Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi All

I'm a 36 yr old mother of 2 darling girls. I work in sales and deal with people everyday.

I have noticed my lower front teeth shifting over the past few years and right now the one that has pushed through to the front is not looking good.

I went to my dentist today and for the first time he suggested I have them looked at by an ortho or let him do Invisalign. He said the ortho may want to work on several areas which, I don't think really bother my appearance nor my bite!

He thinks it's a pretty simple case for an Invisialign treatment but wants me to see an ortho as he noticed a crossbite. My lower pre molars (I think) have actually worn away my canines. I noticed this when I was a kid and never worried. Also the teeth on either side of my front teeth seem to have moved slightly forward. They are at an angle not perpendicular - if that makes sense. It doesn't look bad but I guess he thought it wasn't quite right!

Now I had braces as a kid and I guess my teeth just started to shift all over again in the past few years. I'd prefer Invisalign as I really hated ordinary braces and I like the less visible option!

Well I'm not sure I even want to tackle the cross bite. Just fix the front teeth and move on?

What do you guys think? Worth doing more? Considering regular braces?

I have an appointment with the ortho for 2 weeks time

Thanks

Caroline

Hi Caroline,

Welcome to AW!!! I'm in the same position as you, but I'm 39 year old mother of 3. I also work in sales and deal with people everyday.

I got braced for the second time 4 weeks ago. I had some minor relaspe, and I had developed TMJ over the last couple of years and I'm also a grinder/clencher. I was having issues, I was wearing a nightgard (cost me a fortune), also taking 800mg ibuprofen three times a day for 10 days and doing warm compresses and then from nowhere, I chipped my tooth and finally I had enough and asked my dentist what was next. I went for a ortho consult and one of the findings were that my midlines were off and I had an underbite relationship on the right side of my mouth. Recommended treatment was upper and lower braces and elastics for an estimated treatment time of 12 months. I got the letter in the mail a day or two after my consult and I made the appointment to move forward.

As far as what I think, go for a couple of consults and see what an ortho has to say. I wore upper braces in 1981-82 for 18 months and this time around it has been no big deal. My felt so comfortable with my ortho the minute I met him. He made suggestions and didn't push me which I liked.

Good luck!

B

It's always great to know there are others doing the same.

My jaw has always popped and the dentist has said I'm a TMJ candidate waiting to happen!

I'll let you know what the ortho says.

Later