Teeth. They can be such a pain!

Due to a couple requests to see me with braces on, I snapped this via Photobooth when I got home this afternoon. Excuse the lack of make-up.....at least my hair is somewhat done. I, however, will not apologize for my big lips that get in the way of seeing all the braces.  I love my lips.

The next two years will be full of dental appointments and, of course, payments.  I used to be embarassed about all of this, but it's not like any of it is my fault.  I take care of my teeth.  All of this major stuff was due to an accident when I was seven years old.  Ok, so the accident was my fault, but are you seriously going to hold that over my head?  I was more self-conscious because my front tooth and eye tooth started to turn dark because of the trauma.  There was also decay and infection that helped all of this along. Plus, where my eye tooth should have been..there was a small gap that made me a little uncomfortable.  

Here is a list of things that need to be done. 

1. Extract fractured #8 (front tooth).  Completed 5/19/09

2. Braces (top & bottom). Completed 5/20/09

3. Extract #9 (also damaged in the accident, but not fractured).

4. Extract impacted #10 (eye tooth that never came in).

5. Do bone graft where #10 was.  

#9, #10, bone graft will be done at the same time.

6. Get 2 implants where #8 & #9 were.  Let heal for 4-6 months.

7. Get braces off (16 months total is the plan)

8. Whiten teeth (I'm excited for this!!)

9. Get two crowns to into the implants.

Oh, I should mention that the braces are purely for selfish, cosmetic reasons.  If I have to go through all of this, I think having straight teeth will be awesome. I never wanted braces when I was a tween because I was too self conscious of what other people thought. Now, I really don't care. How's that for growing up?  To be honest, I'm sure my feelings would be hurt if someone told me I was fat and ugly, but it wouldn't be because I believed them, it would be because I couldn't believe someone could be so cruel. I'd probably end up praying for them and hoping that whatever their issue was, that God would help them through it.  

The tooth that was extracted yesterday was the one that was causing me major amounts of pain due to it being fractured.  The fractured portion of it stuck out of my gums behind my front tooth, began to decay and caused so many infections.  The eye tooth also causes infection and I will be glad to get that one out, but that surgery is one I will be asleep for. 

Unfortunately, neither my medical or dental insurance will pay for the bone graft so the cost went from $499 to $1312, just for the extractions and bone graft.  OUCH!  The implants are another story and the crowns are separate, too.  

Anyway, I am focusing on the braces right now and learning how to eat.  I also have to deal with healing from the extraction.  Right now I am on an antibiotic because there was an infection when he removed the tooth.