Here's my story
Deciding to Get Braces (and the Invisalign Delusion)
I have always regretted not having braces when I was younger. It was an age for me that I didn't feel there was anything wrong with my teeth, and didn't understand how important I would feel about their appearance in later years. I had always contemplated having them straightened, but the idea of having braces put me off. Then, years back, I heard about Invisalign and thought it would be right for me, but I thought the price was completely out of my reach (I thought it was £7k+ for some reason!). So for even more years I thought there was nothing I could do.
Then, out of the blue, I decided to look into Invisalign a bit more. It sounded great—just right for me! An invisible solution that has no metal to irritate your mouth? Who wouldn't want that! And, to my surprise, I was looking at the £3k mark. I thought I could actually do this now. So for weeks I was getting excited at the prospect of getting Invisalign, and I booked a consultation with my orthodontist. The very first thing he said to me when I mentioned Invisalign was that it's not as wonderful as it makes out: the trays can become very disgusting and unpleasant, they rely a lot on requiring teeth to be filed down, and, most importantly, it's not suitable for many people; he said it's for minor corrections, which I was worried my problems weren't. So he looked in my mouth and—what a surprise!—I wasn't suitable at all. My dreams of this 'ideal' solution were gone, and I thought that was it. But for some reason, because I was there and had my heart set on having straight teeth, the idea of braces suddenly appealed to me, especially when he showed me the ceramic ones (for those unaware what ceramic braces are, they are clear (tooth coloured) brackets that are much less noticeable than the metal ones). He also went into a lot of detail about what was wrong with my teeth, and it was a lot worse than I had even thought myself; he was saying things about my teeth that I had no clue about!
Extractions!
But then an absolute horror: extractions! I never imagined for one moment I would need teeth extracted in order for them to be straightened. I was quite devastated and didn't think I'd ever go through with it. But I thought I would at least have my moulds taken so he could take a few weeks to figure out exactly what needs to be done (down £40
). And then a few weeks later I was back and he gave me the news: I would need 4 teeth out. FOUR! I was shocked and disappointed, and he had had second opinions from other orthodontists, so it wasn't something I could avoid. I decided to have a long think about it and ring him when I had made my mind up. But I didn't lose hope over the fact I'd need teeth extracted. I thought to myself... I have too many teeth in my mouth; my mouth is overcrowded; it's not big enough to house all the teeth I have; I don't need them. I also, humorously, thought "Well, I'll still have all my teeth, just a few of them won't be in my mouth anymore." Hehe! Still, the idea that I'm going to have perfectly healthy teeth extracted was not appealing, and quite gutting as well, considering how well I keep my teeth—I don't have a single filling or missing tooth.Where I am Today (2012-01-14) and What Needs to be Done
So that was that. I decided to get my consent forms through and go ahead with it. Now here I am with two extraction appointments scheduled for the 16th and 23rd of Jan. I require 4 premolars out: two bottom and two top. Three of them are the first (front) ones, while one of them is the second (back, just before the first molar). This is to correct the position of my teeth on top of each other. One side of my mouth has them staggered as they should be, but on the other side they are immediately above each other, which is bad.
Once I've had those extracted (which is going to cost around £160 if I remember rightly), I'll have my braces put on a week afterwards. I'm having ceramics on top and metal on bottom. The reason for this is because my orthodontist believes, because of my bite, having ceramic on the top and bottom might cause complications if they were to scrape against each other (why this doesn't happen with metal on the lowers, I don't know XD). One advantage to this will be a saving of £200, which covers my extractions, which I originally thought would be included in the price
Which is a point: my treatment will cost me £2,795 and it will take about 2 years. A lot of time and money, considering, but I'll be very glad to have had it done and get perfect teeth. And it could have been a lot more so I should think myself lucky.
I'm a bit reluctant to share photos, as I'm quite self conscious, but I feel it's a very important part of sharing the story. So here are some photos of my crooked teeth currently, before the dreaded extractions in a few days (sorry, my bottom lips don't normally like that bad! I've been biting them recently (probably from being nervous, lol). Naughty me!):
My friends all seem to say they don't notice anything wrong with my teeth, but the important thing is that they are definitely far from perfect (my teeth, not my friends, lol), and would greatly benefit from being straightened (in fact, looking at the photos I feel they're even more terrible than they look in person! But, then, we don't normally go around with our lips parted so, lol!). Most importantly, it would boost my self confidence greatly! I'll also look forward to getting them whitened afterwards!
So that's basically my story so far. I'm quite nervous about Monday, but I just need to keep looking at those photos and I realise it will be worth it. I'd love to hear from you all, so please post! Have many of you needed teeth extracted, too? Is it a common thing? What are all your time frames for treatment? Any of you also have ceramic/metal combo? I'd love to hear from you all
I look forward to posting my updates. I can't wait to get my braces on and show you all
Thanks very much for reading!
Dom
