Anybody who calls me "Jaws" gets a knuckle sandwich
I saw an orthodontist on Friday to see if he'd be able to fix my crooked bottom teeth. I wore braces for three years (to the day!) and had straight, if discolored from the full bands, teeth until my wisdom teeth came in sideways four years later. Yes, I waited twenty years to have an orthodontist look at the crooked teeth. What can I say?
Anyway, the orthodontist told me something that no other dentist has mentioned: my bite is pretty scary. Okay, he didn't' use those exact words but that was the gist. Dr. Sandusky was able to fix my underbite and get the teeth on the left side of my mouth in alignment. However, my right side is way out of whack because of my lantern jaw. We were given the option of surgery to break and reset my jaws when I was a kid. I nixed that because I knew I was never going to be a beauty queen and a perfect smile wasn't worth that much pain and suffering. Unfortunately, my bottom right jaw continued to grow faster and farther than my upper and my bottom teeth sit outside of my upper teeth on the right side. The teeth are also hitting each other in a non-optimal fashion and this is most likely the cause of all the teeth I've cracked and had to replace with crowns.
On the one hand, I'm glad that the cracking wasn't due to my not being diligent enough with brushing and flossing. On the other hand, oh crap...
So. I was again given the option of invasive surgery which might -- or might not! -- fix the issue. Again, I nixed that. I'd rather put up with crowning my remaining teeth. I can't remember what option number two was, but it was nearly as distasteful. The option behind door number three was to have one bicuspid pulled, wear braces on my bottom teeth for about two years and wear braces on my top teeth for the final four or five months of treatment. We had a winner.
Now, this treatment won't necessarily fix my jumbled and crooked front bottom teeth, but since I've learned there's something much more physically distressing going on with my other teeth, I'd rather fix the structural issue. Happily braces technology has changed GREATLY in the last twenty-five years. My braces will be ceramic and barely visible unlike the full band braces I had to wear in middle school. Because my bite is so terrible, Invisaline isn't an option. Ah well.
So. Next month, I get spacers put in, a bicuspid yanked, and braces put on my bottom teeth. The bright side is that they should be removed before I'm forty. :)
Anyway, the orthodontist told me something that no other dentist has mentioned: my bite is pretty scary. Okay, he didn't' use those exact words but that was the gist. Dr. Sandusky was able to fix my underbite and get the teeth on the left side of my mouth in alignment. However, my right side is way out of whack because of my lantern jaw. We were given the option of surgery to break and reset my jaws when I was a kid. I nixed that because I knew I was never going to be a beauty queen and a perfect smile wasn't worth that much pain and suffering. Unfortunately, my bottom right jaw continued to grow faster and farther than my upper and my bottom teeth sit outside of my upper teeth on the right side. The teeth are also hitting each other in a non-optimal fashion and this is most likely the cause of all the teeth I've cracked and had to replace with crowns.
On the one hand, I'm glad that the cracking wasn't due to my not being diligent enough with brushing and flossing. On the other hand, oh crap...
So. I was again given the option of invasive surgery which might -- or might not! -- fix the issue. Again, I nixed that. I'd rather put up with crowning my remaining teeth. I can't remember what option number two was, but it was nearly as distasteful. The option behind door number three was to have one bicuspid pulled, wear braces on my bottom teeth for about two years and wear braces on my top teeth for the final four or five months of treatment. We had a winner.
Now, this treatment won't necessarily fix my jumbled and crooked front bottom teeth, but since I've learned there's something much more physically distressing going on with my other teeth, I'd rather fix the structural issue. Happily braces technology has changed GREATLY in the last twenty-five years. My braces will be ceramic and barely visible unlike the full band braces I had to wear in middle school. Because my bite is so terrible, Invisaline isn't an option. Ah well.
So. Next month, I get spacers put in, a bicuspid yanked, and braces put on my bottom teeth. The bright side is that they should be removed before I'm forty. :)