New member with a question!
Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 9:30 pm
Hey all. I'll tell you a little about myself before asking my question. I'm 21 years old and ever since I was 12 or so all the different dentists I've been to (and I've never had the same one for over a year) have been telling me I need braces. I have crowding and this didn't really become an issue until I was 18. Two of my eye teeth came in sticking out over my other teeth and I am still very self conscious about them. I don't like to smile very big because I know they're showing.
A month ago I finally got tired of waiting for my parents to look into getting braces for me so I took the initiative and walked into an orthodontists office on a whim. I made a consultation appointment and before I went in for that I went to get my teeth cleaned with a regular dentist. I was informed that one of my eye teeth were impacted and she said the orthodontist may want me to get that extracted before the braces, which was not what I wanted to hear.
I went in for my consultation. The orthodontist was awesome. I felt very comfortable with him. He told me that four teeth would have to come out but not until after the braces were on for a little while. After he looked at my x rays and did an oral exam, he set me up with their financial consulter. They sent me back for my records and I got upper and lower molds, pictures, and spacers. The first week was torture! All of my teeth hurt and my gums did as well. After 11 days of having the spacers in, I can say that my teeth are no longer sore and I've been back to eating normally, which is wonderful. I'm still scared to brush totally normally back there because I'm afraid they may come out.
Monday is the big day. I'm getting upper and lower braces and later on I will have rubber bands and after 2 and 1/2 years I'll have upper and lower retainers.
So now the question! I've been reading through some of these posts and it seems like it took a lot longer for some people to even get to the records step than me. He didn't really go over types of braces, though it may be due to my insurance.
I'm concerned that it isn't normal for everything to go so fast. Do orthodontists sometimes not take long to come to a conclusion about the need for braces?
A month ago I finally got tired of waiting for my parents to look into getting braces for me so I took the initiative and walked into an orthodontists office on a whim. I made a consultation appointment and before I went in for that I went to get my teeth cleaned with a regular dentist. I was informed that one of my eye teeth were impacted and she said the orthodontist may want me to get that extracted before the braces, which was not what I wanted to hear.
I went in for my consultation. The orthodontist was awesome. I felt very comfortable with him. He told me that four teeth would have to come out but not until after the braces were on for a little while. After he looked at my x rays and did an oral exam, he set me up with their financial consulter. They sent me back for my records and I got upper and lower molds, pictures, and spacers. The first week was torture! All of my teeth hurt and my gums did as well. After 11 days of having the spacers in, I can say that my teeth are no longer sore and I've been back to eating normally, which is wonderful. I'm still scared to brush totally normally back there because I'm afraid they may come out.
Monday is the big day. I'm getting upper and lower braces and later on I will have rubber bands and after 2 and 1/2 years I'll have upper and lower retainers.
So now the question! I've been reading through some of these posts and it seems like it took a lot longer for some people to even get to the records step than me. He didn't really go over types of braces, though it may be due to my insurance.
I'm concerned that it isn't normal for everything to go so fast. Do orthodontists sometimes not take long to come to a conclusion about the need for braces?