what would you do?

[hannah164]

Yesterday was my 30 month anniversary since getting braces! At my last adjustment my ortho scheduled me for a debanding on Wednesday! I'm not happy with my smile yet though! Its been a very tough 2 1/2 years for both my ortho and I, as I was his "most difficult case." He told me upfront that I would never have a "perfect smile." Its still really hard to accept now! I know that my smile is so much better than it was years ago! I just see all of these people at school with perfect smiles and I know that can never be me!

I am missing my upper lateral incisors (the teeth next to your two front teeth) so my canines are in front! They were both impacted and one of them hasn't fully come down yet like the other one! I don't like how it looks at all! I guess if it weren't right in the front it wouldn't bother me so much! I'm not even sure he can fix that tooth!

I feel like my ortho has kind of given up on giving me a beautiful smile, instead i'm getting a "good enough" smile. They sent me a generic letter explaining the debanding and how if there is anything my parents or I don't like about my smile we should fix it while the braces are still on all of my teeth! My bite isn't perfect either on the right. I would really love to have the braces off! I am kind of sick of them! I'm kind of scared to talk to my ortho about all of this. He's very intimidating! ANd I know my parents don't understand, they don't see anything wrong with my smile!

What would you do? Would you try to have your ortho make your smile as "perfect" as possible by keeping the braces on longer? Or get the braces off on Wednesday and just live with your smile the way it is, pretty close!

ANy ideas or opinions very much appreciated!

~hAnnah





Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05

[lemonlyme]

I'm 21 years old and wish i would have gotten braces earlier..I want a perfect smile so badly. Early on i thought "just having relatively straight teeth would be awesome!" but now after paying all this money i really hope i'm absolutely thrilled with my teeth, and if im not i would definetly keep them on a bit longer to get as close as possible!

Good luck with whatever you choose and dont let your Ortho intimidate you! You can do it!!

[sjsarre]

I can understand how you feel, but like you said you were your ortho's toughest case and I guess from picturing in my head what difference it would make to have canines next to your main front teeth it sounds like a good smile really is about the best you can expect, unless you were interested in having more cosmetic stuff done like veneers.

Its a really tough decision to make and maybe you should sit down with your parents and tell them about your worries. You must never let the Ortho intimidate you and I think you should sit down with him and tell him your concerns, take your parents with you or maybe a friend or family member who you can confide in and who will back you up.

[Chris]

If its the ONE tooth that really bothers you and the ortho can't seem to fix it, then why not get a consultation for a veneer?

[Clo]

Hi Hannah,

so sorry to hear you are not that happy with the results.
I think what Meryaten and KK wrote is very valuable. I would like
to add this. Try to make an appointment where you specifically ask some
time to discuss some issues with your ortho. I know that when there is not
much time, the ortho is busy and stressed. Then, how well you prepared
your talk, things get always ruined and most issues are not even mentioned.
The letter followed by the appointment seems a very good idea. You have
then time to really and exactly express your concerns in that letter, not
forgetting one issue. It is a very good start to have that appointment some
days later on. You should really try to have that talk before they take off
your braces ! To give this some time, maybe you could ask before to cancel
this appointment of Wednesday. Mayby a tiny little small lie why you can't
make it that day. It would give you some time to squeeze in this important
talk.
And lastly, I know this is difficult sometimes, but don't let your ortho intimidating
you. He may be "the boss", but without clients (patients) like you, the poor
man would only eat ... dust. And know this, you are a very valuable member
of the best ortho community in the world that ArchWired is ! So you have
every right to speak, dear Hannah.

Best of luck, we'll support you.

[MB Chick]

I am missing those lateral incisors as well so had braces 30+ years ago to move the canines into place, leaving the baby teeth canines in place. Flash forward to now when the roots for those baby teeth are disintegrating so I'm back in braces to make space for implants in the canine area. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed with outcome three decades ago...nothing bad but just not great. So, I'm not going to let that happen this time.

The technology is so much better these days that you should be able to get results much closer to your ideal: bonding to add shape to the canines (so they don't look like fangs in that position), they can bring down that canine more, etc.

Like otherws, I also recommend NOT finishing the process until you are done and satisfied....you don't want to go through this again later! And more importantly, you shouldn't have to. Give it a go!

[000Liv000]

everyone has already said most of what I would tell you. Don't get your braces off if your bite isn't alligned (orthos should really notice these things, jeesh). I would ask him to try to fix the things you still don't like. I personally wouldn't ask if it was possible, I would just say that you're not happy with ____ and you'd really like him to keep trying to fix it. I say that I wouldn't ask if he'd able to fix it because he might think that it might not work when he tries to fix it, and so he might not try since it's already taken this long--I'd want him to try a little more, and I'd be willing to put in a little more time in braces to wait and and see if things can be improved.
Also, you might want to consider consulting with another orthodontist or 2 and discuss what you don't like about your teeth with them and see if they think there can be more improvement and how they would do it. (and if it's the same thing your ortho is doing)
I know this seems intimidating and a lot of work, but its your smile, your body. You might be just another check to these people, so start thinking or them as just an employee of yours that you're paying for a service. IF they aren't delivering the results you paid for, then you need to tell them to fix it. or find someone else who will.
it seems like a lot of orthos have big egos and make people feel like they're a bother. If I paid someone to build a house for me and none of the doors or windows shut and it leaned to one side, no one would think I was out of line to want it done better. Your teeth have to be able to shut (your bite should be fixed) and your smile should be as symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing as possible.
hopefully your ortho is a decent fellow, and will say yes when you say you'd really like him to try a little more and fix the problems. If he says it's not possible, i'd definately want to go on another consult to see if the other ortho agrees. If your ortho is actually rude to you, you can always walk out and say that you don't allow people to treat you that way.(hopefully he's not an unprofessional jerk, but it wouldn't be the first time. they're just people)

good luck and don't worry

[alexa]

That is a tough one. I know that my teeth aren't perfect yet, but if my ortho said they could come off on Wednesday, I'd be mighty tempted to let them come off...

I think you should do the suggestion of sitting down with your parents, and then having them accompany you to your appt. Let your parents do the talking, but chime in if you have something to say. I think Dr.'s sometimes are a little more reasonable about explanations when they're dealing with the parents.

Would it be possible to shift your teeth back, open up spaces next to your front teeth and have some kind of implants put in to replace the teeth you're missing? Or is that too much to do? I'm not sure, but get your ortho to show all of your options to you and your parents.

Debanding day should be a happy one!