good luck to you too as well. I am so glad I found this site.
Okay I'm going to share my beginning story.
I am 24 years old. Growing up I did not have bad teeth but I had a very small mouth. When I was 10 years old I saw an orthodontist who informed my mother at the time that I would need an expander put in my mouth bc my jaw was too small to fit all of my teeth. So I would say about 6 months later I had the expander put in. I would also say it wasn't pleasant. I vaguely remember the spacers and for me they hurt ALOT. I also had a lot of baby teeth that chose not to come out. My permanent teeth practically pushed everyone of my baby teeth out of their mouth. My mom says she thinks it's bc I was a late teether as a baby (due to being premature) and that's why my teeth wouldn't come out. I didn't lose my first baby tooth until I was 7 1/2 and never lost my last molar until I was 15!! However the Ortho ended up pulling a few baby molars out bc she needed to make room for the expander and the other teeth! That was not fun!
I had the expander on for about a year. While it was on I experienced a lot of discomfort. Adjustments were not fun either. But the worst was the sores I'd get in my mouth. The expander on the roof of my mouth was shaped like a U but it had a bar that ran across with a circle in the middle and another bar...(hard to explain) but bc I would sleep with my tongue rested at the roof of my mouth I'd literally wake up with the shape of the expander engraved in my tongue
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
It cause a lot of pain and I couldn't eat and I cried a lot. After the year they informed me the expander could be out. I was never more relieved. I wanted to kiss my ortho! But as she's taking it out she's telling me I should consider braces...my brother currently had them on during this time. I was so petrified...."BRACES"......how could I put more metal in my mouth and experience more pain after the year I had....NO WAY I thought!
So I begged my mom to please not make me get braces and she pretty much just didn't care (or didn't want to hear me complain). So years went on and my teeth begin to grow in place. They weren't perfect but they were not horrible either. My one baby tooth (upper left) would not budge soe the permanent tooth grew overtop causing my tooth to slightly sit back. But it wasn't that bad.
OVer the years I got by. I never felt self concious of my smile and I was content w. who I was. But then I turned 16 and had the routine wisdom teeth xray exam. I was told that I had 4 impacted teeth that needed to come out ASAP or as the doctor said, "would start to shift my teeth"...I wasn't too concerned and basically shrugged it off. But a few weeks later I woke up in the middle of the night in a bit of discomfort. When I woke up in the morning I could visably see that my bottom teeth had all shifted inward. I was mortified and had my mom call the ortho right away to get these wisdom teeth out! I can also vouche that the wisdom teeth was the worst pain I have been in thus far in my life!! IT was NOT fun at all....but who knows maybe I'm just a big baby
Anyways, after the whole drama of the wisdom teeth I had to get used to the new bottom teeth. But they were my bottoms I didn't care. It's not like I smiled with my bottom teeth. I wasn't too worried about it. Every once in a while though my mouth would hurt for no reason. I couldn't figure out why bc I had all the teeth out and I didn't have cavaties or anything else. It was just a slight sharp pain in my gum area and jaw. I didn't bother to do too much. But I could slowly see my mouth was changing. My jaw was shifting, my front tooth was slowly being pushed back further and even my bottom teeth seemed to keep shifting. I kept thinking, what is going on??
Everytime I went for a cleaning the dentist would inform me that braces was a good idea. Yeah Yeah I thought. I hear ya but when you decide your going to fork the money out for me to do it then I'm good to go!! LOL
The truth was I couldn't afford them and neither could my family. I was approaching the age where insurance wouldn't cover it anymore. It was either out of my pocket or I wouldn't do it.
Years passed and just up until recently I've been slowly starting to HATE my smile. So a year ago I went for a consult at an ortho just to see my options. I had a feeling they'd tell me I would need extractions and bc I had a horrible wisdom teeth experience having more teeth pulled was not something I was interested in. And surely enough that's what I was told. "You need a lot of reconstructive work, your an adult now and your bones are fused to where they want to be and they're not going to move easily. And you don't have any room to fit your teeth in there so you will need a min. of 4 teeth pulled. Two on top and two on the bottom!".....oh my the words I dreaded. I wasn't completely taken back. I knew it was the only option but I was so afraid. It also came down to money. I am self employed and don't have dental coverage. Therefore I'd need extractions which aren't covered and on top of that the cost of braces. I asked the doctor how long treatment would be and how much braces would cost. "About 3-4 years w/ braces...and your talking anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000 depending on what you want to get"....wow I can't afford that and 3-4 yrs with braces...yikes!
I decided that maybe my smile wasn't horrible and braces weren't for me. I went on my way. But over the past year I just hated to smile. Hated taking pictures, hated who I was...I was not happy. My mom finally said to me one day after I complained about my smile, "you need to stop procrastinating, suck it up and just do it or you truly will NEVER be happy with your image!".....it took that line to finally realize, "she's right"....so I looked online for local ortho's and decided to find a second opinion.
I sucked it up and thought okay teeth being taken out maybe not so bad. It will hurt no doubt, but it will just be for a short time. I made an appointment for a free consult and was ready and prepared for everything and anything. This ortho was very optimistic. Right away I felt comfortable. He told me "we can fix you up w/ no problems"...okay I thought but what about them extractions to which he replied, "let me guess you went to another ortho and he said you'd need 4 teeth removed and it would be impossible to fix your teeth"...I was amazed did he know my last orthodontist? lol
He simply told me that "old school" ortho's like to "remove" the teeth but today they try to not do that. He said they will do what's called enamel reduction or slimming/shaving of the enamel on the tooth. He said it's safe and common now. He said by removing teeth it can change the structure of the face and he said my face was fine and didn't want to risk it!! I was so excited. I wanted to dance. But wait....the cost! How would I manage to pay for this.
So that became my biggest obstacle. I set up an appointment for records and in the meantime tried to figure out my payment options. I finally settled w/ a finance company and I am going to make monthly payments.
I will have my braces on this friday. I got all my impressions done a month ago. That was interesting! I am now in spacers...not so much fun but I'm getting through. More annoying then bothersome. I just want to take them out bc I hate the feeling. I am anxious, excited, nervous and just looking forward to starting the process of getting a beautiful healthy smile.
I will get ceramic on top, metal on bottom. On my record sheet it states that I will have them 20-24 months. I am hoping for the lesser
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
I was also told that my bite may officially be off due to a slight shift in my left side of my upper jaw. I told the ortho as long as I'm not in pain, my teeth are straight, I don't care about the bite. I'll get used to it. I'm not looking for perfection just a change.
I have had many family members who have had braces and they're biggest regret: Not wearing their retainer. I know for sure I'll be wearing mine. I'm not spending all this money, having all this pain, to just have crooked jacked up teeth again LOL
I am glad I can share my brace story with all of you (who choose to read my long ass blog) hehe....and I am going to keep it updated. It's also going to be nice to look back on time to time to remember my journey. I'm glad I'm not alone.