I have wanted braces since I was a little girl. My teeth were crooked and I hated them. When my sister Val got a spacer to start fixing her teeth I begged to get braces. Unfortunately, the dentist we went to never told my mom my teeth needed fixing. He never mentioned my jaw either.
My sister never followed through with her spacer and braces after the initial pain with the spacer. Even after watching her hassles I still wanted braces, I would even roll up gum in my mouth and put it on my teeth to try and see what it would be like to have them...little did I know, the gum was smooth and braces are rough and a pain in the butt sometimes.
About 20 years later I finally had a referral to an orthodontist. I was sent to Dr. Teng at Gentle Dental in Lynnwood. After he took pictures and measurements, molds, and X-rays I couldn't wait to be done LOL. All that waiting for years and I thought "geez maybe I don't want this", but I knew I did. It was strange when he stuck his fingers in my ears to check my jaw, but whatever he needed to do I'd let him do it. He said he was going to research the X-rays and would let me know.
A few weeks later I went in for the info session and learned I would need braces and jaw surgery to fix my mouth. I looked at the pictures with Dr. Teng and he was showing the differences in the bone growth of my jaw, and how my chin actually points to the left and my smile is crooked because the left side of my mandible and maxilla failed to grow properly. For years I thought it was my gums were just longer on the right side and that I needed them fixed not my jaw. Wow!!! I was pretty mad because I should have been told by the dentist years ago that my jaw was asymmetrical and that I needed to have it fixed. At least then I would have been on my parents insurance and had this taken care of.
Dr. Teng referred me to Dr. Jessica Lee at Swedish in Seattle. He gave me the option of clear ceramic braces or metal ones. I chose metal....why not have fun and be able to change up the colors. I then made an appt a few weeks later to have them put on....
