Beginning Braces

Peridontally boring, that is.

As per usual with potential adult orthodontic patients, I had to have a periodontist check me out before I could go through with everything. I was a little bit freaked out about it, to be honest. I was envisioning even more problems that would have to be fixed, needing even more money and time.

Thank god I was wrong! At the request of my ortho's office, the peridontist squeezed me in yesterday when they had a cancellation, which was nice. (My scheduled appointment wasn't until late November). I wish the peridontist was my orthodontist. He was totally cool, had an awesome & friendly chairside manner, and took the time to explain a lot of things to me. I really, really appreciate that. And as far as he's concerned, peridonatally i'm fine. Boring was the term he used. A perfect candidate. In fact, even if I wasn't fine, he told me he would recommend orthodontics anyway. In my particular case, the benefits of getting the ortho done outweigh any risk of tooth loss later.

Apparently, as it stands right now, if my front teeth were to be knocked out due to an accident, I'd be screwed. A partial or implants or any kind of prosthetic device would be almost impossible with my current bone structure. In the future, if I do loose those teeth, naturally or otherwise, orthodontics now will make them much, much easier to replace. Great... now i'm going to spend the next 3 years afraid of baseballs, hockey pucks and falling on my face. But on the other hand, it got my wheels turning. Maybe, just maybe, I could get this whole thing classified as medically necessary? If it is, then maybe my government would pay for it (Gotta love being a canadian, eh?). It's a long shot, but is something I need to look into. Orthodontics in adults are considered cosmetic. And everything but the surgeon's fee is already covered for oral surgery. But that damn fee is the biggest expense!

We also discussed (again) why the surgery option was best. I know it's the best option, it's just a scary, expensive, potentially painful option. He explained that after I saw the oral surgeon, the three of them (orthodontist, peridontist, and oral surgeon) would get together to discuss my case, present the options to me along with their pros and cons, and let me make my own decision. He promised nobody would strong arm me either way. And then promptly changed his mind, telling me yeah, they probably would try to strong arm me into surgery. Lovely...

My consult with the oral surgeon is Oct 18. That'll cost me even more money. It's going to end up costing me a grand just to get a treatment plan, and I wouldn't have had a single thing done yet. But it's for a good cause, right? Can you really put a price tag on self esteem?