Post by xyrn on May 13, 2013 15:04:00 GMT -5
Today was a loooooooong time coming for me.
I got my orthodontic braces off.
But that makes it sound simple.
The process was neither simple, cheap, brief nor comfortable.
Back in mid-2009 I made up my mind that I was going to get braces.
As a child I (and my parents) were told that I needed braces, but money was not abundant for them in the 1980's with a mortgage interest rate in the double digits and four kids at home.
So, it never happened at the time.
As an adult, once I'd made up my mind and had the means I figured I could just get braces, wait a couple years and voila I'd have straight teeth just like a teenager. Not so fast.
First I needed 4 teeth extracted due to crowding (in addition to the wisdom teeth that had come out in 2004).
Then after a few weeks of healing from that I underwent gum grafting due to severe recession due to teeth out of place, which is every bit as horrible as it sounds.
Under not-quite-full anesthesia they use a cheese slicer thingy to remove tissue from the palate (roof of the mouth) and then they rough up areas of gum near the areas of severe gum recession and they slap the palate tissue on the 4 different areas and tack them on somehow and over the next few weeks they grow in place and you're good to go.
After a few months to recoup I then underwent what is called a modified-Lefort I maxillary osteotomy (jaw surgery) under general anesthesia.
This is because I had an upper jaw that was narrower than the lower jaw, and I'm not going to shock you with the photos that are available on Google Image
, but here's a line drawing to give you an idea of the fun that ensued.
My Lefort I was "modified" in that in addition to the horizontal breaks they also did a vertical break right at the front between the two front teeth that went all the way up.
After surgery you are distinctly aware that your upper teeth sections are not connected solidly within your head; I could move them around slightly.
A very unsettling sensation.
A few days prior to surgery I had a Hyrax expander installed, which was then cranked open a few millimeters after the fractures were created.
Over the next few months I gave the jack screw an additional crank each night to eventually spread my upper palate by 10mm, so yes, I had a 10mm gap between my two upper front teeth, it looked awesome and talking & eating weren't affected at all.... yeah, right. It was horrible.
Then, after the expansion was completed, braces were finally applied June 09, 2010.
It's been 1,077 days and today they came off.
(That's fun too. You bite on a cotton roll and they twist/snap off the braces one by one with pliers, then they use a dremel tool to remove the cement residue.)
Medical insurance covered most of the gum grafting (I paid about $1000 for my part), dental insurance covered most of the extractions, medical insurance covered most of the $20,000 surgery, and I paid the entire braces cost out of my pretax HSA, $6000.
I have one more visit to the orthodontist in 2 weeks to pick up my retainers, but other than that I'm finally done.
(I'll have to dig around for a 'before' shot. Those years I avoided cameras/smiling at all costs.)
I got my orthodontic braces off.
But that makes it sound simple.
The process was neither simple, cheap, brief nor comfortable.
Back in mid-2009 I made up my mind that I was going to get braces.
As a child I (and my parents) were told that I needed braces, but money was not abundant for them in the 1980's with a mortgage interest rate in the double digits and four kids at home.
So, it never happened at the time.
As an adult, once I'd made up my mind and had the means I figured I could just get braces, wait a couple years and voila I'd have straight teeth just like a teenager. Not so fast.
First I needed 4 teeth extracted due to crowding (in addition to the wisdom teeth that had come out in 2004).
Then after a few weeks of healing from that I underwent gum grafting due to severe recession due to teeth out of place, which is every bit as horrible as it sounds.
Under not-quite-full anesthesia they use a cheese slicer thingy to remove tissue from the palate (roof of the mouth) and then they rough up areas of gum near the areas of severe gum recession and they slap the palate tissue on the 4 different areas and tack them on somehow and over the next few weeks they grow in place and you're good to go.
After a few months to recoup I then underwent what is called a modified-Lefort I maxillary osteotomy (jaw surgery) under general anesthesia.
This is because I had an upper jaw that was narrower than the lower jaw, and I'm not going to shock you with the photos that are available on Google Image
, but here's a line drawing to give you an idea of the fun that ensued. My Lefort I was "modified" in that in addition to the horizontal breaks they also did a vertical break right at the front between the two front teeth that went all the way up.
After surgery you are distinctly aware that your upper teeth sections are not connected solidly within your head; I could move them around slightly.
A very unsettling sensation.
A few days prior to surgery I had a Hyrax expander installed, which was then cranked open a few millimeters after the fractures were created.
Over the next few months I gave the jack screw an additional crank each night to eventually spread my upper palate by 10mm, so yes, I had a 10mm gap between my two upper front teeth, it looked awesome and talking & eating weren't affected at all.... yeah, right. It was horrible.
Then, after the expansion was completed, braces were finally applied June 09, 2010.
It's been 1,077 days and today they came off.
(That's fun too. You bite on a cotton roll and they twist/snap off the braces one by one with pliers, then they use a dremel tool to remove the cement residue.)
Medical insurance covered most of the gum grafting (I paid about $1000 for my part), dental insurance covered most of the extractions, medical insurance covered most of the $20,000 surgery, and I paid the entire braces cost out of my pretax HSA, $6000.
I have one more visit to the orthodontist in 2 weeks to pick up my retainers, but other than that I'm finally done.
(I'll have to dig around for a 'before' shot. Those years I avoided cameras/smiling at all costs.)
