My Life Behind "Bars", Part II

We continue our My Life Behind "Bars" series this week with Nancy's story below:

Nancy has the distinction of being our oldest patient in treatment at this time. Orthodontics was not something on the radar for Nancy as she approached her 75th birthday, but her daughter, Lee, persuaded her to explore her dental options. Lee has been very satisfied with her own smile since undergoing orthodontic treatment with us and was determined to see what we could do for her mom.

Lee knew from taking bite wing x-rays of her mom years ago while in dental assisting school that her teeth were “curious.” Nancy had retained a baby tooth for 65 years before finally needing to have it extracted. After that procedure, her adult tooth finally decided to join the party, but then proceeded to come in way up on the gum line!

Nancy was sure that since her teeth were so terribly crowded, she’d need adult teeth extracted which she really didn’t want. However, after reviewing her x-rays and doing an examination, we feel we can align everything AND bring that wayward tooth in line, too. She was excited about having her teeth straight for the first time in her life, and started her orthodontic treatment with upper, clear braces on April 6, 2010.

For Nancy, life is always interesting and she has found orthodontic treatment to be very interesting, indeed. She was fascinated with having her brackets put on using the “indirect method” and likes the fact that we utilize cutting edge technology. She has also been amazed at how relatively easy the process has been and surprised she can be so relaxed in a dental chair. Nancy has an incredibly sunny outlook on life and enjoys making a statement with her “Braces are Beautiful T-shirt.” Her only challenge so far has been eating sandwiches because her bite has been changing so much. She’s dealing with that by cutting her sandwich into bite size pieces and eating them with a fork. There’s no doubt that she’s looking forward to the day when she’s finished with treatment and can bite into a big old hamburger at Red Robin’s with her straight teeth and perfect bite!