Why did you guys choose to have braces in adutlhood?

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#16 Post by **acidcookie** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:21 pm

Initially, I'd just decided to accept my crooked teeth/underbite because I didn't think they could be fixed without surgery (never even bothered seeing an orthodontist).

I went to the dentist for the first time in 7 years and my dentist went on and on about how great my teeth were. No cavities, my gums were great, etc. etc.

I thought to myself "It's rather sad that my teeth are in great shape yet no one would see that because they're so crooked." So I got an ortho consultation. The ortho's pretty sure he can fix everything w/o surgery. I'd just gotten my performance bonus so I went for it! Now for the fun part, the pain and waiting it out!

#17 Post by **Blossom** » Thu May 07, 2009 10:20 pm

I was supposed to get them when I was 12 but I refused as I had a crush on a boy

so now I have them at 28. There go the rest of my 20s haha!
In some ways it's best I left it this late as all 4 of my wisdom teeth were completely horizontal inside my mouth and I had to have surgery to have them out. They pushed my teeth forward quite noticeably.
I have a crossbite and my two front teeth stick out quite a bit. I have always been really self concious of smiling and I pay so much attention to everyone else's teeth.
I have damon 3s on the top and bottom and supposedly this will take 15-18mths.
I am not enjoying life in braces so far.. but I am daydreaming about getting them taken off and having straight teeth.
A light at the end of the tunnel!

#18 Post by **terra85** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:46 am

I'm going to be getting braces soon at a dental school. I should have gotten braces when I was younger--see pics below. Clearly not a borderline or cosmetic only case. Unfortunately, my parents didn't think braces were worth the money. They wanted to get my overlapping tooth pulled, problem solved in their minds--which would have been a very bad idea because my midline is off by 5mm, which is extremely noticeable. That also ignores that my teeth are crooked, crowded, etc. If I went ahead and had that tooth pulled and opted to get my teeth straightened later on, I'd have an asymetrical smile and a misaligned midline. Luckily, they only took me to the dentist once when I was growing up, so I didn't have that done.

Anyway...I'm getting braces within the next several weeks (already made the down payment at the dental school; waiting for impressions now--dental schools are extremely slow but the cost is less expensive), and what motivated this decision was that my parent's offered to pay. They literally said, "We're going to get braces for you." Parental guilt, I guess, for not taking me to the dentist when I was a kid. So yes, they owe it to me. It's definitely a delayed obligation, but oh well. At least I'm going to be getting braces

#19 Post by **Megan11** » Fri May 08, 2009 8:30 am

terra85 wrote: They literally said, "We're going to get braces for you." Parental guilt, I guess, for not taking me to the dentist when I was a kid. So yes, they owe it to me. It's definitely a delayed obligation, but oh well. At least I'm going to be getting braces

Well, I would just make sure you are extremely grateful that they are doing this for you even if it is "late". It may not be out of guilt it may be that they have the funds to do it now. Granted, you obviously know the situation better than myself. But, I can assure you that at 23 years old your parents dont owe you a damn thing. I am 3 years younger than you and paying for my $6000 braces by myself amongst student loans, car payments, and everything else....

Sorry, I hope that didn't come off sounding rude but come on get over it your parents are paying for them now, most of us on here cannot say the same thing! If my parents took this $6000 bill off my hands I'd be jumping for joy

Not complaining that it was about time....

#20 Post by **terra85** » Sat May 09, 2009 1:42 am

In response to Megan...I consider my dental situation to be not just a cosmetic issue but a health one as well. I grind my teeth and my jaw 'clicks' and makes noises when I open/close my mouth. I wake up with a sore jaw and slightly loose teeth (I grind that much) which throws my bite off, and the muscles around my face are often tense. It might not seem like a big deal, but unless you have TMJ/bruxism you wouldn't understand. A lot of that can be attributed to my misaligned teeth. In addition, I was told by an ortho that I will have periodontal disease later on in life (20 or so years away) if I don't get this fixed--I can't adequately clean the tooth behind/covered by a tooth. One of the ortho's I went to mentioned jaw surgery to fix my retrusive lower jaw. I'm hoping the dental school I'm going to get treatment from will present me with other options. If I was taken to an ortho as a kid, I wouldn't be facing potential jaw surgery or extractions. And my teeth probably wouldn't already show signs of wear if they were aligned properly. So this isn't a case of a few crooked teeth but one mess of a mouth. Even though I'm 23, I do very much believe my parent's owe this to me. Is it fair to not fix a problem in childhood when it is more amenable to treatment, and instead make your child pay the higher costs (both literally and in terms of treatment) when you no longer are legally responsible for them? No it's not, in my opinion. Why is it considered awful parenting (even abuse) if you don't seek medical care for your kid but a lot of people seem to think it's okay (even exemplary) to push the burden of ortho care onto the kid? It's pretty well established that oral and overall care are closely linked, and part of having a healthy mouth is having teeth that are aligned well.

Oh yeah, and the fact that they always told me that one day they were going to get my teeth fixed. I've been hearing it for over 10 years. It wouldn't be right for them to renege on their promise.

#21 Post by **JHova** » Sat May 09, 2009 4:00 pm

terra85 wrote:Parental guilt, I guess, for not taking me to the dentist when I was a kid. So yes, they owe it to me. It's definitely a delayed obligation, but oh well. At least I'm going to be getting braces

Come on dude, get over it. It seems you still resent your parents for not getting you braces when you were a kid. Atleast your getting them now.

#22 Post by **tingrin in OR** » Sat May 09, 2009 7:59 pm

I finally decided to do something for myself! When I was younger my parents never took me to the dentist, we were so poor- most of the time we didn't have toothpaste or milk or healthy foods. Because of all these factors I had 3 molars rot in my mouth (now that is some serious pain). When I became an adult and took myself to the dentist for the first time in my life it was an awful experience. The dentist pretty much treated me like I was trash because of the decay and the horrible state my mouth was in. I remember sitting there and bawling in the dentist chair I knew it was bad, I wasn't stupid, just grew up poor. I already felt like trash on the inside- I didn't need to hear it from him. Needless to say, I changed dentists and got my teeth healthy. It was a really long process and embarassing every time I went in. I knew I needed braces, it was mentioned at nearly every dental appointment. It was easy to put it off, student loans, mortgage, not a fan of monthly payments, feeling unworthy of treating myself to luxury items. But with age comes growth and I decided it is time to stir up the issues from the past and work thru them. Right now finances are not an issue and I have amazing ortho insurance coverage. The only thing keeping me from being a better me was me. I know that I would work 2 jobs if I had to to put my child in braces and I thought that I should do something for myself for once. I still feel guilty at times for going thru with it, but this is part of the process of healing and growing.

#23 Post by **LITTLEMA** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 11:48 am

I've decided to get braces now, because my parents couldn't afford them (like most people on here).

I've got a great job with amazing insurance, where I only have to pay 1500 out of pocket.

#24 Post by **ellen** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:08 pm

I had a gum graft over the bottom right canine a few years ago because the tooth was pushing forward and the gum was receding to the point I might lose the tooth. The gum graft kept that tooth in place, but the bottom teeth still wanted to move and the tooth next to the canine went backward while the tooth to the left of that (front and center!) pushed forward. I don't want to lose those teeth, nor do I want to be "Scary Grandma" someday (I'm 51). I am very happy with my decision (so far, at least)

Tue Jun 02, 2009 12:50 pm

I made a decision to "man up" and get them because I've always hated my teeth, I'm tired of NOT cheesing in photos, I'm planning on getting married next year and definitely want to smile in those photos and I should have listened to my mother. I had the opportunity to get braces when I was a teen but was SOO terrified of the dentist (root canal gone bad, I wasn't numb at all) the thought of braces made me nauseous!

So I'm older now, have it covered in dental, and my sister just got her braces off and her teeth are gorgeous...even though she won't wear her retainer. I bet she would if she had to pay for them

#26 Post by **acd** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 7:26 pm

I had an upper lateral incisor that came in behind before enough room was there for it and it looked like I was missing a tooth. Also my bottom teeth were incredibly crooked as well. As a teenager I was supposed to get braces but wouldn't because of either four extractions and headgear or an expander, no extarctions and headgear. Neither option sounded right for a shy teenager. Twenty five plus years later my son was in treatment and I had a consultation after seeing how fast his teeth improved. No extractions, expanders or headgear and the option of having clear ceramic brackets instead of metal bands like I would have had as a teenager sealed the deal. My wife was hesitant to spend the money but quickly agreed that if any of our kids teeth looked like mine we wouldn't hesitate to get them braces. It took twenty seven months and I couldn't be happier with the results. My only regret is that I waited until age 39 to get them.

#27 Post by **rolo** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:14 am

I was missing one top lateral inscisor and the other was too small to do anything with, also an impacted top canine, and the lowers were very crowded. So all in all a mess.

My parents did take me to an orthodontist, when I was 16, but the only treatment options were to remove the existing teeth so basically I would have had front top teeth and nothing else until premolars throughout much of my treatment, until my canine teeth came in. Braces I could cope with, lack of teeth for over a year, I couldn't, my parents didn't think it seemed like a good idea either - so it was decided implants were the best way forward and it would be a good idea to hang onto milk teeth for as long as possible, so it got left.

The great thing about having work done as an adult is that you have so many more choices, which ortho, which brackets, and most important to me fake temporary teeth in the gaps. So I chose linguals on top (they came with the promise that any gaps would be covered) and ceramic lowers. My ortho is great, I'm really pleased I didn't have the work done on the NHS as my impacted canine was covered by thin bone that didn't show on the X-rays. Fortunatley my ortho was fantastic, decided exposure sooner rather than later was a good idea, as considering the position of the tooth if should have been moving more than it was. It wasn't until the surgery that they discovered and removed the extra bone. Had it been treated on the NHS, I would have had to wait a long time (without teeth) for surgery.

I am paying the bill myself too and my husband has been fantastic about this. I am just so grateful to get the opportunities and the choices to get it sorted properly. The great thing about paying for the treatment myself is that I have appointments that are long enough for me to ask questions and get a good explanation of treatment options, if you are the one paying you are in the driving seat.

Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:58 pm

Add me to the "parents couldn't afford it" list. I was raised in a single-parent household. With two other siblings, our needs were taken care of as opposed to our wants. My teeth weren't misaligned to the point where braces were a need for me. Matter of fact, I could have continued my adult life without braces, but I wanted them because those "minor" issues were big enough to the point where I had to take matters into my own hands.

I remember my high school graduation pictures from 9 years ago (geez, I'm getting old!) I wanted to rip all my pictures before anyone asked for them. My top teeth aren't crowded, but they're shaped oddly...they're not perfect squares. I can't really explain it, but I looked like I had a big missing chunk of tooth...so ever since I took that picture, I've been very careful in the way I smile.

One problem that I never realized I had until my first visit to the dentist (again, something I couldn't afford when I was a child) a few years ago is that I grind my teeth. My orthodontic treatment is helping me to stop that. Grinding has caused pieces of tooth to come out ever so slightly, but I've not had that problem since being braced and receiving a bunch of fillings!

Those are my reasons.

#29 Post by **Briggsy** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:29 am

I've always wanted my teeth straightened, but as a teenager the thoughts of choosing to sped time with a dentist/ortho pull chills down my spine. Now I'm 39 and my 8yr old is developing the overcrowded cross bite that i have (although mine isn't that bad really). Our dentsit told him he would almost certainly need braces when all his adult teeth were through. So to put his mind at rest, we surfed the ne for pics of braces. It was then i decided I;d get braces for myself to show him that having braces would be okay. (- although it would screw my bank balance over for the forseeable!)... I'm nearlly 3 weeks in and I'm so pleased I've now taken the plunge.... my son is nolonger worried about getting braces. although he's disappointed that I have clear ligs on my ceramics; he wanted me to have black and red!!!! hopefully I'll ony be in them between 10-14 months

#30 Post by **ANGELFLUTTER** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:56 am

Guess cuz I need them and wasn't able to get them as a child. Mom and Dad thought the best way to remedy a bad tooth was to get rid of it. So as a result I have few molars left and my other teeth have shifted terribly. I am looking forward to braces now. Metal with the colored ligs - how cool can that be. When I was a kid the braces were much larger and looked like railroad tracks and I don't recall anything colored - just HEAVY METAL. I am at the age (53) where I am paying for my own with my own hard earned cash. As I stated in another post, I am paying $5,480.00 for my braces and I am definitely going to show them off - bright colored ligs and all.