A Year Later...

It has been more than a year since I had my braces done at Dr Alfred Cheng @ Mount Elizabeth Hospital. I did not bother to update the blog because I have been really busy with school, work and other commitments. There have been a couple of people who asked whether my underbite has been resolved. I am still on my braces but I can safely say that nobody can tell I used to have an underbite now.

Reading the old entries and comments here made me recall how confused I was about my options and how I googled like crazy to find out more. You are probably here for the same reason and I hope I can help in someway :)

Pre-braces after A Levels (My upper set of teeth has multiple tooth gaps. Underbite does not show in photos because I learnt how to smile without it showing :> You can tell I have an underbite issue if you talk to me in real life.)

This was in late 2012/early 2013. Dr Cheng has successfully pushed my upper set forward. He does this by 'widening' my upper jaw. There were a few months when my tooth gap became more obvious (you can tell from the sides). The tooth gap in the front upper has closed completely.

Dec 2013 - Smiling without showing my braces. I like smiling showing my teeth but braces make me look really kiddy D:

November 2013 - I was with my best friend at Strictly Pancakes. You can tell that the gaps are much better compared to late 2012/early 2013 photo. However, I do have an acrylic tooth on my right side (befoer I go for my tooth implant). 

December 2013 - Right after my appointment. A phone screenshot because I have deleted this photo from my CameraRoll already ;P My right gap became more obvious because I have been skipping appointments >:( However, when I asked Dr Cheng about it, he said that it is just part of the process of widening the jaw. Told me to be patient and it won't be there eventually. I just have to trust him.

Looking back, I would recommend braces treatment as early as possible. There are installment plans which makes it less draining on your family financials. Though I question my decision occasionally, (after all the underbite does not show in pictures), I know that I will keep thinking What If? if I didn't do it. With regards to the pain factor, it isn't that bad. A little tightening effect after each monthly appointment that's all. Nothing unbearable!

P.S. The tooth gap issue is unique to me because I have hypodontia. I still need to do a tooth implant afterwards (4K *cries*) after my braces. It is supposed to be 2 for perfection. But I cannot justify 8K for perfection...

I think Dr Cheng has increased the prices of his braces services (based on the price that the dental assistant is quoting to the other patients when I was in my last appointment).

If any of you still have any questions about orthodontic treatment or underbite (I know the information is SUPER SCARCE on the Internet), feel free to leave a comment or just ask me at http://ask.me/llacedup!

ADVICE:

1. Do it early once you have the money

2. DO NOT SKIP your appointments (The reason why I have not removed my braces yet) Your teeth will move and effectively, you are just undo-ing and redo-ing all your progress.

3. I won't recommend jaw surgery (10K) unless your condition is really SEVERE.

(If any of you are still keen, I can ask someone who is doing at 2K+ how he got it)

1 MONTH INTO BRACES

1 month into braces and my upper set of teeth is beginning to overlap the lower set! Amazing. I'm still not used to how I smile now. That is the sad truth. I asked for transparent brackets and I like it. It spares me the trouble of selecting colours. I don't see any fun in doing it! 

17 months. 

AFTERTHOUGHT

Apologies for the previous angsty and emo post. I'm slowly getting used to having metal in my mouth already. Speech-wise, it is improving. No longer as bad as Day 1. My students, Darryl and Carel, were laughing at me )': But I think it is also because I laughed at myself initially too. It just became not funny when I realize that I may have to go to orientation camps with this set of garbled pronunciation. Still, I don't think I'm taking my bite stoppers out. I'm going to bear with them so that the treatment can proceed smoothly. Food-wise, I'm revolving around oatmeal, fruits, soy, salmon and chicken.

I'M NOT EXCITED

It is not that exciting. 30 minutes after getting the braces on, I am regretting it. I hate the feeling in my mouth. Is paying $3.8k worth it? He keeps telling me that the effects may not be as desirable. And whenever I ask what do you mean, he tells me that we will discuss in the future. Cannot you just tell me NOW? I cannot speak properly with my bite stoppers. I cannot pronounce strawberries, basically all the ending 's' sounds. I'm getting braces to fix my underbite. That's it. Why must I care about unsymmetry? I should not have even extracted that baby tooth at the bottom?!? I will make sure I clear all my questions in the next appointment in July. After all, I should be have the right to be kept in the loop.

COUNTDOWN

2 more days to getting brackets :D

PROCESS OF BRACES

Here's how the process of getting braces is like:

(1) First, Dr Alfred Cheng inserted spacers into my teeth. It was painless and the procedure reminded me of stapling. In fact, I called them 'staples' until I talked to my friend who is also doing braces currently and she told me they are called spacers. The purpose of it is to create a little bit of gap which is necessary for the treatment to proceed. I paid SGD 535 (including 7% GST) for the first visit. I did X-Ray, took photos of my teeth & did impressions as well.

(2) Dr Cheng removed the spacers and inserted molar bands. Once again, I only knew they were molar bands when I asked my friend Y. Dr Cheng does not explain much. He just does his job. However, if you are really curious to know what's happening, just ask, I'm sure he'll explain everything to you. Painless as well. Paid SGD 535 for the 2nd visit.

(3) Third appointment will be on 25th June 2012, Monday, at 930AM. Prior to this appointment, I need to extract a tooth. Did it at New Dental Centre yesterday. If you don't already have a regular dentist, seriously just go there. Dr Ng is really good & nice :D 

1ST APPOINTMENT

I went to the clinic where my younger sister is currently doing her braces but the receptionist said that Dr Colin Chin does not handle cases like mine (class III underbite). I was given a referral letter to Alfred Cheng Orthodontic Clinic at Mount E. 

Dr Alfred Cheng told me to consider jaw surgery. Without a jaw surgery, the root problem of the jaw structure remains uncorrected. Braces push the upper set of teeth forward and lower set of teeth backwards to give an illusion of correctly-aligned teeth. That will take 1.5 years followed by an implant surgery.

However, prior to the surgery, braces are used to worsen the underbite first. Post jaw surgery, I will then proceed with the normal braces that most people know about. Finally, there will be an implant surgery after the braces stage.

At the end of consultation, he gave me a referral letter to see Dr Winston Tan, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, for advice. I was in such a dilemma that I just went to Starbucks at Wheelock Place, ordered a bottle of their Carrot Medley, started Googling on Ipad & Whatsapping friends for opinions.