The banding and experience thus far...

I went in in mid September to get banded. I chose to go with the clear porcelain brackets with clear bands since I am an adult. The experience was very painful. It put stresses on my jaw and teeth that I had never experienced. I lost 7 pounds the first week- not a good thing when I only weighed 115 pounds in the first place.

My orthodontist decided not to pull any of my bottom teeth. Another doc had wanted to pull 2 of them to free up room on my lower jaw but my doc had another plan. I have a pretty bad cross bite stemming from the problem with my jaw. I also have a tooth that has grown inward, toward my tongue, due to the over crowding. This plan is to shift all of the teeth to my left to make room for the "odd man out" tooth. Once the tooth is pulled into place it should correct the cross bite problem but it will make my jaw even more off until I have surgery.

It is now January and I wish that I had taken progression pictures up until this point. I may ask my orthodontist for the first pics he took of my ugly mug and then post them. As of now, they're still not very pretty but there is such a drastic improvement. I'm really happy so far.

The Consult

So in early September I had a routine cleaning with a new dentist who convinced me to have a consultation with an orthodontist to see about my jaw pain and straightening up my teeth. I went into the consult not really wanting to hear what he had to say but I was trying to keep an open mind. I am a 25 year old newly wed who vainly did not want to disrupt my appearance with unsightly brackets and bands all over my mouth.

When I met with my orthodontist he recommended that I visit with an oral surgeon to see about orthognathic surgery because one side of my jaw was actually longer than the other side and this was what was causing both the pain and popping in my jaw and the asymmetrical aspect of my smile. He also recommended that I get traditional braces which would be worn for 15 months. This was a terrible mind blow for me but I decided to do it. My husband was very supportive and knew that I would be so happy with the results.

And so it began....

The introduction into my life is a hectic one. I am a 25 year old college student, mother, wife to a Green Beret, and a veteran myself. I have always been self concious of my smile, although I am happy with my overall looks and I have Angelina lips that I often used to hide the imperfections in my smile that I disliked.

My teeth weren't unsightly by any means. I have some serious crowding on the lower jaw, which many many people have and my large front teeth stand out because the ones flanking them were both slightly turned. I have always had a crooked smile and a very slight moon shape to my profile. One side of my cheek has always appeared fuller than the other and it seems like I smiled out of one side. I never really thought much about it until I began having soreness in my jaw.

So that's where I stood my whole life until last summer when I made a visit to a new dentist who pushed me to visit an orthodontist.