I thought I would take the plunge and start my own braces story after reading and being inspired by all your tales!
I finally got braced on 11.9.2009 - four days ago. I'm 36 years old, live in the UK and it's taken me 20 years to get to this point. As a teenager I saw an ortho who told me my only course of treatment would involve major jaw surgery, headgear and three years of braces. Of course, at the time I said ' you've got to be kidding' - as did my parents! No way were they going to put me through all that. The upshot was, however, that I've spent the entirety of my adult life loathing my teeth, feeling horribly self-conscious and dreaming of a mouth that no-one ever comments on. I also developed a phobia of the dentist, visiting only once between the ages of 18 and...ummm... well, 3 months ago
Luckily, I have basically healthy teeth, even if they're in all the wrong places (and boy, did they need a good scrape!)The turning point for me was when one of the mums at my son's school got braces. She is just a couple of years younger than me, and had - like me - dreamed for years of having straight teeth. She encouraged me to see first her dentist and then her ortho, telling me that I didn't have to commit to anything, to just see what they could do for me and take it one step at a time. So, on 22.6.2009 I visited the dentist for the first time in, literally, decades. He referred me to my friend's ortho - I saw him on 7.8.2009 and on 11.9.2009, I got braced
My problems were as follows:
massive overbite/overjet? of 10mm (normal being 2-4mm) which technically would need surgery to correct. However, my ortho is very positive that he can get a great result without needing surgery, contrary to what I was told 20 years ago - things have moved on a little since then, I guess! I trust my ortho implicitly and am thrilled that he is so positive about the results we'll achieve without resorting to surgery.
I also have big crowding problems on my lower teeth, my right canine has never come down properly and I have overcrowding on the top. Basically, they're a mess, as you'll see from the photos!
I've not needed any extractions so far, but there is a possibility that I may need some later. We are waiting for the first adjustment to see how things go. I don't want extractions, obviously! - but I also feel that now I've taken the plunge I'm just going to get with the program and do whatever it takes to improve my smile!
I don't need perfection - I just want teeth that don't provoke comment! I ahve lived my whole life with teasing about my teeth, and I just feel so proud of myself that I've finally sone something about it. We reckon I will be braced for minimum 18 months, and probably more like 2 years. I think it's going to be worth every minute!
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bottom arch
top arch
my two right canines, totally out of place!
horrible full-frontal - note overbite
