I recently came under a different user name (6bug) but didn't like that name so here I am again! Sorry for the indecisiveness...just wanting it out there in case some of you find my story familiar. LOL Anyway, I am a month and a half late coming to this forum. I have had my braces for about 6 weeks now...give or take two days here or three days there. However, it's never too late to share my story...especially since I'm just getting braces for the first time at age 44 (going on 45 in about a month!)!
Let me begin...
I was born in a war torn country during the Vietnam war. My family took asylum in a Thai refugee camp in the mid 70's then finally settled in the States in 1979. This is when I first held a toothbrush. My dental hygiene was so bad that I believe the dentist and his assistants spent a few hours just chippy away at my tartar buildup. To add to that, I also had various cavities on my premolars and molars that needed fillings with my first molar having to get a root canal. But that's all in the past...since then I have seen a dentist regularly...had four of my wisdom teeth pulled in my mid 20's and just two years ago, my root canal extracted due to infection. I was supposed to get an implant, but decided against it and opted for braces instead.
So the subject of braces played often in my mind for as long as I can remember. In junior high school, I wanted braces so bad just because I had a silly crush on a boy named Trevor Brace. I don't know why my parents never took me in for braces evaluation...it was obvious that my front upper and lower teeth were crowded. I now just realized that probable reasoning being my parents were never educated about orthodontia. And OMG! When my wisdom teeth were trying to make their way up, it hurt like a mother fcker! And because they were impacted the pain was just excruciating! It felt like someone took a chainsaw to my jaw! So out they came! First best thing I gifted myself!
Second best thing I gifted myself...
Many, many years later and after many many years of ruminating over the wanting of braces, I finally took the plunge and went for my first ortho consult in November of 2014. Why I waited so long? Honestly, I don't know and couldn't tell you. I suppose I didn't want braces bad enough then. Now I do!
I had three consults, one recommended by my general dentist (he was the one I went with and who also treated my general dentist's daughter) and two others recommended by friends. One ortho is an Invisalign specialist. He assured me that I was a perfect candidate and estimated my treatment to be between 15-18 months and cost to be between $5800-$6000. The other ortho (like my ortho) prefers the traditional metal route because it gives the best result, 15 months to 2 years plan, $5000-$6000. Because I added an ortho rider to my dental plan, there was a 2-year waiting period and when I went for the consults, I was a few months shy of making my two year so couldn't really start treatment yet. I let them know and asked to be followed up when my ortho rider kicked in. Guess who followed up? Not only was my ortho much more thorough with his pre-exam of me than the other two, for his office to call and follow up...shows that he and his staff cared. And that sealed the deal for me.
When the ortho office called back, I made an appointment right away to go have my impression and x-rays done and go over some paperwork over the treatment, length and cost on March 10, 2015. Pretty much I was able to get locked in on his 2014 rate even though my treatment started on March 24, 2015; metal stainless steel both upper and lower. My total treatment cost is $6,178.01 with an estimated 12-15 months duration.
The treatment plan (Class II Malocclusion):
Correct a slight overbite
Align mid-line
Straighten crowding of the upper and lower front teeth
Correct rotated upper central incisors, slenderizing half way through treatment
We did discuss about closing the space left by my extracted first molar on my lower right, but due to bone loss the possibility is very slim. Anyhoot! Below are before and after progress photos. I already went in for my first adjustment (April 24, 2015). I will write more about my first month in braces and first adjustment experience in a later post, but for now enjoy the progress photos.
Before photos taken by ortho office on March 10, 2015
1st day of braces March 24, 2015 (Yeah, I know this shot is kind of a cheesy smile)
Half way through before 1st adjustment on April 24, 20015
1 day after 1st adjustment, April 25, 2015
May 1, 2015
Today, May 7, 2015
OK, it's almost midnight here in Hawaii and got work tomorrow...thanks for reading my rambling.
I quickly apologized and she laughed saying, "It's quite alright. This is a dental office so spitting is allowed." 
