Aged 19 years from Kimmage
Specialist orthodontist:
Dr Katherine Condren, Terenure 6W
I never liked seeing myself in photos smiling. I would always try to hide my teeth as they weren’t straight. I was self-conscious about them. When my parents and I talked about it, I knew that I really wanted straight teeth. That’s when we started to look for an orthodontist in the area.
My parents asked our dentist for recommendations for an orthodontist. We were given a few suggestions and decided to go to the one closest to us, which was Dr Katherine Condren, Specialist Orthodontist, Terenure (and President OSI). I started my orthodontic treatment when I was in fifth year in secondary school so around the February/March of 2012.
Of course getting braces was a given, but she also told me about my jaw not being aligned.
So I had two choices; have the braces and straighten my teeth and then get them off or have jaw surgery to correct my jaw while also having the braces on. The risks were explained to me about the jaw surgery but I thought the result of it would out weight the risk and it did!
I had my surgery at St James Hospital on the 25th of February 2014. My surgeon was Mr Gerald Kearns. The goal of the surgery was to align my lower jaw. They were going to move my lower jaw over and push hit back. The only risk with the surgery was nerve damage around the area. I found my experience to be a good one with the surgery. The first day after the surgery with having my mouth completely closed was the hardest. It was very difficult to have any liquids that day as I was still adjusting to them. It felt like I was going to pull my teeth out! It got easier as time went by though. I was still on a liquid diet and eating the same food for a couple of months. It’s a slow process. I had friends come over throughout the treatment which made being away from everyone a bit easier. I was only allowed water for a few hours but then I could have some food.
On the first day, I could open my jaw so I was allowed to have some soup. They then closed my mouth shut with elastics going across my braces. All I could have was blended food afterwards. I did have stitches after the surgery. They were on my bottom gum but after a week or so, they went away. From the surgery, I couldn’t open my mouth fully due to the elastics for about six months. I’m still slowly regaining feeling around my chin from the surgery but I was told that could take up to a year to fully heal.
I had a very good experience with orthodontic treatment. I never had any problems with my braces. I could see my teeth straightening over a period of time which was amazing. My teeth were sensitive whenever I got the braces tightened but it went away quite quickly. Dr Katherine Condren and her team were very nice to me and made me feel very welcome whenever I went for a check-up. I am over the moon about my result. I’m very happy that I have gone through this experience. I don’t regret it for one moment.