So, I’ve had my braces for twenty months now. And I have to tell you that I am so sick of these braces. I was originally told that I’d have them for fifteen months and we’ve succeeded that time.
For those of you who do not know my braces journey, my original intent was just to close the front gap in my upper teeth—that was it. I was okay with the rest of my teeth. I had previously had bonding on my teeth to close the gap, but it had broken into pieces and circumstances just made it low on my priority list.
Why did I even have a problem with my gap? I just didn’t like it. When I smiled, I looked like a little chipmunk and was often told that I was “cute.” And as an adult woman, you like hearing words like “pretty”, “sexy”, “beautiful”, “attractive” and so on. You don’t want to hear that you’re cute. And because of this I didn’t smile much, and because I didn’t smile much, I was often told I looked mean. Okay, part of that was true, but I really didn’t like to smile, because my gap killed my confidence.
So flash forward, my dentist recommended an orthodontist that they happened to be in partnership with and I went in with the intention of just having my two front teeth bonded. I came out with braces. Needless to say, I was not happy, but I was told that bonding was not an option, I HAD to get braes.
Now I must say that it is very important that you do your research. You’ll see in a future blog post why I say this. But know that research may not land you with the best outcome. I asked a lot of questions up front, or at least I thought I did, but then I started to realize I was getting a lot of smoke blown . . . . you get the picture. Soon as each month goes by, I was getting vague answers to my questions, but I was seeing no progress as far as my gap was concerned.
I kid you not, for the first fifteen month, I saw no progress and I was getting upset. I finally got very assertive. The rest of my teeth were shifting, but I had no problem with the rest of my teeth, just my gap. So I finally told them that between my insurance and my out of pocket costs, they were getting paid pretty well.
I will admit that I had a piece of meat between my two front teeth and that was part of the reason I had the gap. But after I put the pressure on them about the gap, they put a double train on my top teeth and I started to see immediate results—the gap began to close. I was upset and then my concern became the piece of meet again, so I inquired on whether or not once my gap was closed would that piece move my gap open again, and I was told yes. So, I asked when we would address that issue, and I was told we’ll get there, we have plenty of time. I was repeatedly told this.
So after having to turn down a speaking engagement, because braces impairs your speech, you get food stuck in your mouth and all of the other handicaps it comes with, I was fed up and asked when they were going to get rid of the piece of meet so my teeth could completely close and I could get the braces permanently removed. They were literally ruining my life and affecting parts of my ability to earn income.
Finally, the truth comes out. The other shoe dropped. I was then told that I would have to an operation to have it removed. I already knew this. I had asked it up front and I had also asked if it was part of the coverage and process of the braces and I was told yes. However, this day, I was told it was a separate procedure that would cost me thousands of dollars out of pocket. I don’t think so. I had been asking questions from day one to the point I was really getting on their nerves, and up until now the answer was always, yes, it’s covered as part of this procedure.
Well thousands of dollars was not an option for me. So, what was your game plan? To have me continue to come in every month and tighten my teeth, only to have the front teeth open again due to the piece of pink meat. How long are we going to play this cat and mouse game? I was given a second option—to put a permanent retainer behind my front teeth. I opted for this option.
I asked more questions. Like what were the cons of this option. Some of the answers were that the retainer could break, and I had to go over the process again. I asked about the price. Cat and mouse again. I was told if insurance covered it, I would only be out of pocket a small amount. Okay, I can deal with that. But then they said, if the insurance doesn’t cover it, you’ll have to pay hundreds of dollars out of pocket.
I’m not very happy to say the least. Long story short, I am not happy with my braces experience. If I think about it now, I would have come more to terms with my gap and saved the money I spent and bought that really expensive Nikon camera I wanted. This experience has limited my life for nearly two years as far as taking speaking gigs, pain, being uncomfortable, etc. My wallet has taken a hit. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would have not done it.
I’m raising my granddaughter, and I’m sure she’ll need braces, but I think I’ll be more educated, get more references, so I’ll be better armed, and I think it will be a more pleasant experience.
In no way to I want you to let my experience steer you from getting braces, I just want you to research, talk to your orthodontist, get references, make sure you’re armed with the appropriate information, and get everything in writing. My experience was bad, and I hope yours will be a better one.
Stay tuned for my next brace update.
