Starting Braces at 26!

[catchafallingstar9]

Hi all,

I wanted to use this forum to share my story and record my journey as I dive into the world of braces at the ripe age of 26, yikes!
A little background on me: Ever since my adult teeth came in I have hated my smile. My two front teeth are massive and my bottom teeth are crowded. I have always felt very insecure about my smile, I NEVER show my teeth.

The First Steps
At 24, I decided to go to a university's dental school for a free consultation - I wasn't prepared to pay thousands for braces just yet but wanted to go through with a consultation nonetheless. I was told I would first need to pay $350 for records and an x amount before beginning treatment, the rest in payments over 24 months. Not having the down payment money, I decided to start saving.

Hiccups
Fast forward to November 2013, I finally made the leap to get x-rays taken - then came the consultation in which I was told that I would need to get all 4 of my impacted wisdom teeth, 4 bicuspids and my baby canine teeth extracted as well as my impacted canine tooth exposed and bonded - 9 extractions total! This was very discouraging, but nonetheless I made an appointment with the dental surgeons at the dental school for a consultation regarding all of the extractions. They quoted me $3,150 for the entire procedure which was even more discouraging since I did not have that kind of money plus the down payment money required to begin treatment . So I decided that braces weren't going to happen any time soon.

Hope
Then in February 2014 I was finally eligible for dental insurance from my employer .
I then scheduled an appointment with an in-network oral surgeon who is highly recommended in the area.
She suggested doing all extractions except for the expose & bond of the canine because she thought 9 extractions would already be too much for me to undergo in one day. I was given a quote for $2200 to pay out of pocket (after insurance) which at this point I could afford and figured if I'm going to get 9 teeth extracted, I'd rather be at the hands of a professional than at a dental school.

Extractions
The day of surgery was May 9th. That morning the surgeon decided that she wouldn't touch the bicuspid next to my canine for fear that the future expose and bond method wouldn't work. She thought a good plan b would be to extract the impacted canine and use this bicuspid in place of it. I figured it was a good idea in her part so we went ahead with only 8 extractions that day.

All About the Money
Today I went for a 2nd follow up to check on my extraction sites (looking good!) and talk briefly about what we plan on doing about this darn impacted canine. Again she reiterated that the canine is mature now and somewhat likely not to move or take a very long time to bring down if we go with the expose/bond option ! If we extract it, she would have to use bone graft (it's a big tooth!) and the bone graft alone would cost $800 . She gave me two options (1) Expose and bond - I keep my tooth and hope that it will come down, even if it means 3 years in braces, also facing the possibility of it not coming down, needing to extract it and then needing an implant or (2) Extract the darn thing completely and use the remaining bicuspid to take the place of the canine. Both options would set me back $2,000-2,300 which my insurance won't cover because I have already maxed out my benefits for the year with the first round of extractions

Braces
I am scheduled to have braces put on this coming Thursday (May 22) but I am waiting to hear back from the orthodontist regarding what might be the best option for the impacted canine. I don't have $2000 at the moment and need to know how soon I need to get either of these done - I have 4 holes in my mouth that I desperately want to start closing. And so I wait for a response....

I hope to be back soon with an update as well as some pictures of what my horrible teeth currently look like.

Thanks for reading!

[lexieplexie]

Sounds like you are in for quite an expensive journey. Sorry about that. Just sending out a bit of encouragement and hope you continue to update. Looking forward to hearing what your ortho will plan for you. Don't give up

[Matilda]

Best of luck on your journey!

[catchafallingstar9]

Thank you both! I'm happy to have found this site and know I am not alone!

[catchafallingstar9]

Today is THE day of braces and I am beyond anxious and excited for the start of my "new life"!

HOWEVER, there has been a thought that I can't seem to shake off.
Knowing the people I interact with on a daily basis, I know someone will inevitably ask me if I'm wearing braces (I'm getting ceramics and metal) - to which of course I will say yes (or duh ). But I know some of these people will try to press me to show them my mouth full of crooked teeth and metal.
I'm extremely self conscious about my teeth and I don't know how I would say no to a coworker, friend or loved one. I know that in a couple of months into treatment, once my teeth start looking better, I won't mind, but until then, how do I handle this?!?

[catchafallingstar9]

Update:
Braces were put on Thursday May 22nd.
The orthodontist decided to put bottom braces except on the 4 front teeth. This is to close the gaps were my bicuspids used to be and to move my canines which are both turned at an awkward angle which doesn't give the front teeth room for movement.
Top braces only went on my right side to begin closing that gap too. No brackets on my left side until i have the impacted canine removed. She put brackets on my four top front teeth but no wires..so in all it all looks a bit messy and unfinished which kind of sucks.
Oh and I can't forget to mention these lovely turbos that went on my molars because I was initially bitting down on a bracket. I can take the soreness and overall discomfort of all the metal... but the pain coming from bitting down on those makes me want to yank my hair!!!
I will post pictures as soon as I can.
My next appointment is on the 19th.

Thanks for reading!

[catchafallingstar9]

Here are a few pictures:

[catchafallingstar9]

I'm going to my first adjustment tomorrow!
I don't know what to expect, but I'm anxious to get these turbos off!
The only real noticeable change has been to my lower left canine...there is now a considerable gap between it and the tooth next to it. I wish my other 2 canines would have moved as much but they haven't, not sure what happened there. So here are some pics of today. I will post an update tomorrow after my appointment. Thanks for reading!

[SpottedPickle]

Good luck with your adjustment! sometimes slow and steady wins the race You are getting there. As an adult our jaw bones are much more set and stubborn.

[pjade1]

I am curious as to what type of braces you have?

[ty24]

My braces are getting put on tommorrow morning! I am really nervous. It sounds like we will be starting around the same time though. I have heard it can hurt for a while though. I hope you are not in much pain now!:)

[catchafallingstar9]

So yesterday was my first adjustment. A lot of pulling and tugging to get wires and power chains off!
My orthodontist too pointed at the great progress my bottom canines are doing. She did some special bendy hook thing for my upper canine which didn't budge much in the last 4 weeks. She also pointed out that my bottom front teeth are already aligning themselves without braces, I suppose since they are no longer squished between the canines, they can relax!
My next appointment is July 30th.
I have scheduled surgery for my impacted canine extraction on July 15th!
It wasn't until a couple of hours after my appointment that I realized I forgot to ask her about removing these darn turbos..oh well.
I don't feel sore until I try to eat, especially bitting down on food like cucumbers so back to soft foods I go....
I leave you here with some pretty pictures.

[catchafallingstar9]

Thank you spotted pickle!!!

pjade: I have regular metal braces on the 3 sides, no braces yet on my lower front and ceramics on my upper front, wires pending the extraction of my impacted canine.

ty24: Good luck! It ain't so bad...just carry wax with you at all times and drink plenty of water while eating to flush out food

[SpottedPickle]

I can see a difference. I am really excited to see your progress through the months

[catchafallingstar9]

UPDATE AFTER SURGERY #2 on 7/15/14

3 days ago I had surgery to extract my upper impacted canine (tooth #11).
After having all 4 wisdom teeth, 3 premolars and baby canine extracted, I thought this would be a breeze. Due to the difficult size and position of the tooth, ths time my oral surgeon required an anesthesiologist to be present. He put me to sleep via gas mask, which in my experience was horrible, I was afraid to breathe... the last thing I remember is shaking my head no
The surgery seemed to have taken about an hour.
The surgeon opened the roof of my mouth, as well as the front to extract the tooth and placed bone graft to fill up the hole (it was a huge tooth!).
In case you haven't read my previous posts, at the suggestion of my oral surgeon, my orthodontist will be using my first premolar to close the gap left by the absence of the canine. The canine was in a bad position to come down, the expose and bond method would not have brought the tooth down.
Because of the impacted canine, the roots of the premolar are shorter than normal so I run the risk of losing the tooth early in life, though I'm told that with good oral hygiene this can be prevented.

Swelling began the day after surgery and it's barely beginning to go down.
Like with my previous surgery, vicodin has not been necessary, I credit that to my amazing oral surgeon. I'm taking a combo of 600mg Ibuprofen and antibiotics. I don't want to say it's been painful, but rather have experienced an uncomfortable throbbing feeling that goes away with the ibuprofen.
Eating hasn't been as difficult, which is good.
In all, I am so happy I'm done with being put under and going through surgeries. Since the first round, I've lost 7 pounds, which has been a happy side effect.

Feel free to message me with any questions. I know I haven't found much online about people who have gone through the same canine extraction process, so I'm happy to answer any questions.

I'm excited about my progress, despite all of the stitches in my mouth at the moment!