The Begining

My dentist must have known that I had been thinking about perfecting my smile because when I went to my last cleaning she pressured me into going to see an orthodontist. Sure my teeth are always well taken care of & the dentist always compliments how healthy they are... but they lack the prettiness. Now as a 23 year old I am taking the braces adventure.... hold on tight this is going to be a rough ride.



Step 1 See the orthodontist for a consultation

I went to my ortho appointment and the orthodontist let me down basically right away by telling me I am not a good candidate for invisalign. So I suppose I will have to settle for ceramic. He told me that I have a very symmetrical face and a truly beautiful smile that will be 100 times better with straight teeth. Then he assured me that he doesn't tell everyone that and that I have a good chance of positive outcomes. The fact that I am 23 and petite he said increased my chances of my mouth shifting easily. He did mention that If my braces don't fix the cross bite on one side of my mouth that I might have to consider surgery... I chose to ignore those words and pray for the braces to work.

At this appointment they gave me a rough estimate of what my cost would be and different payment options. I'm looking at$4,500 well actually $4,850 because it's extra for ceramic.




Step 2 Go back to the Orthodontist

The second appointment after my consultation was an appointment where they take pictures, x-rays, & molds of my mouth. I thought this was going to be terrible so I put it off for 6 months all of which I could have been getting my braces on & over with. Good thing I did my hair because they took ACTUAL photos.

1) front facing full smile

2) front facing no smile

3) Side view smile

4) side view no smile.



Next I got 2 different x-rays.

1) putting my mouth on a stick like thing and it scanned around my head.

2) another x-ray that held my face and went around my jaw. (much harder to hold my balance on that one)




Lastly I got the mold of my mouth, they had to use the smallest child sized mold because apparently my mouth is baby sized. They filled it with a gummy type of play dough texture to make a mold of my top teeth then bottom. No need to bite down on this the assistant just pushed it around my teeth and all I had to do is sit and concentrate on breathing through my nose. I've had one of these molds before and it was awful but this was a new type that had a little of a minty taste and no after taste.



After that I just rinsed my mouth I made an appointment for a week later to discuss financing and the plan of action for my teeth! No turning back now those x-rays cost me a whopping $176!