Braces are a really big deal for me, and I am so happy I found this site to share the experiences with others. I live in a small city with a relatively old-school mindset, so we don't really have a lot of adults who have braces and many still see it as crazy to do it at any age other than a child.
Anyway, I wanted braces years ago. I'm the youngest of 8 kids and my family was wealthy when I was growing up. One sister had braces while she was in high school, and it was just understood eventually I would get them.
I did have lots of dental work done to help with various problems, cavities, overbite, etc. I also hit my front teeth on money bars at age 3 and they didn't grow back until I was 7, so it meant a bit of awkward teeth from the beginning. (And several years being the centre of the school Christmas pagents when we sang "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth".)
In the midst of this, my dentist pulls some teeth and cements a retainer on the top and bottom rows to help shift things into place. I had the retainers for years and when I was about 7 or 8 years old, I notice a piece of what I thought was a popcorn kernel form the evening before down on my low gum lines. I picked at it for a while and soon realized it was a canine tooth with no where to go now that everything has been nicely moved into place.
This was around the same time my parents entered a messy divorce and my mom started battling for child support. My father decided to take his kids off of his benefits and there was no coverage for my dental work. Everything kind of stopped there, I didn't even get to go see a hygenist through my teen years.
In my grad year I knew my teeth were becoming far too bothersome. Turned out I needed my wisdoms pulled. The dentist also figured I would need more teeth pulled and braces eventually. I think the phrase from my dentist was along the lines of "Believe it or not, your mouth is actually too small." Yet, he always failed to provide an explanation as to what we should do about the canine in the bottom of my head that he kind of put there. Had he have put in a spacer to allow for the adult tooth, I wouldn't have the problem. The tooth was also very sharp and rubbed inside my mouth regularly, but he never offered suggestions to correct it.
I went for the wisdoms my first year of College. Paid out of my own pocket almost a grand to have all four removed in the chair. Went right back to school bruised and swollen because my grades couldn't suffer and I was working two jobs part time. It was around that time too that I had to move out of my mother's home because of a sewage back-up and yadda, yadda - long story. That slowed down the time it took to get some of my fillings done, and then I took another break from dental work.
Now I'm 23 and working at a job where I actually have real benefits lol. Of course, orthodontics are not in the package, but it seems the stress comes free. My TMJ started acting up terribly and I was using a $500 splint at nights to try to balance some of the headaches. I have a really public job, so this mess was just not going to work. The crooked teeth I've always disliked were just another component of the frusteration and I figured if anything is going to get done, it should be now. I had my heart set on invasilign because of my profession.
I found an ortho I love and finally felt good about getting dental work, considering I've had a distaste for my dentist over the years. The ortho had me planned for jaw surgery to correct a slight askew I had never really noticed before (just the crooked line of teeth on the bottom row). I couldn't do invasilign, he explained, because of the cost and time it would take. We both settled on ceramics.
But after the consult, he realized I didn't need surgery, only those four dreaded extractions. One of them was the canine in the bottom of my head I've always been so aware of. I think that was the hardest tooth to see go, which is kind of strange I suppose. Most of the others had fillings when I was really young so he figured they'd be the best to go. I came up with the $6,000 and paid up front.
Had the four extractions on July 4. I have quite the big hole left from the canine, but the rest are healing quite well. I kept the teeth and found it surprisingly more emotional than I expected it to be. It's hard to give up some of your teeth and I knew it was bringing me one step closer to the braces.
Had the braces put on July 11. Ceramics on the top, metal on the bottom. I'm looking at 20 months treatment.
The way they sit in my mouth right now makes it hard to see them and many people haven't noticed, which makes me feel much better. I now just continue to remind myself every morning that today is the worst my teeth will look, because every day they are getting better and better, so much that I am already seeing slight improvements on the top front teeth. I also have not had a single problem with my jaw since.
The whole experience has been a bit emotional for me. Feeling pretty alone through all the work, wishing it could have been done when I was younger, and coming to terms knowing some parts of my face will change. I thought I was born with my big, pouty bottom lip, but once my overbite is corrected, the ortho thinks my lips will reduce. I'll also have a sharper jaw line. In the end, it will be good, but it's hard to see that far ahead.
I also started the process of ending a four and a half year long relationship this same month. It's going to be hard to be single through the braces, especially when you feel like you need that bit of reassurance.
To mark the occassion, I just got another tattoo yesterday (like I really needed more pain lol). I've been planning it for quite some time to mark many things in my life and because it is such a pretty tattoo, what better time to get it than when you take a slight hit to your self-esteem. It's a beautiful pink lotus flower coming out of the murky water...
I feel like I've already passed the greatest part of my dental journey, and now I can just enjoy the long process of completion, watching everything take shape. I'm just glad to have a place to share the experiences with others and find some of the great advice like I already have.
Thanks so much for everyone's help, and if you made it to this point in this really long post (sorry) then thanks for reading too.
