Still alive!

I haven't updated in FOREVER, so I think I will now!
I finally got used to wearing my braces in public around my friends. Proof from my 26th birthday in September, and this past weekend (the only two times I've ever worn this shirt, and yet you get pics of me twice in it!)





I'll post another update this evening with what's going on now - this week has been a big week!

also, a big "thank you" to gionyc1982 and lookwhativedonemommie for stopping by my blog :)

Well, I'M BRACED! Dr. Kravitz did "indirect bonding", which basically meant that they took impressions of my teeth and used those impressions to make a tray of my mouth which they put all the brackets in and were able to then precisely apply a whole row of brackets to my teeth at once instead of one-at-a-time. It was great.

SO GLAD to have the spacers out - but some of you have mentioned the immediate sense of relief. I didn't have that! There was too much other stuff (mouth-openers, a tongue holder, etc) in there to even notice. But she said my spacers were still "surprisingly tight" so I was worried about the molar bands - but they weren't bad and she guessed the right size off the bat. I REALLY like his assistant. YAY!

Bad news - they didn't have any light colors other than clear He's going to order some pearl or smoke for me for next time, thank goodness!

In the mean time.. here I am! 26 next week and they make me feel like a 15 year old. The biggest discomfort (so far) is the weird cheese-grater feeling on the inside of my lips. Kissing is fine, and my husband kindly made chili but i was afraid of staining so I sort of only ate it with the back of my mouth, lol. The colorful dots on the brackets are already gone, woohoo! I'm buying a waterpik tomorrow. Not biting down (though I finally figured out how to put my bite back together, after being off with the spacers lol.. but i haven't taken a pic since):















































My birthday is next Wednesday so I"ll be celebrating with some of my best friends on Saturday - I'll be curious to see what they all say but I've already posted pics on myspace and livejournal and archwired so the people who matter most have already seen them! :)

I won't pretend they aren't noticeable, nor will I pretend they're super comfortable, but I'm doing okay. I haven't used wax yet, I slept well enough, and the pain is very minimal thus far.

Also - must give a shout out to my awesome orthodontist Dr. Kravitz - both for making it better than I expected and for checking out my blog! :D

Ohhhhhhhhh, spacers.
Just an update: I managed to survive dinner last night! It was SUPER painful, but the food was so good that I was fine. :) I got a chopped salad, filet mignon, and a baked potato (broccoli seemed out of the realm of possibility!). And of course, the red wine went down fine.

They aren't as horrible today. I haven't taken Advil, but only because I forgot to bring it with me. I'm alive, though. Now they're more of a constant ache than a "holy crap pass me the pliers" thing.

BRACES MONDAY!!

OWWWWWWW SPACERSSSSSSSS

Well, today is my 2nd wedding anniversary! Yay!

The down side is, yesterday I got SPACERS. I'd heard they weren't fun, but my orthodontist promised I'd be okay and it wouldn't be a huge deal. "I hope so", I said, "because I don't want to have to have a steak smoothie for my anniversary dinner."

I got them put in yesterday - and OMG THE PAIN. First it just felt like a big thing stuck between my teeth, but now it's HORRIBLE. It got worse quickly last night to the point that I took a Vicodin and 800mg Advil to be able to sleep. My teeth all feel SO SORE - especially the ones in the front, surprisingly, as the gapping action in the back is shoving pressure toward the middle.

This is made worse by the fact that a)I have an extra tooth on the bottom so it's already crowded down there and b)my top front teeth are attached by concrete and a wire in the back so they can't move separately. I feel like they're going to crack.

I did eat last night, though. The chewing pain hurts but almost in a good way - like it's circulating blood flow or something. It's SO PAINFUL but seems helpful. Sort of like when someone gives you a deep tissue massage on a pinched nerve. You hate it but know it'll be better..

I'm convinced these are nothing but a torture device designed to make braces seem like the least painful thing ever. Because right now I'm BEGGING for brace day, so that these suckers come off.

Five more days to braces!

For those who don't know - spacers are put on to wedge space around your molars enough to put a metal band around them on brace day. They don't get regular brackets like your front teeth. The spacers will be on until brace day (unless I decide to take them off with pliers - which is looking more and more attractive as an option!)

"Before pictures" from my orthodontist!

Used the scanner at work to scan some of the pics taken by my orthodontist on Saturday. This should give you an idea of my bite and what I am working with! You can see how off-center I am and how skewed my midline is.

Chapter 2: making my decision!

Knowing that I was finally ready to look into braces was half the battle for me. I've been avoiding it for years. In college, I refused to smile in pictures with my teeth. Refused. Literally, there's not a single picture of me between the ages of probably 12 and 22 with teeth in the picture.


(The day before my 22nd birthday)




















Eventually, I met Brian, my now husband. On New Years Eve, December 31 2005, my friend Sarah encouraged me to smile with my teeth for pictures. "You have to prepare for your wedding! You don't want to look unhappy in your wedding pictures!", she said. So, I obliged, and got over that huge mental block.

However, the teeth stayed bad, and I continued to only post "at a distance" and "good angle" photos of myself online for friends to see. I view my teeth as my worst physical flaw, and one that really gets to me. I never realized how lucky I was that my worst physical flaw is one that is so (relatively) easy to fix - with braces!

Right before having my wisdom teeth removed, my husband mentioned that if I wanted, I could have an orthodontist consult. I had been talking about it on and off for a year and had obsessively researched, but had never actually had a consult.

I knew there were four major categories of braces available in general:




-Metal ("regular") braces


-Ceramic braces (like Metal braces, slightly larger, but "tooth colored"


-Invisilign (and other brands), clear plastic trays that you switch out every couple of weeks or so


-Lingual braces, metal braces that go behind the teeth and thus are "invisible"


I knew that my main choice was Invisilign, but I also knew it might not be possible for me to get them. So, my second choice was lingual braces.

I had a consultation with Dr. Neal Kravitz, who I chose despite him being 45 minutes from my house, because he is a specialist in adult braces and cares about the aesthetics of adult orthodontics, having been an adult in braces himself while he was still a dental GP. My decision to go with him was solidified when I found out he's one of the top lingual braces providers in the country, VERY well respected among his peers, and teaches orthodontics method and research across the country.
His website: http://www.kravitzorthodontics.com/

I also liked his bedside manner and the fact that he is always reachable and answers every question with patience.

My consult was great. He went over every single aspect of my teeth after taking a number of pictures, and went over my options. It looked like this:

My 1st choice: Invisilign: Not an option due to my open bite and compicated extra/missing teeth situation.

My 2nd choice: Linguals: An option on the top; not on the bottom (fine with me as I don't smile with my bottom teeth). $8500 for the combo. 18-20 months treatment.

My 3rd choice: Ceramic: My best option, as it'd be easier for my ortho to fit a fake tooth "flapper" on the top until I can get a permanent fake there. $6500

My 4th choice: Metal: like ceramic, an option, but I didn't want these due to their high visibility.

I was pretty bummed not to be able to get Invisilign but really battled between the Linguals and the Ceramic. The price difference meant a lot to me and some linguals provide longer lasting lisping effects than "regular" front braces. But, at my age, and as I'm constantlyl meeting with clients and their parents regarding hiring me for their wedding photography, I was concerned with looking like a "12 year old" or people judging me.

In the long run, though, my doctor made it easy on me. He promised that if the ceramics bothered me a ton, I could always "upgrade" to the linguals and he'd eat the cost of the ceramics. This helped my decision a lot - because I know myself, and likely I'll be fine with the ceramics. The mental decision to get braces is the hardest part for me. Plus, the easier treatment and financial benefits won me over.

So, I'm paying $6500 on a payment plan over the next 20 months.

I'd imagine I'll start some time in the next few weeks, but first we're waiting to hear if my husband gets offered a new job - wish him good luck!

Getting to know you

Hi! I'm Lauren, a 26-year-old professional photographer in the Washington, DC area. On top of my wedding and portrait photography work, most of my money comes from working full-time in a position for a nonprofit association.

I'm writing this blog mostly for my own satisfaction and record, but also to document my journey for my fellow adult brace-faces on archwired.com.

I'm married to an amazing man, Brian. Here we are:



The story of my teeth seems somewhat simple. I have a genetic defect of sorts that has left me with one too few teeth on the top and one too many on the bottom.

These are the teeth that are affected:



So, what does this mean for me? It means that neither my top nor my bottom teeth line up in the center. This is more visible on my top teeth, which only has one "front tooth":





I also have an open bite, meaning only my back two teeth touch. When I bite down, none of the rest of my teeth touch. This isn't noticeable in pictures, as it appears generally that my teeth touch - but they don't.

Over time, this has gotten worse, most recently lending itself to a gap between my two front teeth that began quickly opening last September and by December was quite large. it's hard to tell from straight on, but I could have fit a nickel between the two teeth.





























In December, I visited the dentist for the first time in over 10 years and had the teeth bonded together, the gap closed, 8 fillings, one almost-root canal, and a chip I've had since I was 8 closed.















Last week, due to pressure and pain coming from one of my wisdom teeth on the bottom (it's crowded down there! The ones on top, due to the extra space, came in with no problem), I had all of my wisdom teeth removed. I immediately began feeling shifting in my teeth.

After encouragement from my dentist and years of feeling unhappy smiling in pictures, I'm finally getting braces!