For a little bit of background, I come from a Michigan shop family; every single male on both sides of my family have worked for GM for part or all of their lives. That being said, the recession hit the Flint area and all of the shop families really hard, and most people lost their jobs. My dad was one of them. Because of this, we didn't have dental insurance for a really long time, and my sister and I didn't end up going to the dentist until I was around 10 (she would be six). The dentist that we could afford to go to was not the best. It was rather close to being the worst. I ended up having to get two fillings, and that should have been the end of it. But it wasn't.
After my younger sister had some major problems with the sketchy dentist trying to pull a tooth without enough Novocaine, my mother put the kebash on going back there. We didn't go to another dentist again until I was 15, another smaller practice in which our hygienist was one of my dad's friend's wife. There I learned that the two fillings that I had gotten five years previously were causing some major problems for me, which I was already suspicious about. The first filling, one that is still in my mouth to this day (but needs replacing), is now a dead tooth. The first dentist drilled way too far into my tooth and killed all of the nerves in it. I have to have it checked regularly to make sure that it isn't causing me any harm. The other filling's problem was the exact opposite; the dentist had not filled the tooth enough and the cavity continued to grow for five years, and became abscessed. The new dentist knew this straight away when I explained to him that I had a reoccurring "tooth bubble" that caused me discomfort about once a week. I was immediately scheduled for a root canal and porcelain crown.
When I had the procedure done a couple of weeks later, the dentist brought up braces. I explained to him that I could not afford them at the time, and he signed me up for a free consultation for the clear correctors that they fitted in-office (they did not do braces there). I went back to school immediately following the root canal, I was the lead in the school play and I had rehearsal. At this point I was so used to an achy mouth that a temporary crown didn't really affect my performance. About a week later, they put the porcelain crown on and it was HUGE. It's so big. I asked them if it was supposed to look double the size of my other molars and I don't think I ever got a straight answer. I went back to school and the crown fell off. My mom called the dentist office and they suggested denture paste. I wasn't there for the conversation but I'm assuming my mother conveyed to them that that was ridiculous and we would be back at the office after rehearsal.
After the crown fiasco, we moved to our third dentist in my small town. We now had insurance and this place was one of the best around. Everyone there marveled at the size of my crown and the fact that I had an old silver filling even though I was only 17 years old. Both of these things could be replaced, but my insurance only covered a certain amount of procedures per year and I had to get my wisdom teeth out. The third dentist also did orthodontics, and was where I had my first of many orthodontic consultations. The problem this time was that I was moving to the other side of the state for college in a few months and our new insurance would be gone in July, for the Saginaw plant had also recently closed down. Braces were pushed back again.
I should probably talk about my actual bite now! I have severe crowding issues. My mouth is the size of the average seven-year-olds and since my adult teeth started coming in when I WAS 7, they haven't quite fit. My front teeth don't overlap but instead of pointing straight down like they're supposed to, point inwards, like a rat. The two next to them are the real problem; they're way higher than they're supposed to be and stick out, causing everyone to call them my "fangs". My front teeth also reach all the way down to my bottom gums because of a severe overbite, which is causing my jaw bones to rub together a lot and have started slowly eating away at each other, causing a frequent clicking noise. My bottom teeth have the average crowding issue of simply being crooked and twisted due to lack of room. I also have several cross-bites, which doesn't really bother me, but has been pointed out to me by many a specialist. The entire left side of my mouth is off by one tooth.
This past summer, right after my first year of college, is when I really gritted down and decided on braces. I went to a few consultations where snotty Flint doctors told me things about my teeth that I already knew and told me what I had to do. I was given no options, asked no questions, and was treated like my shoe size and not my age. All of them ended on the statement that they could not treat me because I would be living too far away (on campus) for most of my time and one gave me a packet of contacts for orthodontists near campus.
I checked the credentials of them and decided on one two miles away from my dorm. I made the appointment at 8AM because I have later classes and was pleasantly surprised to find the waiting room empty. This new orthodontist was very polite and gave me a lot of options, and I made my casting appointment before I left. Flash forward about a month and a half and I've gotten my final two wisdom teeth extracted and got braces put on last Thursday! They're clear on top and are very discreet. While I haven't been able to eat solids in three weeks and this bite ramp is killing me, I couldn't be happier with how things are going. I've been bullied about my teeth for so long and now in 1 1/2 to 2 years I'll have a straight smile! And the best part? They didn't even have to pull any teeth (other than the wisdoms obvioulsy) when all of my other consults were going to pull 3-4! One of the biggest reliefs though is that I'll never have to hear the question "Why did you never get braces?" from another person again!
