sehick19

The first time I was referred to an orthodontist is when I was around 9 years old. I was very excited at that age, I thought braces were cool. Truth be told, I still kinda think they are. :-) A history of thumb sucking as a child had led to an underdeveloped mandible and narrow maxilla. I wore an appliance to expand my upper palette. I had to crank it every week with a key to expand it. After doing that for about a year, I was given a functional appliance called a Frankel, to promote proper jaw growth and the desired bite. Well, this appliance...I HATED! It was big and bulky, I was a petite girl with a small head and face and I just felt like it was swallowing me! Needless to say, because of this, I did not wear it as frequent or consistent as prescribed. I faked a proper bite (or at least that was my goal) when I went for adjustments, in the hopes of not having to wear it anymore. So, after about a year, I was done.

As I grew up, my teeth got crowded, my overbite was still present, and it bothered me. So, at the age of 19, I went back to the orthodontist in the hopes of fixing it all. The plan was to have braces for about 18 months along with having jaw surgery in the middle of treatment. I got a full set of clear ceramic braces, top and bottom, in May of 2001. The surgery would split my mandible on each side and insert metal plates to advance it forward. Unfortunately, insurance fell through and would not cover the cost of surgery, so I had to turn it down. My ortho had to change directions mid treatment. So, without surgery he told me he would do the best he could. I wore Class II elastics for a while, and he positioned my lower front teeth in a way to help mask the overbite. It wasn't until recently (after my consultation with my current ortho) that I found out that the past ortho actually tipped my lower teeth forward, in an unnatural position to mask the overbite. I didn't know that that is what was happening at the time. I got my braces off in August of 2002 and was pretty happy with the result. I received a bonded lower retainer (which I still have) and a removable Hawley retainer for the top. I have continued to wear my retainer regularly at night over the past decade because I absolutely didn't want to relapse.

My teeth are still aligned, but there are some other issues that need to be addressed, all of which are listed in my previous blog. Most people would look at me and think I have a perfect smile and not understand the need for further treatment. MY biggest concern was the overbite and hopefully fixing it without surgery. Well, that is the starting point for my third attempt at bite correction and perfect alignment. I have high hopes for the outcome.