I really haven't thought much about getting my teeth straightened. I have a wonky upper tooth that bugged me as a pre-teen/teenager but my mom was terrified of the dentist and heaven forbid she even think about an orthodontist. (Mom had a really bad experience with her braces as a kid, she speaks of it as the worse three years of her life, of course she had the old fashioned bands around all of her teeth and it was probably much more uncomfortable than the new versions). She wouldn't even take us to the dentist for cleanings. My only memory of a dentist as a child was going in, I was in kindergarten, and getting my two lower incisors pulled because my adult teeth were growing in behind them (the start of the crowding issues). After that I didn't go to the dentist again until I was about 15. My mom owned a health food store and there was a dentist next door. I walked myself in there and the dentist offered cleanings for free (mom revered her to customers a lot so she returned the favor). After that I would just make sure I went in at least every 6 months and got cleanings. The Dr. also advised me to go to the oral surgeon to get my wisdom teeth removed as they were impacted and growing in against my other molars causing havoc with them as well. Needless to say Mom wasn't too keen on the oral surgeon, so that didn't happen. Fast forward to my mid twenties.... Wisdom teeth rear their ugly crowns again. These teeth have been trying to come in over and over for years now, they will get all inflamed and hurt and then give up and go through this cycle month after month, finally my lower left decided to get infected, so I went to the dentist and he said it had to go. A lot of numbing and gas prying and pulling and about 45 min later he finally dislodges that stubborn tooth. Some antibiotics and painkillers and an order to come back in two weeks so the other offending molars could be relieved of their position in my jaw as well. That went ok aside from a bad case of dry socket in the right lower position
, but I recovered and I didn't think about my teeth much after that. Ok I know this story is getting long but I'll get to the point soon, I promise.
Fast forward another year or so, I get this massive sinus infection
, mind you I have always had sinus problems and have been a chronic mouth breather for years. Well it turns out it didn't want to give up, so I had endoscopic sinus surgery to open up my sinus cavities and drain out the infection. What a wonder, I could breathe....LOL. As a side effect I could also close my mouth. Which turned out to be a problem. My deep bite, and lack of overjet caused me to have to pull my jaw back to fit behind my front teeth. Bring on the TMJ pain. It was and still is awesome. This pain somehow causes me to clench my jaw even harder making the whole thing even worse. So after about 7 years of dealing with having to hang my mouth open like a dim wit all the time I have decided its time to make a change. My husband had braces as a teenager and really recommended a practice to me, a long standing family practice of orthodontists and oral-facial surgeons. So I pondered and debated, and did research and kept making up excuses why we can't afford it or why I should wait and he finally put his foot down and said I needed to get it done. I called the office, the receptionist was so perky and sweet, booked my consultation and started the waiting process. It was only about a week and a half away but it seemed like FOREVER! The day came, I went in and talked to the financial lady, she showed me the different appliances, and types of braces available and was generally informative until the Dr came in.
He put me in the chair laid me back and began to probe about in my mouth spouting off this and that malocclusion, 6mm overbite, lack of proper overjet causing wearing on my bottom incisors, and a bunch of other stuff that at the time I didn't understand or comprehend. Then in human terms he explained that my deep bite and lack of overjet was causing the crowding problems and the jaw problems. He told me he needed to "unload my jaw" and let it relax and get my lower arch into a more comfortable position. In order to do this he would be putting on top and bottom braces, and bite turbos. At the time I didn't know what bite turbos were, but he explained that they were stops on the inside of my upper incisors to prop open and unload my jaw. He said then without the added pressure on my jaw my molars would come together opening up my overbite. He told me I was going to hate him for a few weeks because chewing will be difficult but I should feel immediate relief (hopefully) from the jaw pain. He told me an estimate for cost and all that jazz, then followed up with one caveat.....jaw issues are kind of trial and error, we may have to change your treatment plan and adjust which can lengthen your treatment time....please just be patient with us. (nice)
So off to the records room, x-rays, pictures, and molds (gag on the mold stuff yuck, I hear stories of flavors, not at his office...lol) I survive that and I go to brush my teeth and get the left over gunk dislodged and I run into my boss and her 13 year old daughter..yep we see the same ortho
. Me and every other 13 year old in the state. Surely they have more than one adult patient. I check out and schedule my banding appointment. I was thinking spacers and a week, and then banding but nope. Straight to full braces and turbos. I have an appointment about a week and a half later. Awesome!! Oh my Gosh I'm freaking out...LOL! I haven't been this nervous in so long. I'm paying out of pocket for this (my insurance only pays for braces for kids) so I didn't see any reason to go for the clear brackets so I'm getting full metal in my mouth. I'm also kind of excited. After reading some of the stories on here seems like big changes happen pretty quickly at the start and I'm looking forward to watching my wonky teeth to get into line. So I have three more days. I'm not going to chicken out, even though its gonna be strange to be in there with all those tweens...
Here are my before pics, forgive me for the staining, I really need to whiten. Blame it on my tea addiction. I figure once this madness is over I'll invest on a good whitening and a little bonding to fix some chips I have acquired along the way.
I will post some after shots tuesday
