tommyfive's story from the beginning
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:03 am
i did something today which i never thought i would do: i had a consultation with an orthodontist.
why? a lot of people might ask that (if they're brave enough, they might even ask ME that). i'm asking myself that question (and others) over and over again. but not the same way others might ask me.
it's weird. when a kid gets braces, they usually don't have a choice in the matter, and nobody ever asks their parents why they're having the poor kid's mouth filled with metal, even if the kid's teeth didn't look crooked. it's obvious: kids get braces because their parents (have the means to pay for it somehow and) say they have to. from the kid's perspective it's a no-brainer.
parents of kids with braces comiserate over the costs and one-up each other about whose kid's got the worst malocclusion.
kids with braces comiserate over the pain and social effects, and who has the meaner orthodontist.
it's easy, i think. the adult is making the best choice for the kid who doesn't have the wisdom to choose yet.
adults (fending for themselves) shoulder the curse of having to agonize over the choice: whether ot not to get them. adults getting braces (or maybe it's just me?) often ask themselves what others will think of them - will people think i'm doing it because i'm vain? will people see me as a crybaby when i cry poor after i've just poured thousands of dollars into my mouth when they never saw anything wrong? will it be worth it when it's all over?
i know i can't really bother about what other people think or say, i can only address the questions i ask of myself.
but if i can (and here i know i can!) take a minute to put it in perspective, it's not as if i'm spending it on a $40k gas-guzzling suv or some other form of ostentatious public display. this is not the camcorder i *want* to buy, or the macintosh i like to think i'd use to produce video or music; it's not a tool to use in the garage (i'd love to have a lathe, but would i use it?).
but it's so personal and public - i'll be wearing my money on my teeth.
i'm doing it because i've wanted to do this for a long time - since my early twenties - but never realized i could. (it only took asking to find out that i could, but almost twenty years to get to the point where i had the courage to ask.)
i'm doing it because i've always (at least as an adult) hated my teeth, but do not want to take cosmetic measures which will damage them before i have to. straightening them the little bit they need (10 months, or so they tell me) will position the teeth so that future cosmetic work can be done more easily.
this is me doing something for myself, finally, for once. self-improvement. something expensive. something which will make me feel better about myself. i hope.
and if i don't do it now, my kids will take the orthodontic spotlight for the next ten years. i am sure of that.
it's my four front teeth i'm most concerned with. they've always been non-uniform in color and surface features. so what, they're mostly straight, so you'd think: okay cap them or veneer them (which ain't cheap either!).
but my lateral incisors have always stuck out a slight bit, and adding a layer of veneer will only enhance that feature. capping them requires reduction of the tooth (shave off some of the tooth) to cap it. If the tooth is not in the right position before that happens, they'd have to reduce more in order to make the cap look straight. i don't want to shave off any, but if/when it comes to that time, let's keep it to a minimum. straightening them first seems to be the way to go.
...
so i goes to the orthodontist today and they stick fingers and tools in my mouth, take photos and sit me down. the list of things i thought were wrong was not as long as i thought it would be, but orthodontic treatment is prescribable and will address the main problems. those lateral incisors up top, and a slight crowding issue on the bottom. they could also address a slight overbite and a couple of other minor things, since the teeth would be in braces anyway.
so i starts out saying i don't think i want anything that would be purely cosmetic - if you think there's no real need to do this then i will probably walk away.
he sez 'ok then to be honest there's not really much to talk about but i'll tell you what i would do anyway.'
first he agrees with me that the teeth should be straight before they cap or veneer them, it will make the foundataion for better looking caps or veneers. reinforcement: good.
he tells me there's slight crowding on the bottom and my midline is off by 1-2 mm. i didn't think about the crowding until he showed me what he meant, but the midline i knew.
he says for the top front, it would be braces on the top arch and they tell me how much the top arch will cost, to get those lateral incisors pulled back and resized a bit, and to fix my midline (which is off on top, not on the bottom).
and i sez: $$whoa$$ - okay, so what would it cost to do the bottom crowding at the same time? not much more (by comparison). ten months or so in braces in any event.
so i sez i have to sleep on it. that's a lot of money (not as much as a car costs but it means i won't be replacing a car for a year) and i don't want to make that decision right there in the room. there was no pressure, but they did offer to get me in the next day to start putting braces on.
but i'm going to do it.
they gave me the option to go with invisalign vs. standard braces. what did i choose? the less expensive option: braces. when presented with the choice of 'tooth colored' ceramic braces vs. standard metal, again i took the less expensive option: metal. cost is a factor, but...
ceramic vs. metal i simply don't want to worry about what i eat staining the braces. add that factor to the cost and it was a done deal. metal looks like metal, braces are on the teeth, let it be seen and move on.
invisalign vs. braces: basically i want to commit to this, and i feel like if the things are glued to my teeth, i have followed through. i tend to be lazy, and if there's an action i have to take (changing trays every two weeks) it's just something i think i'll let slip or decide i don't care enough about to keep up with it.
it's a personal choice. i'm sure some of you will think i'm insane for turning down invisalign when it was a definite option, but that's what i'm doing.
we're looking at march 1 for my work to start. i'll surely post again in the meantime!
i posted under a different username up to yesterday. if you want to know what that username was, feel free to PM me. i will not be using that name anymore.
thanks
tommy
why? a lot of people might ask that (if they're brave enough, they might even ask ME that). i'm asking myself that question (and others) over and over again. but not the same way others might ask me.
it's weird. when a kid gets braces, they usually don't have a choice in the matter, and nobody ever asks their parents why they're having the poor kid's mouth filled with metal, even if the kid's teeth didn't look crooked. it's obvious: kids get braces because their parents (have the means to pay for it somehow and) say they have to. from the kid's perspective it's a no-brainer.
parents of kids with braces comiserate over the costs and one-up each other about whose kid's got the worst malocclusion.
kids with braces comiserate over the pain and social effects, and who has the meaner orthodontist.
it's easy, i think. the adult is making the best choice for the kid who doesn't have the wisdom to choose yet.
adults (fending for themselves) shoulder the curse of having to agonize over the choice: whether ot not to get them. adults getting braces (or maybe it's just me?) often ask themselves what others will think of them - will people think i'm doing it because i'm vain? will people see me as a crybaby when i cry poor after i've just poured thousands of dollars into my mouth when they never saw anything wrong? will it be worth it when it's all over?
i know i can't really bother about what other people think or say, i can only address the questions i ask of myself.
but if i can (and here i know i can!) take a minute to put it in perspective, it's not as if i'm spending it on a $40k gas-guzzling suv or some other form of ostentatious public display. this is not the camcorder i *want* to buy, or the macintosh i like to think i'd use to produce video or music; it's not a tool to use in the garage (i'd love to have a lathe, but would i use it?).
but it's so personal and public - i'll be wearing my money on my teeth.
i'm doing it because i've wanted to do this for a long time - since my early twenties - but never realized i could. (it only took asking to find out that i could, but almost twenty years to get to the point where i had the courage to ask.)
i'm doing it because i've always (at least as an adult) hated my teeth, but do not want to take cosmetic measures which will damage them before i have to. straightening them the little bit they need (10 months, or so they tell me) will position the teeth so that future cosmetic work can be done more easily.
this is me doing something for myself, finally, for once. self-improvement. something expensive. something which will make me feel better about myself. i hope.
and if i don't do it now, my kids will take the orthodontic spotlight for the next ten years. i am sure of that.
it's my four front teeth i'm most concerned with. they've always been non-uniform in color and surface features. so what, they're mostly straight, so you'd think: okay cap them or veneer them (which ain't cheap either!).
but my lateral incisors have always stuck out a slight bit, and adding a layer of veneer will only enhance that feature. capping them requires reduction of the tooth (shave off some of the tooth) to cap it. If the tooth is not in the right position before that happens, they'd have to reduce more in order to make the cap look straight. i don't want to shave off any, but if/when it comes to that time, let's keep it to a minimum. straightening them first seems to be the way to go.
...
so i goes to the orthodontist today and they stick fingers and tools in my mouth, take photos and sit me down. the list of things i thought were wrong was not as long as i thought it would be, but orthodontic treatment is prescribable and will address the main problems. those lateral incisors up top, and a slight crowding issue on the bottom. they could also address a slight overbite and a couple of other minor things, since the teeth would be in braces anyway.
so i starts out saying i don't think i want anything that would be purely cosmetic - if you think there's no real need to do this then i will probably walk away.
he sez 'ok then to be honest there's not really much to talk about but i'll tell you what i would do anyway.'
first he agrees with me that the teeth should be straight before they cap or veneer them, it will make the foundataion for better looking caps or veneers. reinforcement: good.
he tells me there's slight crowding on the bottom and my midline is off by 1-2 mm. i didn't think about the crowding until he showed me what he meant, but the midline i knew.
he says for the top front, it would be braces on the top arch and they tell me how much the top arch will cost, to get those lateral incisors pulled back and resized a bit, and to fix my midline (which is off on top, not on the bottom).
and i sez: $$whoa$$ - okay, so what would it cost to do the bottom crowding at the same time? not much more (by comparison). ten months or so in braces in any event.
so i sez i have to sleep on it. that's a lot of money (not as much as a car costs but it means i won't be replacing a car for a year) and i don't want to make that decision right there in the room. there was no pressure, but they did offer to get me in the next day to start putting braces on.
but i'm going to do it.
they gave me the option to go with invisalign vs. standard braces. what did i choose? the less expensive option: braces. when presented with the choice of 'tooth colored' ceramic braces vs. standard metal, again i took the less expensive option: metal. cost is a factor, but...
ceramic vs. metal i simply don't want to worry about what i eat staining the braces. add that factor to the cost and it was a done deal. metal looks like metal, braces are on the teeth, let it be seen and move on.
invisalign vs. braces: basically i want to commit to this, and i feel like if the things are glued to my teeth, i have followed through. i tend to be lazy, and if there's an action i have to take (changing trays every two weeks) it's just something i think i'll let slip or decide i don't care enough about to keep up with it.
it's a personal choice. i'm sure some of you will think i'm insane for turning down invisalign when it was a definite option, but that's what i'm doing.
we're looking at march 1 for my work to start. i'll surely post again in the meantime!
i posted under a different username up to yesterday. if you want to know what that username was, feel free to PM me. i will not be using that name anymore.
thanks
tommy