So I went to a periodontist, had osseous surgery, and began quarterly cleanings. (Osseous surgery is where they remove some of your gums to reduce deep pockets, and they remove damaged or diseased bone surrounding your roots.) My surgery was divided into two sessions, one for upper and one for lower teeth. During my second osseous surgery, I lost a molar. It had a troubled past, and during the surgery he saw that the root was fractured, so it had to go. So now I eventually will need an implant.
I am SO lucky. I have an awesome dentist, who referred me to an awesome periodontist and an awesome orthodontist. The three of them met to develop a treatment plan for me. The idea is that if I straighten out my teeth, the blood flow to the roots will improve, and I will likely keep them for much longer than if I left them the way they were.
It took me a while to be convinced that braces were the way to go. The benefits described above were far from a sure thing, and I didn’t have any desire to have braces for cosmetic reasons. I actually waited for a full year after my first ortho consult before I had the nerve to go for it!
So I took the plunge in August 2007, at the age of 47. I had Damon braces put on my upper teeth, followed by putting them on my bottom teeth in January 2008. My teeth weren’t too bad off. My ortho says I’m Class I (still not entirely sure what that means) with crowding on the bottom. I will likely have to have a lower incisor removed.
I went into this with the exclusive focus on saving my teeth. As time goes by, and my teeth start lining up, I’m starting to get excited about the cosmetic benefits after all! I hadn’t noticed some of the subtle, but visible problems I had. For example, my midline was off but I didn’t realize it. Now that it’s lining up, it’s exciting to notice that progress!
That’s probably enough info for now. I still need to get some pics together so I can post them.
Thanks for reading my story!
6-30-08 update Yay! I finally got my pics on! Here's my smile "pre-braces". I didn't think my top teeth were too bad, but the bottom teeth needed some help.
Here's the top before braces. Not too bad, but in need of some straightening.
And the bottoms... definitely can use some help.
And my bite. Notice my crooked midline.
These pics are from May 14, 2008. By then I had braces on my top teeth for 9 months, and on my bottom teeth for 4 1/2 months.
Here's the side view showing my most crooked lower teeth.
Here's the bottoms. Note the missing molar. I had my osseous surgery and lost that tooth since my "pre-braces" pics. You can also see that my archwire doesn't go through my bands. I'd just gotten my bands on when I took this pic. The wires go all the way through now. Can you believe the difference in my lower teeth already?!!
And here's my bite. Notice my midline is better already.
So I'm a pretty happy camper these days. My teeth are making noticeable progress, and I'm pretty darned excited about it!
Didn't give me my grandpa's tendency to remain skinny or my other grandpa's tendency not to go gray until he's 70. 
Stupid genes.
