23 & Finally Getting Braces! - Clifton, NJ

Okay, where to start..

I guess the problem started when I was probably around 8 or 9. My baby lateral incisor fell out, and I waited and waited for the adult tooth to come in and it never did. I guess that caused all my upper front teeth to have gaps. I knew I would need braces and in high school, I had an ortho consult but Medicaid denied coverage and my parents could not afford them. I never really considered braces again after the denial. However, I've always been super self-conscious, I hate public speaking and every time I meet someone new, the first place my eyes go is their teeth. I also heard comments behind my back in high school like "shark" "brick chewer" that stuck with me (kids can be so cruel, lol). I always thought I would fix my teeth with veneers when I had enough money as an adult. In August of last year I went to my dentist and he asked me if I had ever contemplated braces, I told him yes but I had been denied and he told me an option was paying out of pocket. I had never considered that and I began looking into braces. If I was going to pay thousands of dollars, I wanted a highly rated orthodontist.

In January 2015, I went to the consult and she laid out what was wrong, and recommended either Damon or Invisalign as two of my front bottom teeth have short roots and she doesn't want them getting any shorter. I decided to go with Damon because it was slightly more cost-effective. I also realize I will need to save up for the lateral incisor implant I will need. She also said my upper front teeth are small for my face and I should consider bonding or veneers in the future.

On February 19, 2015, I got the braces. It took about 2 hours but it wasn't painful. I took an Advil beforehand, I don't know if that was why. Soreness in my teeth began about a day later and was gone by the following week. My next appointment is April 2.

I will come and update this with pictures =)

Yesterday was one month and I'm already seeing changes. I'm excited to see how much more my teeth change over the next couple months =)

And these are the orthodontic problems in need in correction as listed by my ortho:
-Mild crowding of the lower teeth
-Mild malalignment of the upper front teeth
-Space is present between the two front teeth
-The upper jaw is protrusive and the lower jaw is recessive or short
-There is an excessive overlap of the upper and lower front teeth
-Teeth #3 is missing
The mandibular anterior teeth are slanted to the right side
-The roots of the mandibular central incisors are short

I have included a photo prior to getting the braces and how they currently look

I had my second "tightening" yesterday. Before that, I had to go in two weeks ago because one of my brackets came off. My doctor took that opportunity to put in a new coil where I am missing the lateral incisor and ordered the pontic. I noticed that aside from making the gap bigger, the coil seemed to be pushing my front tooth forward, now it is no longer aligned with my other teeth. I don't worry about it too much because I'm sure it will all get fixed in the end. So yesterday, they did not do anything to my bottom braces and on top they put a thicker wire and a closed coil where before I had an open coil. Also, my pontic was already in but I was on my lunch break from work and couldn't stay the required time to get it put on my braces. Sigh, so I made the next appointment for May 19 where I will excitedly be getting the pontic. I wonder if it will be noticeable that it's fake but then I think that would be better than this big gap I currently have which has become quite embarrassing..