Embracing the Brace

A few months ago, my colleague found a Groupon for Invisalign treatments at a clinic in Ottawa. It seemed like a good deal and I thought it was great that she was taking steps to improving her smile. She'd bring it up every now and then, and I'd find myself thinking of that time when I was about 10 or 11 and was told I needed braces. I don't remember how I felt about the whole thing. I can definitely remember the pain though. That tight throbbing hot pain all around your teeth and through your jaw (I only had upper braces). The first day or two after an adjustment was always hard. Yeah, I remember that well enough.

Like so many kids with similar jaw growth issues, I heard "oops, you're actually too young for these right now. Try again later!". My orthodontist recommended I come back when I was 16 to have braces and lower jaw surgery. My mother was appalled. Two grand down the drain and I was supposed to go back so they could snap my jaw in two? Not happening, she said. I was just glad I didn't have braces on anymore. My teeth looked alright for a while, but without a retainer they began to move and crowd back in around one another.

Somewhere in that process, probably right before they put the braces on me, they removed both of my upper first bicuspids (the first tooth after your canines). Both my canines were trying to grow in over top and my mouth was a mess. Anyway, those adult teeth are permanently gone. At 16, my wisdom teeth started erupting in my lower jaw. To prevent further crowding up top, the oral surgeon went ahead and look out all four wisdom teeth. My recovery was pretty good from what I can recall. Never did have that jaw surgery though. Financially is was not in the cards.

Since then not much has changed except I guess my lower jaw grew longer than expected. My upper jaw apparently decided it didn't need to keep growing, so I'm left with an underbite. You might be able to tell from the photos in my first post that my lower teeth angle in towards my mouth to try to "meet" my upper teeth (that's how my orthodontist put it!). My hygienist has always been on my case to make sure I get my toothbrush in there properly because of the awkward angle. Anyhow, another thing to note is that I also have a crossbite. You might be able to see it in my front facing picture, the way my jaw is set to my right ever so slightly.

Now, when my colleague would bring up her Invisalign thing, I'd think briefly about the time I had braces so long ago. I hadn't given those thoughts too much of my attention until I saw a post on Facebook. Dr. Danae Kirk posted an announcement on one of the Mom pages I follow, saying that she was opening a new practice in town. Suddenly something about this felt right! It had to be a sign (or maybe the last little nudge I needed?). I e-mailed the clinic and referred myself without hesitation. They called me the next day and I had an appointment for the end of the week for my initial consultation.

And here I am now. Blogging about it. Yippee :)