Guess what adult here is getting braces again?

Long, long ago, in a land where dentists paraded as orthodontists, Andy was given lower braces. In preparation for the placement, a lower front tooth was removed (Why???? No one knows.) As a result of this unnecessary move (so says his dentist today), his lower teeth all shifted strangely. The midline is completely off, and all the teeth ended up higher than normal as they scooted to fill in the space left from the missing tooth. Through the years, he noticed he had indentations on the back of his front teeth and that his lower teeth were wearing severely. Strangely, no dentist ever told him the risks of not correcting this.

Because of suffering what is known as Tetracycline stain from an antibiotic given as a young child, his teeth turned a dark gray color. After graduation from college, the first thing he did was get upper porcelain veneers, which dramatically improved his appearance. A mouth full of gray teeth just wasn't what he thought future employers would be impressed with, let alone the hot women in Dallas! lol

Last year during a surgery, one of his veneers chipped, thanks to the hastily placed intubation tube. 'The quick-fix for the chipped veneer didn't last 24 hours, so he recently went to a highly recommended dentist, Dr. Eleanore Gill, to get the veneers replaced. Andy is so impressed with this dentist, and can't say enough about her. She is renowned in our area as being THE dentist to do porcelain veneers. After examining his teeth, she was alarmed at the condition of his bottom teeth, noticing they were wearing down to the pulp. She explained that although this was causing no pain or discomfort at this time, someday soon, the nerves would be exposed and root canals or caps would have to be done. Root canals are not an option for our family. Check this link or this link and many more if you search Google.

So, the first orthodontist he consulted (who is also the one Holt goes to) wanted to do the Cadillac of treatments. Upper and lower braces, putting all teeth back in the perfect position, which would recreate the "hole" in the lower front where the missing tooth used to be. After 2 years of braces, Andy would then need a dental implant if he didn't want to go through life missing one of his front teeth! (Dental implants can have the same dangers as root canals, see above.) And finally, after the full braces and dental implant procedure, he would finally get his veneers. Total treatment cost? Around $12,000!!!!!!!! Insurance would pay very very little. Andy told me he just couldn't see spending that much when he has no pain or discomfort. It's not my mouth, so I defer to him as to what he would like to do.

He then sought another orthodontic opinion. This doctor suggested using upper braces only, pulling the front teeth out slightly, preventing the lower teeth from rubbing on the inside of the upper teeth. This process would take about 1 year, and only have upper braces. No dental implant. Then veneers.

With his 2 opinions, Andy went back for another consultation with Dr. Gill and discussed these options. She agreed that the Cadillac treatment was overkill but thought that the second option would give him too much of an overbite to be effective. She had an idea, called the first orthodontist and discussed a third option. The orthodontist agreed and Andy will go back in for a mini-consult soon. It looks like they will do braces on the bottom teeth to push them lower since they are currently too high compared to all the other bottom teeth. Also, he may do braces on the top teeth to fix one tooth that is "out of whack" as Andy says. lol Then, veneers after all this is done. Cost unknown at this point. Fortunately, Andy's insurance does have an orthodontic option that will cover the first $1200 of orthodontic treatment.

So very soon, this handsome guy will being even more dashing!


So there you have it, the latest on Andy!

Have a great day!

Cheri