>iBraces post-mortem

>I had my iBraces removed this morning.  I wish I could tell you that I’m finished with major treatment, am thrilled at the outcome, and would recommend the system to anyone.  I certainly expected to pen that post when I began this journey 25 months ago.  Unfortunately that is not the case.

My orthodontist is a perfectionist–everyone said so.  My sister had treatment there ten years ago and nearly everyone on his staff has had or is currently undergoing something.  I knew it might take longer than my Dallas ortho had taken with me, but I was prepared to do whatever it took. . . mainly because with the image of my mother’s smile cemented in my head, even as she was near death, I made that my gold standard.  In short, I was willing to do or spend whatever it took.

iBraces are not cheap.  I didn’t expect them to be.  But because they were basically invisible unless I revealed them, I was happy with them because they didn’t look metal-mouth-y.  Even when brackets popped off and I had to make additional trips in to have them glued back on (and in later incidents, just removed until my next adjustment appointment), I still thought it would be worth it.  Whatever it took.  (Thankfully my employer is understanding.  That plus dental cleanings every three months has me out of the office frequently.)

When I learned the braces were making some of the roots tip forward, I was concerned.  I did not enjoy undergoing a gum graft that was caused by the shifting.  Perhaps that would’ve happened with traditional braces.  Sometimes that happens.  I’ll never know, of course.

But today when I walked in and Jessica told me he wanted to speak with me before we got started, I was really concerned.  He gave me two choices: we take the iBraces off and he puts on traditional braces or he takes the iBraces off and he fits me with Invisalign in six weeks.  Either way, the iBraces had to go.

I’d noticed in recent weeks that my previously-pretty-damn-straight front teeth were becoming askew.  I assumed this was part of the process and the ortho knew what he was doing.  But apparently because the silly brackets kept coming off and weren’t being placed in the correct location, the wires weren’t pulling properly.  The iBraces were making my teeth more crooked.  That was not part of the plan.  They have set me back.

I’m disappointed.  I thought I’d be thrilled when they were finally removed, as recently one of my favorite phrases has been, “Just get the damn things off me!”  (I think I even said that to him last week when I went in to have another bracket removed.  Minus the “damn.”  He’s Baptist.)  While, yes, I’m very happy to be able to go eat my chips and salsa tonight, as well as whatever the hell else I want (almonds, cashews, corn on the cob, etc.), I really thought getting them off would signify the end of the process.  I’m having impressions taken for my aligners in six weeks.  It’ll be another six to eight weeks before I can even start using them.  Then it’ll be ten months of that treatment.

OK, I probably shouldn’t bitch too much.  The aligners are removable and I can eat whatever I want.  I should be grateful that I was even a candidate now, since my case was so bad two years ago that I couldn’t have even considered it.  And it’s not like any of this is coming out of pocket.  Whatever the method, I’m paid up come July.

It just feels like a hollow victory.  I’m happy and at the same time, deflated.

So it’s hard to enjoy this today.