My name is Kyra, I'm 24 (25 in September) and am quickly approaching my own personal Brace Day. I have been lurking here for months and months, and now, two weeks off, I decided to start chronicling my journey! And I forewarn you, I am long-winded, neurotic, and overly detailed!
I've been told since I was an early adolescent that I needed braces, that my teeth would get harder and harder to clean, maintain, and, well, generally KEEP as the years went on. (Severe crowding, overbite - class II malloclusion) However, I am hard headed and stubborn, and the more dentists threatened me as a teenager, the more I decided to "prove them wrong." My strong, unwavering opinions, coupled with the financial burden that would have been getting braces, resulted in my parents not "forcing" me to get braces. As time went on, I got more and more self conscious about my teeth, however, I was firmly of the opinion that orthodontia was cosmetic surgery, on par with breast implants and liposuction, and I was not going to let some outdated concept of beauty force me to change myself! Or, at least, that's what I found myself saying more and more - people couldn't comment on how bizarre my teeth were if I came right out of the corner fighting! (It's a nasty tendency I have, draw attention to what I am self-conscious about, so that EVERYONE NOTICES, but is too polite to say anything.)
As the years went by, I worked very hard to make sure that I kept my teeth as clean as can be. My dental cleaning routine has always been involved, and I'm sure it will be even more so when I have my braces. Over time, I relocated to another state after graduating college, bought a house, and got married. Which has been a slight delay in my plans to become the crazy cat lady, but luckily, my husband is supportive - we're "those" people, cat people through and through. Our family right now consists of four beloved kitties, one dog, and three rats. I'm happy and established in a profession that I enjoy, even though it can be maddening.
I finally found a dentist in my new area that I like (which means, of course, she is not participating with my insurance). She's a lovely woman, with a BEAUTIFUL heavy Russian accent that I enjoy listening to every word of. She told me on my first visit that I take better care of my teeth than many people without my dental problems (so why do they look so YELLOW in my pictures? Argh!), and that my teeth are very healthy, all things considered. However, she was still recommending that I pursue orthodontia to correct my bite and give me some more ease of cleaning, along with the self confidence. And the willingness to actually SMILE without covering my face with my hand, a pet peeve of my supportive husband. She was gentle, though, and not pushy, which I respected immensely.
Over the next two years, I gave serious thought to her information (yes, based on the timeline, I bought a house at 21. I'm a bit of an overachiever). Coupled with the start of my new professional life, where I counsel people one-on-one, I began really thinking that I should go forward. Not to sound judgemental, but a good portion of my thinking stemmed from that, in the population I work in, there are a lot of unattended dental problems, and it really made me think about how people saw MY teeth. A few clients got dentures, and it was simply AMAZING how their appearance, happiness, and presentation changed. Now, I want to keep my teeth, but the concept is the same - if I could have that, and my teeth could be healthier, why would I deny myself?
So, I decided to go for consults. I live in a rural area, so I chose simply the closest orthodontist to start with. Ten minute consultation, they said, yup, your teeth are crooked, we're going to pull four of them because you have no space, then stick you in braces. Ceramics will be fine, just pay us an extra $500. Then, they spent twenty minutes talking to me about financial matters and trying to get me to immediately set up another appointment to get spacers and refer me to an oral surgeon to pull my teeth.
Needless to say, I was a little concerned about this. Luckily, it was time for my six month cleaning, so I went to see my dentist. She stated that, while she thought I would likely need extractions due to my crowding, but that she was not familiar with the work of the ortho I had gone to. She recommended another ortho, one that she works with frequently, who is a little further away, but, who, she stated, will only due the treatment that is necessary and best for the client. So, I went home with the intent to schedule another consultation, and wait the 30 days or so until they could get me in, like the last place (no one likes to waste time on those free appointments, right?)
I called Monday morning, and, lo and behold, they got me in for my consult that Thursday. I was already impressed by that. Met with the assistant and the ortho, a very soft spoken middle-aged gentleman, who didn't seem at all like he was trying to "sell" me anything. He took a look at my teeth, and gave me more detailed information about what he saw and what he wanted to change. He also did some measurements, and talked me through everything, which the first ortho had not done. He stated that he was not willing to commit to extractions without seeing records, as he feels it changes facial aesthetic too much to be a snap decision. I briefly asked about brackets, and he stated that he thought metal would be a much better option for me, as ceramic may not have the needed strength, plus is a smaller bracket. Having done my research, I knew he also works with Damon brackets (one of TWO orthos in a 150 mile radius - I told you, pretty rural area). I asked about them, he stated that I seemed well informed, and that it was something that he would consider if we were not going to immediately try extractions. He very quickly outlined some financial information, but there was no pressure to schedule again.
I felt much more respected and decided to go forward with the records visits. So I went in and took the horrible, horrible pictures and molds. Three weeks later, he had me scheduled for an hour long treatment plan consultation, where he personally sat with me and my husband for a solid hour to review EVERYTHING. And man, the first thing I thought of was, I never realized just HOW bad my teeth were until I saw a 3-D computer model on the screen.
He stated that the only way my jaw/bite would be perfect would be to have orthognathic surgery, but that he felt we could reach a reasonable compromise plan. What he outlined was first starting with braces (Damon brackets) on the uppers and lower back molars with "Wilson Mechanics" to try and bring my upper jaw backwards in line with my lower. This, he estimated, would take about a year with elastics, less if I was fully compliant. Once aligned somewhat more, he could reassess to see if we could work without extractions, which he still felt was a last resort after interproximal reduction at the halfway point. It all was well, at this point we would brace the lower front teeth, otherwise, get the needed extractions and move along. Again, there was absolutely no pressure to schedule further, and the financial outline, despite a much more intensive plan, was LESS expensive than the first orthodontist. He gave me a thorough write-up of his plan, as well.I talked quite a bit with my husband, and we ultimately decided we would go forward with the second orthodontist. Of course, we had some home repairs that needed to be done in early summer, so we decided to save a bit more before making the initial down payment, and figured we would aim for having the braces applied close to my birthday (mid-September).
Fast forward to August, and I'm eager to get the process started! I call back to schedule my appointments, and again, they are extremely accommodating with scheduling. So, now, I am scheduled to go in 08/20/09 to have my spacers placed (which I am looking forward to OH SO MUCH based on my lurking!
), and 08/27/09 to have my uppers braced (and the back lower molars, so there is something to run the elastics to). I am insanely excited, but also nervous. As I said, I counsel people for a living, and it will be extremely noticeable to my clients. I'm planning needed changes to my cleaning regiment and beginning to gather supplies. Like I said at the beginning, I'm a little neurotic (and long-winded, as you can see if you even made it this far!) If you did read through all of this, thank you for bearing with me! I'm eager to hear some feedback and share pictures/experiences as time goes on, even though it's still a little while before I am formally "started"!So, all these words, for all those of you out there saying "too long; didn't read", here are some images. I should have requested the ortho's pictures, but I am a silly lass, so you get my handiwork. The first one is my natural bite, you can see how much of an overbite there is. The second I opened my mouth, so you can actually see my lowers (I would not be opposed to extractions on the lowers, but I want to keep my uppers, so we shall see what happens!). It's so unsettling for me to look at a picture of JUST my teeth - I think I'm mildly attractive when you see the whole picture, but just these babies? I would RUN. ;(
Thanks for having me, everyone!
I work with chemically dependent individuals, so I do keep telling myself that it's good modelling, but I think I'll certainly get some flak from some people, particularly in groups. I'll just roll with the self-improvement talk, though. 
Pet all of your cats for me!
I was the same way - didn't realize just how bad my bite was until I was getting my recordings and getting the pictures taken and seeing just how DEEP my bite is. 
