Long ortho history: dental implants or bridges?

Okay so I was born/developed with an underbite. From ages about 11-19 I underwent extensive orthodontic procedures while opting not to have my lower jaw surgically corrected. This would mean that I would have a cosmetically good look, though it wouldn’t be the ideal. I am currently 22 years old, and have been wearing a flipper with two teeth on it for 2+ years.

I went in for an evaluation to get implants and was told that on one side there was room but on the other the gap is only 2.6mm wide and I would need to undergo another set of braces and another year of ortho to open the gap up for the roots. (Cosmetically the gaps are fine, the roots are not). So I am at a point where I need to decide whether I am going to undergo my 3rd set of braces and yet another year of ortho and then get implants, or opt for two bridges. It is a hard decision and any professional input/ or personal experience with bridges or implants would be wonderful in making this decision.

Questions I have are: Is there any possible way I could get implants without more ortho? What is the success rate with bridges? How tough and how comfortable are bridges vs. implants. Cosmetically will bridges look natural, I’ve seen people sometimes where I can tell their teeth are fake (maybe its because I know what to look for) but I want the result to look natural. Obviously we’ve sunk a lot of money into my mouth, and everything was supposed to be lined up for dental implants, but now at this point my root drafted back, or it was never in place, I do not know what exactly happened, but those are all sunk costs I suppose.

Please see my x-ray below (click to enlarge)

![]](http://choosedentalimplants.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/gravity_forms/2-bc85009ec8be9291457147b316f87deb/2013/03/ortho-implants.png)