I've been lurking around in here for about the past month. I've probably read hundreds of threads and a lot of your personal braces stories. I was really inspired by everyone's stories and seeing the progress really made me feel confident that I was making the right decision in getting braces. I'm hoping I might be able to give someone that same extra push!
So, here goes:
I'm 20 years old. I'm from Vermont, originally, but I'm about to finish my junior year in college in Rhode Island. I always wanted to have perfectly straight teeth, and as I got older I became much more aware of my crowded lower teeth. I remember telling my dentist about it and he told me that while he did see mild crowding, it wasn't something he would refer someone to the orthodontist over and that it would not be covered under insurance as it was strictly "cosmetic". That's where there's a long pause in my story. I spent the next 8 years or so getting a little twinge in my gut every time I saw someone with a perfect smile, wishing I could be one of them.
When I was 19, I went to a cosmetic dentist. One of my new obsessions was the fact that my upper laterals were quite a bit undersized (both width-wise, and length-wise). It made my whole smile seem off proportionally, and I was really self-conscious about it. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with my teeth. When I expressed this to the cosmetic dentist, however, he told me that there wasn't anything he could do (by way of veneers or bonding) on one of the sides because one of my bottom front teeth was basically rotated so it was in the way. He suggested I see an orthodontist.
But, I was leaving for France for 5 months (study abroad), so that was going to have to wait. Finally, after I got back and settled in, I made some phone calls to get referrals from local dentists on which orthodontists they preferred (this wasn't my area, remember). I made a consultation, went in, and got a great vibe from the office. It was clean, warm, the staff was great. It's a very small practice, one orthodontist and his assistant/receptionist. He answered my millions of questions and we scheduled another day for molds/xrays. A few weeks later, I was going in for the review of my treatment plan. As it turns out, I have the crowding on the bottom teeth and my laterals are undersized, but my biggest problem from a functional standpoint is my 50% overbite (turns out my first dentist was wrong, it wasn't strictly cosmetic). The orthodontist is going to fix that, and collaborate with the cosmetic dentist to decide how much space he is going to make so the laterals can be built up later.
This was a tough decision for me because 1) I have no insurance coverage for dental, let alone orthodontics. 2) My parents will not be contributing, I'm on my own financially (including college tuition). 3) By normal standards, aesthetically, my teeth aren't that bad. I've seen a lot worse. So spending so much time, money, and emotional stress on this was a hard choice to make. All I can say is I want to keep my teeth for as long as possible and the crowding and things I don't like will only continue to get worse with age if I don't fix it now. This next year and a half might be a bummer, but I'm sure I wont look back and regret having done it.
Today, April 30, 2009, I officially had the top braces put on. They're clear (Radiance) brackets. I went with the pearl ligs instead of clear or white; the smoke seemed a little too dark, though. He was actually nice enough to put one on of clear, one of white, one of smoke, and one of pearl so I could see and decide which I preferred. If it turns out they stain too much, I'll change to smoke, but I don't anticipate it being a problem. I don't smoke, drink coffee or teas, or eat anything like curry or mustard. Again, we'll see.
As for the bottom braces, he's anticipating 4-5 months until he can put those on, because he needs to wait until there is room to put on the bottoms so that they don't scrape against the back of the top teeth (due to the overbite). Those will be metal. Treatment time, altogether, is estimated at 18 months--total fee of $5280, including consulation, xrays and molds, braces (even if it ends up taking longer than planned), and retainers. I'm hoping it goes more quickly than that, which he said it may, because apparently smaller/more delicate bone structure tends to be less stubborn in moving, etc.
So, I just had some tuna on bread for lunch and have yet to feel any pain. I feel like my lip is a little puffed out on top but my orth said that will begin to correct itself. I'm going to post pictures very soon, but I just wanted to get this all written out just in case I begin to feel a lot of pain soon, and don't feel like typing a bunch--this way I only have to add pictures.
Thanks for reading!! I'll keep you posted on my progress
