30yo finally on the road to getting braces

[redwilllow]

I have been contemplating all my life to get braces. It was obvious as a kid that I needed them badly, yet my mother did nothing. I had never been to the dentist until 3 months ago, I then asked my dentist to refer me.

I could have gotten braces on the NHS as its such a state in my mouth, but i opted to go privately as I have such a small face I felt I would look awful with a full standard set in my tiny mouth! I am opting for clear/ceramic (not sure which my ortho showed me as I was so nervous) but the wire looks very thin so it doesnt look so obstructing.

It has taken a long time to get me to even seeing a dentist/orthodontist, but now I have to have 4 teeth extracted and this scares me to death. I have always had healthy teeth despite them being all over the show I am lucky I guess. It will cost me £3800 and 2 years to complete my treatment I hope to update this post with updates like a diary I suppose to document and encourage me to continue and also to help others who may have reached this website as I did!

I had my consultation yesterday with my ortho, and another in 4 weeks to make a decision. I want to go through with it but tooth exctraction and being extremely anxious about it makes me worry that I will get discouraged and not go through with it!

[onwardsandupwards]

Firstly, welcome to the board fellow Brit! & congratulations for getting up the courage to go to the Orthodontist and taking those crucial first steps

Feeling nervous is completely normal and understandable, especially when you throw getting teeth extracted into the mix of considerations. It would definitely be worth you getting another one or two opinions from other orthodontists if you can, as there may be options available to you that do not require extractions. If you have a read through of other posts here you will find lots of people have been in similar situations and ended up going down the non-extraction route successfully. Each orthodontist will have a different approach so it may be that you won't need any teeth out at all, which is definitely worth considering when all of your teeth are perfectly healthy! You could even ask the ortho if you can try braces for a while first, and then if it really is necessary get your teeth removed later on?

Personally I was told I would need 2 upper premolars removing and I went ahead with it despite my teeth being healthy as I felt it was the best approach which would give me the best results without needing surgery. I have my fingers crossed I made the right decision but I felt comfortable with it and confident in my ortho. There is no harm in getting other opinions though if the idea of extractions really doesn't sit comfortably with you.

Best of luck, I look forward to hearing what you decide! x