getting braces after gum surgery

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#1 Post by **ziggyziggy** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:34 am

hi doc,
last year i was disgnosed with serious periodontal gum disease and my teeth and gums were in really bad shape. my gums were swollen and bled all the time and my teeth were all crooked. it looked really bad and i felt bad about my smile so i decided to fix it. my periodontist performed gum surgery on all 4 quadrants and cut away some gum. as a result my gums are all pink and hard as rock now. in my periontist's own words, my gums are now "1000 time better." he showed my the before pics and i cant beleive how nasty they use to be. I do notice a big difference in my teeth also. Now i see gaps all over the place and i dont like it a bit. some gaps are so large, especially in the lower jaw that u can fit half an incisor there. the periodontist says the gaps are due to the shifting and bone loss related to the gum disease. on top of that, i have a crossbite ever since i was a kid.

now 6 months have passed since my gum surgery and i asked the perio if i was able to get braces and he referred me to an orthodontist. i visited him and he said i was able to get braces to close the gaps and fix my crossbite. i was very excited about this. this brings us to last week when i had the braces placed on. now i am on my second week of braces and i notice my teeth shifting a little which is a good sign. the total treatment time will be 15 months.

now my question is this...how will the results be??? i know my teeth cant be made PERFECT because of my gum disease and the fact that some teeth lost bone but how good will my smile be at the end? my teeth are not its straightest either.

#2 Post by **Dark_angel** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 6:43 am

Your ortho will always try and get you the best possible result and im sure they can get your teeth looking good. Have you asked if you'll need bonding after treatment? This can be used to perfect the smile even more.

Hope your treatment goes well.

#3 Post by **ziggyziggy** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:08 am

Dark_angel wrote:Your ortho will always try and get you the best possible result and im sure they can get your teeth looking good. Have you asked if you'll need bonding after treatment? This can be used to perfect the smile even more.

Hope your treatment goes well.

thanks, but what exactly is bonding?