A second opinion and some extras

By now it was already November 2008 and I had a reconstructed semi-incisive (the one behind) and two crowns. I thought that by now with all these extra hindrances on my mouth and my 45 years of age I was just not worth the expense. Nevertheless I did not feel good with my smile.

It just so happned that I was visiting my fiancée in Colombia who was also aware of my "reserved" smile. She has a great hearth and wants everybody to feel good about him/herself. She had previously mentioned about a good friend of hers that was orthodontist that we did not get the chance to visit before.

So, one day in November she took me to his clinic under rather special circumstances. He interviewed me and told me what he could do. If I decided to go for the braces then it had to be decided that same night because I was only staying for 10 days... In the meantime he did a great job at restoring my 4 upper teeth to their initial glory so that they looked square and not worn out and misshapen. He also explained that most likely I would need the orthognathic surgery :-( and gave me a complete run up.
His colleague also did me a root planning (kind of an in-depth cleaning) in preparation for orthodontic braces, have to start with clean gums, roots and mouth.

Well, that night my lovely fiancée and I sat down to examine the facts and the decision was rather quick. I/we go for it...

Next day we went to the imaging lab to have some 10 xrays of my teeth plus one of those 360 degree photos. All of that for a mere €37 !!! A few days later I had to go again for a craneal scan with 3D imagery, the making of the model of my mouth (and an extra one for him), digital photos for posterity (before and after documentation), etc. All of that for around €120. Much less than what I had to pay for in The Netherlands and I must say I got a much better treatment, more personal attention. In The Netherlands it was more like "you need this surgery, this is how your mouth functions and your 15 minutes are up!".

Back to the orthodontist again to bring all the material he needed, some he had already received. He explained to me that the only way to get it done was with orthognathic surgery, I would need some 9mm enlargement (ugh!). He went to great lengths and explaining everything very clearly (something I never got in The Netherlands!). My fiancée watched the gory details of the surgery (I didn't want to see it).

The picture above shows some of my overbite. It does not seem dramatic but I was shocked when I saw the forward inclination of my front teeth which had gotten worse over the years. Here you can also appreciate that the 4 upper front teeth had been restored to their original shape, I am very glad with that job as well.

The initial scary verdict: Surgery!

OK, so it wasn't until 2004/2005 that I finally decided it was time to do something about it. I was tired of being ashamed of my smile (everybody has the right to smile right, pun intended). Besides, by then my kiwer front teeth were already worn out (at the top) nearly to the core.

The two upper front teeth had spread wider apart as well as sideways. causing them to wear out (really!) unevenly to the point they started looking more like an incipient triangle rather than having a squarish shape. I did not want to become a vampire, or even less stab my lower lips!

Some molars where also a bit worn out. Add to that the greater possibilities for cavities and I HATE visiting the dentist unless it is for cleaning and absolutely necessary work. Mainly due to "extreme angst" created by a bad dentist I had in The Netherlands that did a root canal on my with little anesthetic. So, how do you undergo orthodontic treatment with an extreme angst for the dentist? hum, you tell me but the neither prospect was good.

So, I found an orthodontist here in NL, he took digital photos, made XRays of my whole mouth and a 360 degree craneal scan, made a model of my mouth (out of some sort of plastic) and handed me an account for nearly €500 !!!

The day finally came when I had to visit my orthodontist for the veredict. I was happy with sufficient functional improvement as I was not looking for a mouth overhaul.

He and his colleague showed me the model, the photos, etc. and explained to me I needed orthognathic surgery. Ortho what? yeah that! in layman's language he told me they needed to saw off my lower jaw because it had not grown sufficiently. That it was the only way to have any improvement. It was all or nothing.

I started doing some research about orthognathic surgery because I was supposed to go to an informational evening at the hospital where they did this kind of surgery. Well, after spending all that money I chickened out and did not show up.