Re: ortho as a kid then ortho again and sur

[Guest guest]

First time I had braces, I had them for 10 years - they were put on

the 2nd to last day of school in 2nd grade, and they weren't removed

until 12th grade.

I went thru the whole gamut too.. headgear, tongue crib, lots of teeth

pulled, etc My current ortho explained to me also, that back then

(70's) ortho's really didn't know how to manage underdeveloped jaws -

they did the best they could given the technology and information that

was available. Surgery was done back then, but from what I understand

it was more for underbites as opposed to overbites. My mom says she

was never given that option for me. Anyway

I'm now 42 (just turned it ) and have had my second set of braces

for about a year now. If you would have asked me two years ago if I

would consider having braces again, I would have answered with a

resounding " hell no! " - in fact, my dentist brought it up numerous

times and received just that response The only thing that made

me reconsider was jaw joint pain. It got so bad it was becomming

unbearable and when I finally went to seek treatment - well... TADA!!

Here I am :)

To be honest, I never associated TMJ/TMD with having to have braces

and surgery... so all this initially came as a huge shock! But

hey, I'm on the road now and looking forward to getting it all over

with