What I will be giving myself for my 40th birthday...

[chiclet123]

Well, I have been putting off the whole orthodontic adventure for about 20 years. When I was 19, I had my jaw broken to extract four wisdom teeth. It was stapled shut for six very long weeks. When the oral surgeon removed the staples (the worst part of the whole thing, I swear!), he told me that "we really should break and realign your jaw or you'll have problems down the road".... Excuse me? Didn't we just break my jaw???

So for 20 years, I have lived with the fear that any attempt to fix my crowding issue would result in major surgery and broken jaws and braces forever...

I went to my initial ortho consult a mere 9 days ago. What a wonderful group of people I met at that office! Very nice and supportive. I went ahead and did my molding, something that I was a bit freaked out and squeamish about, and survived it with no ill effects! I was quite proud of myself for that.

I went to my treatment plan appointment yesterday and once my doctor told me that we absolutely did NOT have to break my jaw, I was pretty much on board for anything! The plan actually sounds a lot less dramatic than what many of you fellow bracers have had to endure and for that I am considering myself quite lucky. You all are much braver than me!

The plan is to do a crown that has to be complete before we do any ortho work on 7/14 and 8/4 (sadly, that is the earliest my dentist can do that!). Then on 8/18 I will get some lower spacers and on 8/25 I will get one tooth pulled, and then (drum roll please) 8/28 I will get braced! I will only actually have partial lower braces for the first 6-8 months and then the full mouth for another 8-10. Total time estimate is 18 months or so.

I was surprised and pleased that 1) it could be under two years and 2) only the bottom will need it that long. When I smile and speak the bottom teeth are hardly noticeable, so I am thinking that aside from an occasional glint those first six months, no one will notice!

One of the doctors I work for just got full metal braces, and my father-in-law had them at age 50, so I have people close to me to advise and support me in this adventure.

I wanted to thank everyone here for being so open and supportive and making me actually excited about this as opposed to dreading it. I will also thank you in advance for the support I will be seeking on the not so great days I am sure I will have! I promise to hold hands and cheer you on as well.

Looking forward to the journey and bravely going forward with all metal braces and DEFINITELY color ligs!!

[purpleteeth]

Congrats! What a wonderful present I should be getting mine off just in time for my birthday next year, when I turn 27 - so I feel the excitement.

Do you know already if your ortho uses the traditional brackets with the "o" rings so you can get colors? I was kinda disappointed to find out my ortho did not use that style, but was happier to hear I would be getting them off faster with the different style of brackets (this office uses Damon's rather than traditional brackets).

[BoSox2008]

congratulations!! i'm glad you have such a positive outlook on getting braces, especially after such tough dental work that was done in your past.

What a great birthday present!! And how lucky you are that you have people in your life who have had braces at a more mature age (than 13!). I am only 22 but am really glad that I took the step now, although 10 years ago would have been better, but its better late than never!

As the previous post, I also have Damons, which means no colored ligs - and actually no ligs at all. I hope you can get the colors you want, I always liked to think that I would have gotten pink : )

[acd]

Nothing says Happy Birthday like a mouthful of braces! The only better present to give yourself is straight teeth and a healthy bite when they come off.

[TheNewEmperor]

Happy Birthday and excellent news that you are taking the leap to the brace club. You are lucky that you had around you older people that had gone the braces route...it definitely helps to know you aren't the ONLY braced adult in the village (LOL...reference to Little Britain sketch there)

I'm like you -decades of kitty-footing around the issue of my teeth came to a head around my 40th birthday and I took the leap. I'm still in early stages but I've saved a bottle of Dom P that I received as part of a gift for my 40th and am already planning on cracking that champers the day my braces come off.

[browneyedgrl]

Hi chiclet123,

Welcome to AW. There are so many awesome people here!

That is an awesome birthday present!!! I got braces for the second time 5 months ago for mainly functional reasons w/ some mild relaspe. I considered it a 40th birthday present to myself since I turned 40 two months ago.

Like you, I needed a new crown beforehand(which I had done 6 months prior). From initial consult to b-day it was a two month wait since I needed my FSA to kick in.

Good luck and keep us posted!

B