Braces at 30 – the consultation

Posted on 6:15am Monday 2nd Nov 2015

I did something last week I’d been thinking about for a long time. I had a consultation with an orthodontist to finally sort my teeth out, as an adult! I *think* I have made to decision to get braces at 30 years old!

I'm going to document my entire journey on my blog from start to finish, every appointment and what happens. If you're thinking of getting braces then I hope I can help you decide too.

What happened at my first orthodontist consultation appointment?

What's wrong with my teeth?

I really, really dislike my teeth. They are a total mess. Here are the problems:

I have three teeth missing – there aren’t big gaps – they just aren’t there. They never ever were there. They never grew. Somehow we never noticed?!
I have small gaps between my bottom teeth, so the absence of these teeth might have caused the rest of my teeth to spread out more than usual and so there are gaps between them.
My canines are next to my two front teeth instead of being the third tooth back on each side
One of these canines is twisted 180 degrees so looks like a fang
I have no lateral incisors at the top
I have three baby teeth at the top so they are much smaller than my other teeth – there are no adult teeth to replace them so they never came out, but they might one day as they shouldn’t last so long and one dentist thinks one is wobbly!
Two of the baby teeth are canines – so I have four canines in my top jaw currently!
I have a peg tooth overlapping one of my top front teeth and canine, kind of where my lateral incisor should be – a random extra small tooth – a genetic anomaly according to the dentist, but common in people with missing teeth
My teeth lean into my mouth – not something I’ve ever noticed myself, but something the orthodontist could tell and showed me. They can be pulled forward to give me a better bite apparently.

Getting braces will improve my self confidence

I sound like I must look hideous, right?!

Lots of people say to me, aaw your teeth aren’t that bad.

No they could be worse, but to me, that’s quite a lot wrong and quite a lot I’d like to sort out.

I'm pretty sure the people who say to me they're fine wouldn't ever want to swap teeth with me!

I hate smiling with my teeth. I am so paranoid about them. I even hate talking to people I don’t know because I feel they are thinking what awful teeth I have.

Sometimes I bite my bottom lip and my ‘fang’ gets caught on it, especially if my lips are dry.

Where I have gaps at the bottom I can see the sides of the teeth are wearing away a little.

They basically bother me every single day.

I think about how much I dislike them as soon as I see them each morning in the mirror.

I don't want to think about them anymore.

I want to be proud of my teeth and smile.

I look awkward and nervous in photos because I’m so paranoid about smiling; I smile with my mouth shut. Absolutely detesting my huge nose also doesn’t help, but that’s a story for another time!

How much did my orthodontist consultation cost? Was it free?

Sadly, it was not free to have a consultation at an orthodontist. It was £100. I pretty much had my mind set on going ahead... I think... so I was sure it wasn't going to be a waste of money.

I mustered up the courage (and a whopping £100) to have a consultation to see what the verdict was and various options.

If I’m going to have something as drastic and expensive as braces for a few years then I want it done properly. I already knew from my dentist that I probably didn't qualify for the fast braces like six month smile as there is so much wrong with my teeth.

There was an option to just replace the baby teeth, but my teeth would still look the same...

The second option was to work with what I’ve got by leaving them in the same place and just straighten them out. Well, they’d look better, but they’d still be all different shapes and sizes with a peg tooth and canines in the wrong position. So I don’t think I’d be 100% happy with the end result!

Train track braces are the best option

My best option, but probably most daunting is to sort the whole lot out. This involves some pretty scary looking teeth for up to two and a half years with train track braces! Scary because they'll also remove the two baby canines at he start, so I'll have gaps to contend with at the front of my mouth and train track braces to get used to. Watch my self confidence plummet even more for a couple of years!

Yikes!

Here’s what they’d do:

Remove the two canine baby teeth (currently third position back at the top)
Fix braces to top and bottom
Move my adult canines back into third position where they should be whilst also twisting the twisted one so it faces the correct way
Move my bottom teeth together so there are no gaps between the teeth
Change the angle of my teeth to improve my bite – making them more vertical rather than leaning slightly into my mouth
Move peg tooth into middle of where one of the lateral incisors should be– then a veneer can be added or restorative work to build a tooth
Add a false tooth (either implant or bridge) to the gap on the other side where the second lateral incisor should be

But, before the false teeth (one each side of my front two teeth to be my lateral incisors) can be added, I would need to wear a retainer for six months after the braces ( the braces will be needed for around 18-24 months). They might be able to add a false tooth of some sort to the retainer so I don’t look like I have two teeth missing for six months (even though I will have).

And, whilst having the braces, I will at first have two gaps where they have removed my baby canines, then once my adult canines have moved into place I’ll have a full tooth sized gap where one lateral incisor should be and a peg tooth in the middle of the lateral incisor space on the other side!

With some lovely braces over the top for up to two years too!

I kind of think the braces will be OK though as at least people can tell I’m having my teeth straightened and fixed, so I’ve not just got a bunch of teeth missing without cause.

Having teeth missing is scarier than having the braces

So, for me, it’s not quite as simple as just having the braces to deal with. I’ll also have to deal with two obvious missing teeth right at the front of my mouth.

But, no pain no gain right?

That’s all I keep thinking.

Plus, I keep imagining the day they are totally sorted. Retainer off and false teeth/veneers/restorative work (whatever I choose) complete and I have a perfect smile.

I just know when that day comes I will think it was all totally worth it!

Two and a half years seems like a long time, but then I think how quickly time has gone since my daughter Bella was born and now she’s three!

So I’m certain the time will whizz by and I’ll have lovely teeth in no time! I’m still in the pondering process after my consultation, but I think I’ve made my mind up and I think I’m going to go for it.

If I do, I won’t start the process until next year, hopefully March once I can leave Reuben for a few hours as I’m still breastfeeding currently. I’ll document my appointments and journey here.

Once I’m brave enough to have a photo of my teeth I will show the transformation in before, after and during photos. I tried to look for blog posts or videos of people having braces in their 30s, but struggled to find much, so I think it will be good to document my journey.