by Denise Calaman

Created on: September 21, 2010   Last Updated: October 11, 2010

Getting Braces-An Adult Experience

“We can put braces on you but there’s not much we can do as an adult to expand your jaw and make it bigger.  You’re teeth will never be perfectly straight,” my orthodontist said when I went in for a consultation a few years ago to inquire about getting adult braces. I thought about getting braces for a long time but hadn't decided to make the commitment until just then.  My teeth weren’t horribly crooked.  I just had two teeth that were really out of line with my other teeth and I was extremely self conscience about my smile. 

My parents had invested a fortune on my teeth when I was younger but to no avail; I still had a crooked smile. My ordeal with the orthodontist began when I was 10.  I had an underbite so I wore a palette expander before I got braces at 11 years old.  I also had to have teeth pulled so the rest of my teeth had room.  After I got my braces off I wore a retainer for years.  But still, after all that work, two of my teeth wouldn’t stay in line with the others.

So after years of tossing over the idea of getting braces at 27, I went for a consultation.  I was surprised at how inexpensive adult braces were.  Not much more, if more at all, than when I wore my first set of braces.  And I was a seasoned veteran as far as the care of my braces was concerned. 

 I had my braces put on immediately. And I immediately began to see results.  My teeth started coming together faster than I expected. I was so happy and excited to see the end results.  I had waited so long to have the perfect smile.  But my orthodontist told me before my braces were put on it would be about two years before my braces could come off. 

I also went through a bit of an ordeal with my teeth while I was in braces.  My orthodontist felt that my upper jaw was still not big enough to fit my two crooked teeth. He told me that he believed that my pediatric orthodontist didn’t leave my palette expander in long enough and my jaw wasn’t expanded as much as it needed to be to fit all of my teeth. I inquired about wearing a palette expander again but my orthodontist explained to me that there were limited things that they could do to expand an adult’s jaw and wearing a palette expander wasn’t an option.  The only thing that they would be able to do would be to break my jaw.  And he didn’t recommend that and I didn’t want that. 

I came to the realization that I would never have a perfectly straight smile as I had dreamed of for so many years but my braces would give me some improvement.  My orthodontist did his best to give me the smile that I wanted.  Every month I went in to have my rubber bands changed he would file my teeth that sat next to my two crooked teeth, taking just millimeters off of each tooth, therefore allowing enough room for my two crooked teeth to fall into place.

 After two years my braces were removed and I was pleased with the results.  Even though my teeth weren’t perfectly straight, and they never will be, they were greatly improved over what I started with.  Today I get many compliments on my smile. I think the important thing for adults to remember when they think about getting braces is that an adult mouth isn’t the same as a child’s mouth.  Depending on the mouth, it may be harder at an older age to correct a bite or to get the proper tooth alignment.  But sometimes even the smallest improvement will give us the self esteem that we have been lacking for so long and that makes it all worthwhile.

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