Invisalign: Stories

Actually, the one thing I hoped for but didn't obtain, is more upper lip, something I thought would result from my procedure. Se la vie. But, otherwise, thanks for your suggestions (from which I sense a bit of sarcasm) but...no thanks. :)

only a little sarcasm! just to keep things light! no offense intended. i understand what youve done. i once had 5 different augmentations in mind that i very seriously wanted and thought i desperately needed to achieve a more aestheticly pleasing face. i needed a chin reduction an eyebrow lift cosmetic dentistry estrogen therapy a nose augmentation etc etc etc. many many many months of intolerance to the proportions of my face i realized that because of extreme weight fluctuations my cheeks (and strong northeastern asian influenced ancestory [nordic - native american]) i had sunken cheeks. no more of those pretty and plump cheeks estrogen gives us and accentuated the excessive area of dead space between my nose and upper lip caused by a short nose and an oval shaped face (ugly anglo trait meets ugly saxon trait) causing my lower jaw to look larger. i started playing with contouring makeup around my "cheeks" and extending my lip liner use to the areas outside of my lips ridge to see what i might look like with a fuller upper lip and bingo. dude looks like a lady. i have always noticed that men fall over themselves everytime a quaint little girl with an overbite looks their way and how these girls always seemed to be of russian ancestory and usually first generation american with polish ancestory/ natural born ukranians with strong ukranian/romanian ancestory. after alot of obsessional interest in subject i learned that testosterone controls length width prominance of the mandible. meaning a smaller jaw - more feminine. european culture believes femininity means posessing 0 qualities that are considered masculine. a strong featured woman is most likely defiant and a bastardization of her gender meaning unsuitable to produce desirable offspring! a thousand years of selective breeding and you have a prominant genetic trait shared with in the demograph. ie here comes ms overbite again. men are instincually hyper attracted to her and woman are wondering what it is about her that we are drawn to. its because of the exaggerated presence of estrogen represented in the recessed chin making her a USDA prime future baby momma nominee! you might be a shallow, cosmeticly over obsessed retard like me [ who also struggled with prolonged thumb sucking :( ] or you might be a mindful genius for picking up on this trait. i am looking foward to enhancing my upper lip. im scared my teeth will show tho. i think you are a perfect candidate. what did this orthodontist say to you about his interest in your procedure? theres a really great cosmetic skeletofacial surgeon in knoxville who i think you should consult with. it would probably be a lot if fun for you he seems incredibly knowledgable his name is dr jay h lucas. google him.

Thanks for your support. I'm guessing that when you wrote "it suits you" you meant that I look good? Well, if so, I agree. I've always thought buck teeth looks vulnerable, sweet and very feminine, even on some guys actually. :) More me it also makes my thumb habit more "fitted".

Yes you look good is what I meant, I'm very supportive of people's life choices as I've made some choices to alter my body in a way most people found crazy such as 20+ piercings and 5 tattoos.

My orthodontist never thought of it either but he's one to investigate challenges and he was quite thorough.

It's been over a year and I use my retainers religiously so the result has been stable. I think my thumb sucking habit reinforces the position too because of the way I place my thumb. I actually asked for that to be taken into account.

Its pretty remarkable they were able to do that.

Will you keep us updated with how things hold up over the next several years? This is such a unique thing that I'd really love to continue to hear how it goes for you.

Well, yes, probably remarkable because the orthodontists I asked before not only didn't even take any measurements (x-rays, whatever) but they were over cautious about the anticipated problems with bone resorption, tooth stability and all, not to mention the "legal implications" (I told them I'd sign an informed consent). The ortho that did it realized that my underlying tissue would allow for a certain amount of movement that would minimize the theoretical risks. If you're going to an ortho, pick a nerdy one! :) He's more like a science type person who is willing to question assumptions until he understands the issues, despite the previous standardized way of looking at things. Of course now I really have to go see a dentist regularly to make sure there's no complications but, so far so good, meaning that there's no nerve problems, root problems or bone resorption and some other thing that has a more technical name. The only thing that is of real concern is what people with buck teeth have to be concerned about (injury, bone resorption due to imbalanced pressures, etc.) but I'm careful about injury, though I realize it's more likely now (but that's part of what it means to have buck teeth, so I accept it) and my dentist monitors the internals, so I feel OK about it.

Out of curiosity, do you find it harder to eat with bucked teeth?

As my teeth moved I think I've gotten used to the changes. The only difference, sometimes, is the initial bite or two, especially food like, for instance, a steak, since before one bite and it would neatly separate but sometimes I have to move my head a bit to bite off the initial piece. I've noticed other buck toothed people doing the same at times so I guess it comes with the territory. My molars are aligned so that I have no problem on that score, though I'm what they call "class 2" where my upper molars are slightly forward from where they are supposed to be. So chewing isn't a problem at all, though my front teeth tend to come down on my lower lip, but that's one of the things I expected (and was warned about prior) but that, too, comes with the territory. :)

Yeah, that makes sense. It definitely sounds like you had thought through your choice - so glad you are happy!! :)

Thanks though, to be honest, my family thinks I'm nuts as I had "normal" occlusion before but this is what I like. Thanks for being open minded.