Preparing for Braces

I have always had dreams of a gorgeous smile. I was not one of those girls in highschool blessed with naturally beautiful teeth and I was not one of those girls who were lucky enough to have perfect teeth thanks to the amazing little wonder called orthodontic braces. Nope! I was the girl in school who would still smile, but thought everyone was snickering at my not so fabulous smile. Now I know my teeth could be alot worse than I make them out to be... but all I see when I look in the mirror are these gnarly teeth begging for help.

Well, as I noted, I was not so lucky as a teenager, but now that I am on the backside of my twenties, I have decided the time for my dreams is NOW!  Unfortunately, my dental insurance through my work does not cover orthodontics, but thankfully they do offer FSA! I took out $3,000.00 through my FSA and also used my income tax refund to pay for the tiny little brackets, bands, and wires which will lead to "Wow! Look at her Smile!" 

My next step was setting up the consultation along side of my 6 month cleaning, which was also way over due. now, I have read stories about consultation processes... but mine was pretty simple. After the dreaded cleaning, my dentist aka Dr. Black, came in and would ask me to do the following about 100 times... well, that is what it felt like! "Open" "Close" "Open" "Close"... over and over. Once he was through examining my teeth and my bite, he looked at me, gave me a smile, and told me I was an excellent candidate for braces. He then proceded to speak in Dental Lingo to his assistant about my treatment plan and costs. Only $3600 and some change. Yikes, but I really wanted these lil boogers, so I accepted.

Off to the records appointment. Now this really ain't that bad. Thankfully my good friend is a dental asst. there, so she had me schedule this appt. for immediately after my consultation. First, they took molds of my uppers and lowers. Yes, it was uncomfortable, but not unbearable. They insert a metal tray filled with plaster of paris like goo, and press it against your upper teeth then repeat the process for your lower teeth. Once you have completed that, they take your pictures.  They ask you to smile and take your picture from the front and side. This is so they have a photo to compare your progress to, and it is also showing them your current facial structure, as this can change with braces... but only slightly! I recommend looking half way decent, as this becomes part of your permanant file... unless you are like me and they accidently erase the photos while trying to upload them. Last is the awful cheek expanders and close ups of your teeth. Man am I glad she doesn't have a facebook page... those pics would be embarassing!  I also had to insert a large mirror in my mouth to get good pictures of my teeth as well. That's it! Time to schedule the banding appointment! Excitement builds knowing in one week little silver miracle workers will begin!