyoga]

I booked an appointment with another orthodontist and am going to begin my second braces. The first one is really not good.

[thirdtime]

How are the roots of your teeth?