Hi! I'm Stefanie and I'm 26. Had braces at 12, but wimped out after 6 months and had them removed. Finally got the nerve up to do it again! I was given the option of braces + extractions + surgery, or braces + extractions + headgear. I chose the latter, since the former would have cost an additional $12-20,000 (tell me that isn't RIDICULOUS!) and my insurance doesn't cover adult ortho.
I've got, according to my ortho, a "severe class 2 division 1 extraction case" with treatment length of 3-4 years. No crossbite, >50% deep bite, 8mm overjet, upper and lower midline off right, upper crowding >4mm, lower crowding >6mm, and TMJ. After all is said and done, I will have had 8 teeth removed in addition to the braces.
Jan 26, 2010: Braces were put on. Took 3 hours! Was feeling pretty ok, had no problems speaking, no real soreness, just on the inside of my cheeks and lips. It was very difficult to eat, but I wasn't in any real pain. This is how it went for about a week and a half - discomfort, not pain. Lucky!
Feb 19, 2010: 6 of the 8 teeth came out - 2 lower wisdoms + all 4 bicuspids (other 2 will come out probably next year). The day of and days 1 and 2 post-op were pretty easy, but day 3 was pure hell. The pain got so bad I was in tears, and that was while on Percoset! Day 4 was a bit better, and by day 5, I was feeling much better. Day 7 would have been my first great day, except I lost too much weight from not being able to eat, and I'm small already, so I looked starved.
Eating was HARD because every time I even smelt food I felt nauseous, and that's horrible to me because I LOVE to eat! My husband helped me force about a bowl and a half of soup (by watching me with the hawk-eye), and I felt much better. Day 8 was much easier to eat, and I was really wishing I could eat something like a taco!
Hoping the way my cheekbones are standing out more is just because I need to put some weight back on, and not from getting teeth pulled!
Mar 11, 2010: First adjustment. I was more nervous about this appointment than I was about getting the 6 teeth pulled! The ortho put a power chain on the uppers to start closing the gap, but skipped the lowers for now, something about my upper teeth touching in the wrong spot when I close my mouth.
Surprisingly, not much pain from the power chain. It was very uncomfortable when he first put it on, but it went away quickly, and is now only uncomfortable when I eat. I'm thinking the worst part of this process (the wisdom teeth extractions) is over, and I'm happy about that!
So that's it for now... not very interesting, but it's been somewhat uneventful so far... not that I'm complaining
And here's some pictures of the process so far... not something I would normally share, out of embarrassment, but I've been reading through this forum and everyone seems so nice, and I know everyone here is going through, will go through, or already went through the same thing I am, so it puts my mind at ease a bit.
