Monday, February 2, 2015

Getting Adult Braces: The Consultation Phase

At age 31, I've decided to finally take the plunge and get braces. My upper canines are positioned behind the rest of my teeth, leaving very noticeable gaps in the space where they should naturally sit. To add to the situation, my upper-left baby canine tooth never fell out and so it protrudes slightly outside of my teeth, catching my lip and looking very out of place especially when I smile. As a child we couldn't afford braces and as a young adult I was too afraid of how I would look with them on. When I was able to have control over my own dental choices, the dentists I saw would suggest braces, but also imply that it would be a purely cosmetic procedure and if the teeth weren't bothering me, then I had very little to worry about for the time being. I would always agree with these dentists and continue to put off getting braces.
 
 
February 2015 - Looking for a treatment plan.


My canines are out of place and that baby tooth on the left side of my mouth has to go!
In 2012 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease - an autoimmune/digestive disease that can affect the body anywhere from the mouth to the anus. My Crohn's happens to be located in my colon, however my first signs of a flare tend to occur in my mouth in the form of puffy, sensitive and bleeding gums. These periodic flares make it more difficult to keep my mouth healthy, especially in the gum area around my lingering baby tooth.

Understanding now that my health should come first and in an effort to keep away severe gum issues, I finally caved and began the search for an orthodontist that can fix my teeth. Since Crohn's Disease is a chronic condition, my main concern about braces is that metal ones rubbing against my mouth would only aggravate my symptoms if I were unfortunate enough to flare again during my orthodontic treatment. Fortunately I have seen two orthodontists so far that believe Invisalign would be a great option for me. With the exception of my upper canines, my overall bite is pretty good. And Invisalign has advanced over the years to better pull and rotate teeth and so there is a vote of confidence by everyone I've seen so far that Invisalign can do the trick and keep metal braces from severely inconveniencing my life and health. I have a few more consultations to go and hope to pick out an orthodontist within the next couple of weeks. As my search has just begun, I thought I'd share a bit of my experience so far:


WHAT I'VE LEARNED SO FAR IN MY SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT TREATMENT PLAN

I recommend picking an ORTHODONTIST over a GENERAL DENTIST
I've consulted with both General Dentists who were preferred Invisalign providers as well as Orthodontists that were Elite or Preferred providers. While all seemed to be in agreement that Invisalign would help my case, I received a lot more in-depth consultation from the orthodontists….after all, correcting bites is their specialty. The orthodontists were more prepared to answer any complicated questions I had and gave me more detailed explanations of my mouth situation and outlines on how they thought my case could be treated. The General Dentists to me seemed to go more off of a template when speaking to me about treatment and were slightly more reluctant to give their vote of confidence that Invisalign would fully correct my problem. Since canine teeth have the longest roots and can sometimes be more challenging to move, I recognized the importance of talking to an orthodontist who understands tooth movement better than any other dental practitioner.
Also consider that sometimes, if Invisalign does not move your teeth the way you and the dentist had hoped, you might have to switch to traditional braces for a short period of time during the process. Better to have an orthodontist already treating your case that can jump right in and fix these sort of issues than to go searching after treatment fails with a general dentist.

Ask as many questions as possible
Questions about treatment itself, the length of time braces would need to be on, a timeline from the moment you take impressions to the moment you receive your first aligners, treatment cost, what's included in treatment cost, when payment is due, is a down payment possible as opposed to paid in full, how is cost broken down if you decide not to go through with it after you receive your ClinCheck treatment plan, what type of retainers are recommended….all of these questions are equally important. The more you know up front, the more mentally/financially/emotionally prepared you are for the whole experience.

Google is helpful for finding info on braces, thinking of questions you can ask your dentist and following stories of other adults being treated with Invisalign.
Here are a couple of the websites and blogs that I found interesting/ helpful with learning what to expect:

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