27-year-old Metal Mouth

[Larkwind]

My mouth is like a high-end hooker; it looks attractive, but it's dead inside. LOL, j/k. I just get asked a lot if I've already had braces because my teeth look great until you get all up in there and take a tour. Basically, my family didn't put a big emphasis on oral health besides teeth brushing and not eating straight sugar. Luckily, this only resulted in a few cavities by the time I was 17, but my teeth went CRAZY. I'm talking two impacted wisdom teeth (they grew in completely sideways), three baby teeth that never got booted out because two of the adult teeth are missing and one of them decided it was going to grow in totally crooked in the roof of my mouth.

So, now I'm 27 and have the money to deal with this madness. I've had all of my consultations and am scheduled for teeth extraction (7 total) in a few weeks. Instead of going with implants, I've agreed to do braces to the close the gaps caused by removing the baby teeth (two lower pre-molars) and pulling the drunken adult tooth into place (top left pre-molar). I've scheduled the braces to get put on exactly one week after surgery. Question: Am I insane for that?

Also, something I'm concerned about is, after everything is said and done, I will have two more teeth on the top row of my mouth than I will on the bottom. I'm confident that my orthodontist is aware of this and will toss everything around in my mouth accordingly, but is that common, to have uneven number of teeth on top/bottom due to or in spite of orthodontic treatment?

Thanks all!

[duchiemarie]

Congrats on taking the first steps to having the smile you always wanted!

I loved reading your post, i thought it was just hilarious!


I bet your "drunken tooth" will be in line before you know it!

Looking forward to hear how it all goes for you!
DUchie

[Helly]

Hey!

I'm also 27 and same as you I now am financially able to take the step to get braces. I'm having 4 extractions (which I'm more scared of than the braces!) and my teeth moved to close the gaps. I have a canine behind a tooth which is just bizarre but it is coming out to play and get put where it should be!!

Sounds like you have a good plan and I hope everything works out for you!

Helly x

[Larkwind]

Thanks for the encouragement, ya'll! I must admit, after the raging depression I felt at throwing close to $6,000 of hard-earned money at fixing my mouth, I started to get excited about doing something so extensive and positive for myself and my future. Now I'm ready to get these teeth out and the hardware on!

The only negative thoughts in my head at this point are all the foods I'm going to miss. I am QUITE a foodie, so not being able to masticate delicious cuisine may throw me into a Hulk fit.

[JillD]

but is that common, to have uneven number of teeth on top/bottom due to or in spite of orthodontic treatment?

I had seven tooth extractions, and i was told that the number of teeth on the top and bottom should be same to have balance.

[Larkwind]

Yeah, I'm not sure if it will be a problem. I will have an extra set of teeth on my top jaw because only the wisdom teeth are getting extracted up top. But I will be removing two baby teeth in the same position on bottom jaw and moving the rest of the teeth forward. The doctors haven't mentioned this being a problem... hopefully because they know it isn't one!

[Helly]

Thanks for the encouragement, ya'll! I must admit, after the raging depression I felt at throwing close to $6,000 of hard-earned money at fixing my mouth, I started to get excited about doing something so extensive and positive for myself and my future. Now I'm ready to get these teeth out and the hardware on!

The only negative thoughts in my head at this point are all the foods I'm going to miss. I am QUITE a foodie, so not being able to masticate delicious cuisine may throw me into a Hulk fit.

Yeah this is something for you, I'm doing it now so it's all sorted for my 30th in just over 2 yrs time.

I eat A LOT. And i love good food! And I love coffee. I may have some problems adjusting!!

Good luck!

[Larkwind]

[quote="Helly"]
Yeah this is something for you, I'm doing it now so it's all sorted for my 30th in just over 2 yrs time.[/quote]

Same here. I'll be 28 in September and my treatment time is (hopefully) 24 months max. 30 will be fabulous!

[Larkwind]

ACK, somebody teach me how to "quote"!

[twentysomething]

it's reallyy encouraging to see people around my age going through the same experience as i am! (26 y.o) I'm 8 months into my treatment, and altho the present seems to be agonizing, the next 17 months will go just as fast as the last 8 months!

[Larkwind]

Yeah I feel better knowing there are people my age who are dealing with this. The crappy thing about waiting until your 20s and 30s is that you're an adult and have many more responsibilities in your life and it makes things much harder. Working a regular 9-5 makes things tricky to come in every few weeks for ortho adjustments (flex time is a life saver!). And my BF of 3 years is moving in with me right now, and my extractions and braces are happening in just a few weeks, so it's going to be an INSANE month. I'm worried about going postal from stress!

[plugnickel69]

Yeah, I'm not sure if it will be a problem. I will have an extra set of teeth on my top jaw because only the wisdom teeth are getting extracted up top. But I will be removing two baby teeth in the same position on bottom jaw and moving the rest of the teeth forward. The doctors haven't mentioned this being a problem... hopefully because they know it isn't one!

You really should discuss the concern with your ortho. There are often many options in the orthodontic world. You should have a say in the decision-making process.

[Larkwind]

Yeah, I'm not sure if it will be a problem. I will have an extra set of teeth on my top jaw because only the wisdom teeth are getting extracted up top. But I will be removing two baby teeth in the same position on bottom jaw and moving the rest of the teeth forward. The doctors haven't mentioned this being a problem... hopefully because they know it isn't one!

You really should discuss the concern with your ortho. There are often many options in the orthodontic world. You should have a say in the decision-making process.

I asked the ortho surgeon about this, and the way he explained it to me was this: The baby teeth I'm removing are only about half as big as the set of teeth behind them, so when those larger teeth move forward to close the gap, there should still be about half of a tooth's width left in the back for the last teeth on top to rest on and chew with. That does make sense to me. If it does wind up being a problem, though, I guess I can have it fixed later