OMG: Braces!!

Soon I will look like this. Wow. Never anticipated this one.

I went into the dental office today to have a crown put on one of my side teeth on top. It's cracking, and really needs to be rehabbed. A long long time ago, when I was a teenager, I had full top and bottom braces. Before I did, they did oral surgery to bring the top canines down from where they were hiding in the roof of my mouth, pulling them slowly into place with the brackets and wires and monthly tightenings. I wore my retainer semi-well; the results looked good. The right one settled into place like a good little tooth, adapting to its new place with ease. But, over the course of my adult life, the one on the left decided that it missed its spot in the roof of my mouth, and began to drift. Eventually it left me looking like I do today: as if it's missing, because it sits so far sideways and back into my mouth.

I thought I could live with it, but several problems emerged. I tend to bite my tongue with it a lot, and the bottom canine on the same side has grown long, since there's nothing for it to wear against. Finally, the day came when the bottom canine began to push against the other teeth next to it, and now I'm left with one of my front teeth loose from the wear. It would be incredibly bad to lose a front tooth.

He sent me straightaway to the orthodontist, saying that he didn't even want to do the crown on the tooth next to it yet, for fear that the size of the crown wouldn't fit the hole once we pulled the errant tooth back into place.

So, at forty years old I am scheduled to once more wear the moniker of "Brace Face". I have an appointment on Monday to see how long I have to look like a teenager, and how many of my organs I have to sell to pay for the procedure, since it's not covered at all by my insurance.

Ug.