Hi everyone!

I discovered your group a few days ago and thought it would be nice
to hear about and talk to other adults with braces.

My name is Johanne, 26 and I got braces last February. I got clear
braces on top and all metal one at my bottom teeth. My case is a
little unique though since the main reason I got braces was so they
could extract some of my teeth slowly over time in the hopes that the
bone would follow so I can get implants later one to replace the
extracted teeth. In case I lost anyone (it does sound weird and
complicated if you never heard about it) I'll start at the beginning.

I was misdiagnosed as a child, and when they finally discovered I had
juvenile periodontitis - the disease had already done a lot of
damage. My parents couldn't afford any complicated treatments - and
since I didn't really have any problems eating or talking and I
wasn't in pain. They didn't worry too much about it. Well, a few
years ago, the gums on my bottom teeth in front started receding and
although I still wasn't in pain or anything - I knew there must be
something that could be done short of just waiting until my gums were
too sick and just removing all my teeth (which is what a couple of
dentists I had seen told me) And I was in my late teens when I got
that diagnosis and the idea of getting a ful denture wasn't very
appealing. Well, about 2 years ago - when I was 24 - a friend advised
me to try and find another dentist that would give me other options
and after consulting a few dentist = I found one who refered me to a
parodontist who gave me another option. There was no way that some of
my teeth could be saved since the pockets in the surrounding gums
were too deep. So I'd have to eventually lose them - but a lot of my
teeth were still strong and didn't need to be removed as long as the
gums around them stayed healthy. In case anyone doesn't know the
difference between periodontitis and juvenile periodontitis - well,
juvenile perio attacks the gums as certain teeth are coming in, so
only certain areas are affected. And with various degrees.

Anyway, to make a long story short - and so I don't lose any reader
who is falling asleep over all this dental talk :) - for the next few
years I'll be seeing my orthodontist, my parodontist and my
prosthodontist. Certain brackets on my braces are placed closer to
the gumline, so as the braces do their work - the teeth with the
misaligned brackets will be slowly pulled out. That way - hopefully -
the bone will follow at least to some extent - so that I won't need
bone grafts when I eventually get implants. I'm going to have jaw
surgery to correct an open bite after the braces come off in a couple
of years also.

Well, that's pretty much the general idea.
Any questions, comments or prescriptions? :)

Love always,
Johanne