My Journey to a Perfect Smile

[Beach]

So, I am 25 years old and I have been unhappy with my smile for a majority of my life. My parents could not afford braces when I was younger, but that didn't stop me from begging. It was not until I was about 19 years old that I decided to get them for myself. I thought I was too old for braces back then so I opted for something called Six Month Smiles instead. I had them on for about 10 months and I remember being pretty happy with my smile after they were removed. However, a few years went by and suddenly I was back to being dissatisfied with my smile. I noticed in photos that my teeth were not as straight as I thought they were. I also noticed that one of my front teeth was shorter than the other. I didn't remember my teeth looking that way after having Six Month Smiles removed, but I could tell from my retainer that they had always been like that.

In January of last year (2015), I went to see the orthodontist with the best reviews in town about getting braces again. "Real" braces this time. I didn't think I was actually going to go through with it because I couldn't afford braces at the time, but he offered me a deal that I could not pass up. I guess he felt bad for me. A week or two later, I got the braces put on and he told me I'd had them on for 8-12 months. I've had them on for almost exactly 12 months now and my last adjustment is supposed to be later this month. That means I probably only have another month or two in braces. I'm so afraid of getting them taken off because I'm afraid I won't be happy with my smile. I am constantly analyzing it in the mirror and sometimes I think it's fine while other times I see so many things that still need work. I'm also afraid that I'll never have a perfect smile after having Six Month Smiles because of what they did to my teeth (they filed the sides of some of my teeth to make room for movement and they filed the bottom of my teeth to make them appear the same length while accidentally chipping a tooth in the process). I've noticed tiny spaces between some of my teeth and some of my teeth are different lengths now that they have moved from where Six Month Smiles left them. I know my orthodontist is going to try to fix the unevenness once the braces come off, but I'm afraid he doesn't have much left to work with. I guess we'll see.

I'll be posting some photos soon.

[Prometheus]

Hi Beach, A "perfect" smile may not always be possible, particularly in adults whose bones have stopped growing. There is an excellent blog out there by an orthodontist in Albuquerque New Mexico, Dr. Greg Jorgensen, that is worth reading. He has a entry specifically to address concerns like yours. Here is the link: http://www.gregjorgensen.com/blog/2013/ ... -come-off/
Best of luck to you.

[Beach]

Hi Beach, A "perfect" smile may not always be possible, particularly in adults whose bones have stopped growing. There is an excellent blog out there by an orthodontist in Albuquerque New Mexico, Dr. Greg Jorgensen, that is worth reading. He has a entry specifically to address concerns like yours. Here is the link: http://www.gregjorgensen.com/blog/2013/ ... -come-off/
Best of luck to you.

Thanks for posting that - it was a good read. I know deep down that a "perfect" smile is not achievable, but that doesn't stop me from wanting one.

Now that I am finally able to post some photos, here they are...

This is my teeth before my second time with braces:

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Here are my teeth now (nearly 12 months later):

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I would love to hear some honest feedback about my progress from anyone who sees this. I just realized my next and possibly last adjustment is in exactly one week and I'm afraid my teeth still need a lot more work.

[Beach]

Here's anothe photo that I had trouble adding to the previous post:

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[newbite]

What does your bite look like closed? Do your teeth line up?

I think your teeth looked great before, even with the tiny bit of crookedness on the bottom. They seem to look great now, too, assuming your bite is good.

Be careful with letting your ortho file down your teeth any more. My front teeth were uneven and I refused to let my ortho file them as much as he wanted-- they would have been too short. Instead, I got them bonded. It was expensive and annoying and it doesn't look 100% perfect (probably because of the skills of my dentist, and not the actual bonding process) but I'm glad to have normal length teeth now.

If you really want 100% cosmetically perfect teeth you should look into veneers. There's only so much braces can do. You may only need a few veneers and it could make all the difference for you!

[Puppylover123]

Hi beach, I am 12 years old turning 13 soon. And I understand that you feel that way when I got my braces 3 months I wasn't so sure if they were going to work. But it's now January (the fourth month) and my teeth are starting to move around where they should be. I had to get teeth pulled in order for my teeth to move more but anyways once your braces come off if your teeth have moved and everything but she still not quite right then your dentist should be able to fix them. So your teeth will eventually move into their places

[Puppylover123]

[quote="Puppylover123"]Hi beach, I am 12 years old turning 13 soon. And I understand that you feel that way when I got my braces 3 months I wasn't so sure if they were going to work. But it's now January (the fourth month) and my teeth are starting to move around where they should be. I had to get teeth pulled in order for my teeth to move more but anyways once your braces come off if your teeth have moved and everything but she still not quite right then your dentist should be able to fix them. So your teeth will eventually move into their places [/quote]

And I had an over bite too so my braces will eventually do their job. I had to go back to the dentist to change my colors and add another molar.

[Beach]

What does your bite look like closed? Do your teeth line up?

I think your teeth looked great before, even with the tiny bit of crookedness on the bottom. They seem to look great now, too, assuming your bite is good.

Be careful with letting your ortho file down your teeth any more. My front teeth were uneven and I refused to let my ortho file them as much as he wanted-- they would have been too short. Instead, I got them bonded. It was expensive and annoying and it doesn't look 100% perfect (probably because of the skills of my dentist, and not the actual bonding process) but I'm glad to have normal length teeth now.

If you really want 100% cosmetically perfect teeth you should look into veneers. There's only so much braces can do. You may only need a few veneers and it could make all the difference for you!

My bite is good and my teeth line up, which they definitely did not before. One side of my upper teeth used to jut out, but not anymore.

I may look into veneers at some point because I've always thought my teeth are a bit odd, but they are somewhat big now so I'm hoping it won't be a problem for my orthodontist to file some off. I'm not even sure how they got to be uneven, and I kind of wonder if it was caused by the dentist who did my Six Month Smiles because that's why my bottom teeth are uneven.

Anyway, I appreciate your feedback! Thank you.

[Puppylover123]

[quote="Beach"][quote="newbite"]What does your bite look like closed? Do your teeth line up?

I think your teeth looked great before, even with the tiny bit of crookedness on the bottom. They seem to look great now, too, assuming your bite is good.

Be careful with letting your ortho file down your teeth any more. My front teeth were uneven and I refused to let my ortho file them as much as he wanted-- they would have been too short. Instead, I got them bonded. It was expensive and annoying and it doesn't look 100% perfect (probably because of the skills of my dentist, and not the actual bonding process) but I'm glad to have normal length teeth now.

If you really want 100% cosmetically perfect teeth you should look into veneers. There's only so much braces can do. You may only need a few veneers and it could make all the difference for you![/quote]
My bite is good and my teeth line up, which they definitely did not before. One side of my upper teeth used to jut out, but not anymore.

I may look into veneers at some point because I've always thought my teeth are a bit odd, but they are somewhat big now so I'm hoping it won't be a problem for my orthodontist to file some off. I'm not even sure how they got to be uneven, and I kind of wonder if it was caused by the dentist who did my Six Month Smiles because that's why my bottom teeth are uneven.

Anyway, I appreciate your feedback! Thank you.[/quote]

[ItsFreyja]

I also think your teeth look great. The only flaw that really occurs to me as I look at your pictures is the asymmetry of your upper central incisors. Assuming that the roots are properly paralleled, it seems like the differences between them might just be due to wear. Given the length they are in relation to your other teeth, I would probably opt to bond them longer instead of filing them shorter, like newbite has suggested.

[Beach]

I also think your teeth look great. The only flaw that really occurs to me as I look at your pictures is the asymmetry of your upper central incisors. Assuming that the roots are properly paralleled, it seems like the differences between them might just be due to wear. Given the length they are in relation to your other teeth, I would probably opt to bond them longer instead of filing them shorter, like newbite has suggested.

Thanks for the feedback! My orthodontist also said that the different lengths are probably due to wear, but I often wonder if it's because of Six Month Smiles. Unfortunately, I don't really have any pictures of my teeth after I got my braces removed back then so I have no idea.

Anyway, I just got back from what should be my final adjustment and I have a date set up to potentially have my braces removed in a few weeks. I'll probably post a few more photos in a week or so to get some more opinions on whether you guys think they're ready to come off!

[Beach]

So, I might be getting my braces off in about a week and a half. As of right now, I do not think my braces are ready to come off but I don't know what else can be done to fix them. I'm starting to get really worried because this is my second time with braces and I just want to be happy with my smile for once.

I was wondering if you guys could let me know what you think about my smile and if anything should be moving in any direction. My lateral incisors still don't seem symmetrical and there is a still a small gap between the lateral incisor on my right side and the tooth behind it. I've been trying to imagine what would happen if we made the lateral incisors symmetrical and closed that small gap, but it just seems like it'd throw the rest of my teeth off.

Here are some photos:

[Beach]

So, I got my braces off yesterday. I went to the orthodontist expecting to leave with them on because I wasn't ready for them to come off. He assured me that they'd be perfect and he would make adjustments to the retainer. It felt as if I really didn't have a choice for them to stay on so I let them do their thing. He's still going to do some more work on them by "slenderizing" and adjusting the retainer for the top teeth once it comes in, but they look better than I expected as they are. I was surprisingly pretty happy with them...until tonight.

I've had a few people tell me they look great, but something someone said tonight made me really upset. He said they look good, but also said the bottoms looked a little weird. I thought he was referring to the reshaping, but he was actually referring to the visibility of my dentin. My enamel has always appeared thin and I'm sure it's because I didn't take very good care of my teeth as a child, but I had no idea it was bad enough for someone to comment on it. He suggested that I get them whitened, but I don't think that would help.

My whole life, I have been unhappy with my smile and extremely self-conscious of my whole appearance. Maybe this is all in my head, but I feel as though people are overly critical of me and constantly point out my flaws. There are things people have said to me about my appearance that I would never say to anyone (including what the guy said about my teeth).

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. Here are my teeth...

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[NeilH]

Hi, congratulations on finishing and what a super result. I think your smile looks lovely and in time, I'm sure you will think so too. I'm so sorry to hear that someone made such hurtful comments, I was brought up with the value that if you can't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. Maybe they thought they were being helpful or thought you were looking for critical feedback, only you will know this but anyway, you shouldn't let the comments from one individual spoil your celebration.

It's always hard knowing when braces have done as much as they can and I think you have achieved a really nice result that looks balanced and natural. Depending on what retainers you get there is always the opportunity of a little bit of tidying up but I don't genuinely think you need it and I'm sure you will soon be happy with your new smile.

[Beach]

Hi, congratulations on finishing and what a super result. I think your smile looks lovely and in time, I'm sure you will think so too. I'm so sorry to hear that someone made such hurtful comments, I was brought up with the value that if you can't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. Maybe they thought they were being helpful or thought you were looking for critical feedback, only you will know this but anyway, you shouldn't let the comments from one individual spoil your celebration.

It's always hard knowing when braces have done as much as they can and I think you have achieved a really nice result that looks balanced and natural. Depending on what retainers you get there is always the opportunity of a little bit of tidying up but I don't genuinely think you need it and I'm sure you will soon be happy with your new smile.

Thank you. I'm not sure why I let one person's comments get to me, but I think I am finally starting to like my smile. I just got fitted for my first set of retainers so we'll see what changes happen soon.