When I was very young, I wanted braces and glasses SO badly. For some reason, and this is kind of gross, I would put a hairband across my teeth to pretend they were braces, and always thought people with glasses looked so distinguished. Now that I’m entering my 30’s, I officially have blue light blocking glasses, and as of last week…I HAVE BRACES! Yes, it’s true, all my childhood dreams are coming true. So why did I get them, how did I choose my orthodontist, you guys want to know all the answers and I’ve got them for you today!
FAQ #1: Why now? Why braces?
Answer: I never had orthodontic work when I was younger, and I didn’t necessarily hate my smile. Sure, it wasn’t perfectly straight, but it could have been much worse. I did, however, notice my teeth shift quite a bit after pregnancy, and then at a dentist check-up last August I mentioned that I was noticing one spot between my front teeth was constantly getting food stuck (sorry ew) in a spot where the gums had receded just a bit. I simply brought it up not knowing if there was a solution, but they immediately recommended going to a periodontist to have my gums checked out. You guys may remember I then had gum surgery in the Fall with Dr. Pamela Ray of Oak Hills Periodontics, who was AMAZING. She let me know right away that with my gum recession at those levels by my early 30’s, I needed to look at orthodontics to correct my bite and spacing issues or absolutely plan on having to have gum surgery again within 10 years. As great as my experience was, I of course would rather avoid that. She then referred me to Dr. Megan Hembree at Ferris Orthodontics, who saw exactly what Dr. Ray was talking about. My teeth are simply too tight together and it’s causing grinding, gum recession, and puts me at risk for a whole host of other issues. So we decided to move forward with braces to hopefully correct those problems, and a side bonus is slightly straighter teeth!
FAQ #2: Why didn’t you do Invisalign?
Answer: Dr. Hembree felt traditional braces would be my best option because we’re not just correcting alignment issues. It’s much easier for her to manipulate traditional braces while she’s right there in the office, rather than sending away trays to Invisalign and hoping they meet my needs. It was also going to be slightly less expensive and a slightly shorter time frame if I chose traditional braces. And at least for me, I think you can pretty much tell when folks have Invisalign AND when they have braces. There wasn’t an option that would be COMPLETELY embarrassment-free. So I chose the option that was going to give me the absolute best results for my scenario.
FAQ #3: What’s the process for putting them on?
Answer: Y’all, this was SO surprising to me. I had one appointment prior to putting on the braces where we took scans of my teeth and lots of before pictures. When it came time for my appointment to apply the braces, I was shocked that within minutes of arriving at Ferris Orthodontics’ Leon Springs office they were placing the brackets on my teeth. In under an hour, I was all set and ready to go. The process was completely painless, and simply involved doing a light cleaning, sealing the brackets to my teeth, and attaching the wires to my brackets. I even had time for a fellow Ferris patient, who happened to be in high school, give me some tips for rocking the braces life. 🙂 The staff at Ferris is the sweetest, and answered every single one of my questions while providing speedy service.
FAQ #4: Do they hurt?
Answer: Actually, I’ve been pleasantly surprised here as well. While I have a few spots that are tender, and a couple places on the inside of my mouth that are adjusting to life with braces, I haven’t even had to take an Advil. As long as I’m careful about what I’m eating, I am slowly forgetting they’re even there. The staff at Ferris Orthodontics said to try not to apply wax to the brackets that may bother me for at least the first two weeks, to give my mouth a chance to toughen up, and so far I’ve been able to do that as well. Now, if somebody punched me straight in the mouth, that probably wouldn’t feel great, but thus far I’ve managed to avoid that!
FAQ #5: How long will you have to keep them on?
Answer: About a year! But I’m crossing my fingers if I take really good care of them and follow all the rules, maybe less! It certainly seems like a big commitment, but in the grand scheme of things one year out of my life is not a lot to exchange for significantly better oral health. And I’ve decided just to poke fun of myself and have fun with it!
That’s the majority of the questions I’ve received so far, but I’m going to be taking y’all with me throughout the entire journey, so if you think of more don’t worry! We’ll get to them. 🙂 Thank you to the staff at Ferris Orthodontics who have been so kind, and thanks to all of you who said you hardly notice them and I still look somewhat cute. I’m not sure I believe y’all, but it’s helped me feel so much better!
XO,
A
P.S. This post was sponsored by Ferris Orthodontics. Don’t worry though, all opinions are my own. It also contains affiliate links. This means if you purchase something via those links, I receive a small percentage of the proceeds at no cost to you. Thanks for supporting Haute in Texas!
