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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2018-04-13, 17:51

Confession time! I have made the decision of getting braces as an adult, and I have an impending sense of dread about it all. I know it's the "right" decision for my dental health, but I'm not at all happy about it.

As a child, I had really great teeth. They came in perfectly straight, had good shape, and thanks to excellent hygiene self-discipline they never had a cavity. All of this changed as a young teen in middle school when my jawline grew and my wisdom teeth started mashing everything before eventually getting removed (probably much later than they should have been). I really should have gotten braces at this time, but my parents were either asleep at the wheel or totally absent, depending on which way you looked at them, and this resulted in almost all of my teeth starting to shift around laterally.

Fast forward twenty-something years and I have a couple of crooked/twisted/tilted teeth and none of my bite is correctly aligned, with both sides having different offset and gaps all around. My lower jaw extends too far and should be giving me an underbite, but somehow the soft tissue has compensated and tilted my upper teeth forward much farther than they should. All this misalignment has resulted in so much wear on my incisors and canines that it looks like I have several chipped teeth.



I'm officially diagnosed with a "class iii malocclusion", and the "best case" for treatment is about $50,000 of major jaw surgery that would put me out of work for about 2 weeks of recovery and some period of treatment with braces both before and after that. I confirmed this opinion by seeing multiple orthodontists.

I can't afford that.

If I don't do something, though, there's a good chance that by the time I retire I will have caused irreparable damage to several teeth and would need to have them crowned or replaced. I really don't like the idea of that either.

The next best option without surgery is to have braces for a year, then extract one or two teeth based on the initial progress, and then completely change and realign the braces for another year to fix the gaps from the newly missing teeth. They expect the whole trip to take about three years, and that means I'll be lucky to get my braces off in time for my 40th birthday.

All of this starts for me when I sit in the chair to get the brackets and wires installed next Thursday, April 19th around 9 AM.

Has anyone here gone through braces as a grown-ass adult or known someone to do it? Anyone have any insider pro tips for getting through the next few years?

I can cope with the additional financial burden and the nuisance of extra maintenance around brushing and flossing. I can man up and put up with the pain of adjustments, pulled teeth, and so forth. Strangely, the thing I think about most is how it'll impact me in a public speaker role. In my day job, I'm a team lead and principal software engineer, and that means that a lot of my time is spent talking with people of different backgrounds and roles, negotiating (read: arguing) for or against one thing or another, or explaining sometimes in agonizing detail how things do or should work. I don't look forward to lisping or drooling or muttering my way through any of those conversations.

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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2018-04-13, 18:17

I'm interested to hear responses, as I had braces in elementary school - far too soon in my opinion, as things continued to change after that.

I have a lower front tooth that has stepped backward out of line and I asked my dentist about getting braces. He explained that my teeth are too crowded; there's no place to make extra room. He explained that he's conservative when it comes to making mouth plans, which I respect.

Your case seems worth it.

Once it's over the time spent enduring the process will fade from memory.


...
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Capella
Dark Cat of the Sith
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Rochester, NY
Send a message via AIM to Capella  
2018-04-13, 18:22

Wow, Brad, that's some hell of bad news required! I have 0 experience with this myself, but, good luck.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2018-04-13, 19:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
I have a lower front tooth that has stepped backward out of line and I asked my dentist about getting braces. He explained that my teeth are too crowded; there's no place to make extra room. He explained that he's conservative when it comes to making mouth plans, which I respect.
That's actually how my adventure started. I've long been bothered by two of my teeth (both upper lateral incisors) that were stepped backward kind of like you described. My previous dentist said it was just an artifact of crowding too, and she kind of shrugged and left it at that. When I moved and started seeing a new dentist a couple years ago, he immediately recognized that I had "a very unusual bite" (his words, and he even puled another into the room to check) but wasn't sure exactly what was the cause. I asked what he thought about braces, and he gave me referrals to a couple of different orthodontists who, just as quickly, recognized the deeper problems once I opened my maw.

Quote:
Originally Posted by drewprops View Post
Once it's over the time spent enduring the process will fade from memory.
That's what I've been trying to tell myself, and I guess it's better to have this done by 40 rather than 50 or 60. I'm just kicking myself for not being assertive enough with my previous dentist (or finding a different one!) to investigate these issues sooner. Lesson learned: if you're concerned about something like this, don't be afraid to get a second opinion!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capella View Post
Wow, Brad, that's some hell of bad news required! I have 0 experience with this myself, but, good luck.
Thanks! The condolences are just as welcome.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2018-04-19, 14:55

Welp.



I guess I have braces now. I've sunk a few thousand dollars in down-payment and have a few more to dole out over the next couple of years.

This was my first thought as soon as I arrived at home and sat down on the couch to rest for a moment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNCxbM50eWQ

The installation wasn't so bad. It took about an hour and a half, and I could have just gone right back to work afterwards if I wanted (but I had decided to take PTO for this). It did feel weird and there were occasional twinges of pressure and tugging, but I certainly would not call it a painful procedure. As expected, there's an ever-present tension on my teeth now and an odd sensation under my gums, the kind of feeling I would have after waking up from a bad night of clenching my teeth in my sleep. I'm told it's going to feel a lot worse tomorrow and the day after and that I should go ahead and start taking some acetaminophen sooner than later.

Shortly after the installation, my wife and I (oh yeah, she arrived to get her braces an hour after I started mine!) decided to go have a simple meal for lunch at one of our favorite local Mediterranean eateries. Unfortunately, eating even the simplest things like soft freshly-baked pita was downright impossible, and we both ended up just eating a big glob of hummus and tossing out most of our food. Tasty, but disappointingly not as filling as I'd hoped. This was when it really hit us that we were going to have a very liquid diet for a while as we adjust.

On the bright side, I've been meaning to lose a few pounds, and making it difficult to eat or enjoy good food is one way of doing that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, my speech isn't affected as badly as I had feared! I definitely find myself deliberately shaping my lips to enunciate more clearly, but that's only a little more effort.

Here's to the next three years! 🍻

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2018-04-19, 19:15

Can you get your braces tangled when you're making out, French style???

Please be careful.


...
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Dave
Ninja Editor
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
 
2018-04-20, 00:40

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad View Post
Shortly after the installation, my wife and I (oh yeah, she arrived to get her braces an hour after I started mine!) decided to go have a simple meal for lunch at one of our favorite local Mediterranean eateries. Unfortunately, eating even the simplest things like soft freshly-baked pita was downright impossible, and we both ended up just eating a big glob of hummus and tossing out most of our food. Tasty, but disappointingly not as filling as I'd hoped. This was when it really hit us that we were going to have a very liquid diet for a while as we adjust.
Yeah... the first week of braces really sucks.
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Dr. Bobsky
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: UK's most densely packed city. It's not London...
 
2018-04-20, 15:07

I still find teeth in general really disturbing.

Spoiler (click to toggle):
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2018-04-20, 16:01

Is this REAL?????

I thought the body kind of produced them closer to the time of need, not stacked them up like bombs in an airplane...


...
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2018-04-21, 12:32

I'll just subject my kids to this rather than me. Sure I could benefit from braces, no way I'm doing that to myself at this point in life though. My dentist says my teeth are fine the was they are and won't end with one sticking out of my lip or anything so I'm good. The kids though....

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2018-04-21, 13:21

Day three is here, and I still can't eat solid foods. Athlete Fuel is now a staple of my daily diet instead of the occasional meal replacer. It's good stuff! But it's no plate of barbecue or cheeseburger with fries...

Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle View Post
I'll just subject my kids to this rather than me. [...] The kids though....


Hells to the yes, a thousand times yes, do it. After a mountain of reading research beforehand and now starting this experience first-hand, my wife and I both have become armchair advocates to encourage any parents and would-be parents we know to get their children braces if their dentist suggests even a slight need for it. Taking care of orthodontic problems as a child is way better in every regard than as an adult. It's faster because your tissues are softer and easier to reform and heal when you're an adolescent, it's cheaper because faster healing means fewer adjustment visits (and of course because of inflation), and it's easier because as a patent you're "just" in school as opposed to having real-life adult responsibilities.

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
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Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2018-04-21, 15:14

Usually dental insurance covers the cost of braces for under 18yo, no?
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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2018-04-21, 16:34

Probably more coverage than for adults, I'd hope, but this is one area I haven't looked into.

Orthodontics coverage with dental insurance varies wildly by provider and plan level in my experience. The "standard" plan I had two years ago covered $2000 per person, but I could have opted for larger coverage. The plan I had a year ago covered next to nothing, but that was under an employer who was providing the worst benefits to its employees I've seen in my area. My current "premium" plan covers $1500 per person, which I opted into knowing I was planning for this. It's kinda bonkers how coverage rates are all over the map, and you really have to do your homework when it's plan renewal time to make sure you have the best fit.

In any case, even my best option a couple years ago would only put a dent in the bill. My bill is $7295 and my wife's is $5545. That's a whopping $12840 before insurance. By going together, our orthodontist gave us a small $365 discount (5% off the larger bill). After applying that discount and the insurance coverage for me and my wife, that brings down our total out-of-pocket cost to $9475.

And when all of the orthodontics are said and done, I'm probably also going to need to get some composite work done to fix the "chipped" wear spots on the tips of my teeth. That should be a lot cheaper, at least...

The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting.
  quote
turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2018-04-25, 15:13

Our coverage is really good for the kids though there is a cap on cost. I don't recall what we are paying but it is less than $2000 to our cost. Much more to the insurance company though.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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