Firstly, let me give you a bit of info about my teeth as they are at the moment.
I had an accident when I was little that put my front teeth out of line. This has gotten worse over the years and become crowded. Before this I had a perfect smile
Here is a picture of my teeth as they are today:
As you can see, they're pretty wonky!
However, here are some important details:
The orthodontist at James Hull Associates has said that the rest of my teeth on the side are very well knit, and my lower set is pretty much perfectly aligned.
Here's the lower teeth:
(Beautiful isn't it!
)My problem is that I have seen two different orthodontists and both say different things. Here's my dilemma:
Othodontist 1:
Says said it's essential to remove two upper teeth to make room, and put me in full braces on the top and bottom teeth for a treatment that will take two years. He offered this at £3000 pounds.
Orthodontist 2:
Orthodontist 2 was also extremely professional (and gave me a thorough consultation), but said he didn't think the removal of teeth was necessary at all - just some teeth shaving to make room.
He said that really only the top set needed the brace, but he would recommend that if I also did the bottom set at the same time I might have slightly better overall results (but this sounded like an 'upsell' at the time.)
He said the treatment would only take 10-12 months for the upper set. His service was only £2800 for the upper set, but for both it's £3800.
He offered to allow me to have ceramic braces for no extra charge with either service.
Ortho 2 said I have a slight overjet, and this is due to being Asian, where often cases come up where two lower teeth haven't actually formed. He said removing teeth may not solve this problem, and that because my teeth were very nicely knit on the sides and bottom, removing teeth will shift them all and I might lose what's already very good.
So, now I'm confused!
Do I:
Take two years (which is horrible at 25) and lose two teeth for something that may be unnecessary and mess up the already good teeth.
Or:
Go and have the top set fixed in 10-12 months. If so, would anyone recommend regular braces over ceramic (given money makes no difference?)
Also, I'm not that rich, so £2800 for just the top set would be better for me, but I'm worried about the result being slightly better if I do both (but I'm also worried the clinic is just trying to make more money - he initially said he didn't think the bottom was necessary!).
Please help guys, I want to start my treatment fast and I'm wondering if anyone else had similar experiences with conflicting messages from orthodontists, and what you would recommend.
Really looking forward to talking with you, thanks so much for your help in advance!
(SOME MORE PICS:)
I'm an asian girl btw. Look at my funny wonky tooth:
I hate the front four teeth, but can you see how all the other teeth are actually okay?:
Here's my overjet. Ortho 2 said 8mm, but this will reduce after the brace. He said the reason for this is more to do with my missing bottom teeth, and that losing more teeth may not help necessarily:
