Hello lemmies,
Yesterday was a bit of a shocking moment for me as my dentists told me I need to get braces to fix the alignment of some of my teeth. For context; as a young kid (11years)I broke my four front teeth, and had them replaced with fake ones (i believe they are known as veneers in English). They are now slowly falling off, as I have had them for a while (I am now 24). But before they can put on new ones, they want me to straighten out the positioning of the current ones, with braces.
Obviously this is the right choice, but I’ve always hated the thought of getting braces, especially this year as I will soon be starting work life and meeting new people.
Was therefore wondering what experiences people have with braces, especially if you had it as an adult / young adult. Anything I should know for upfront?
Is it? It’s ok to get a second opinion from other dentists.
If their current position isn’t causing you pain or tooth/jaw wear problems, then straightening them is a cosmetic decision. And if you didn’t even realize they were that crooked until the dentist suggested straightening them, then the cosmetic aspect hasn’t been bothering you.
In my country (US), dentistry is notorious for upselling unnecessary cosmetic procedures.
For example, I went to a new dentist and he found two “developing” cavities he wanted to proactively drill out and fill and a “flaw in the enamel” he could fix with a veneer. I thought that was weird since I have never had a cavity before in my life and the “enamel flaw” was cosmetic only and never bothered me. I went to another dentist for a second opinion and she told me my teeth were fine. 5 years later and those “developing” cavities never formed.
To add to this as a person who has broken teeth and have had to have fakes in, OP: - those are not your natural teeth and may actually be the cause of the misalignment (if they are even a little wider than your natural teeth were, they could have slowly shifted the natural teeth around them). If you have to get them replaced anyway, I would do that first and let your jaw settle first, then if you/the dentist you saw/a second dentist you might want to ask still think you need braces, you can have them then. It’s definitely not a time sensitive decision, like Vanth says above - if you’ve not had any discomfort and it isn’t actually bothering you, you might not want to spend the money and time in discomfort that braces would cause.