6 Years Later

Hi everyone,

As you have probably noticed by now, my updates suddenly stopped towards the end of my treatment. It wasn’t a sign of things going badly with my braces, but my father suddenly got very sick and I didn’t have the time to continue blogging my journey.

I would just like to say that 6 years after my braces coming off, I can hardly remember what it was like. Sometimes I run my tongue over my bare teeth and think I am forgetting something (shouldn’t my braces be there?) or my tongue curls up in my mouth to wrap around the RPE that isn’t there. It is weird things like that. However if it weren’t for the blog I wouldn’t have remembered all these frustrations or procedures that happened to get the smile I have now. For what felt like forever, after the 18 months were over, it now seems like a blip in time.

I got my lower wisdom teeth out. It was done in the chair while I still had my braces on. It was pretty horrible. It was probably the worst part of the treatment. I had bleeding and swelling, and the pain lasted a whole week.

On the day my braces came off I had a job interview, and my grandfather had just passed away. As they cracked off my braces (yes, literally cracked) and ran my tongue over my teeth for the first time, they never felt so smooth, or so big! I looked in the mirror and they looked massive.

But you will get used to it.

As far as maintenance for my new smile, I always:

• Brush my teeth at least twice a day
• Floss before bed
• Have regular dental checkups and cleans (every 6 months)
• Wear my removable retainer EVERY SINGLE NIGHT

To date, fixing my smile has been one of the best things I have ever done. It had improved my health, my self esteem, and my sleep (yes even with the retainer).

So for everyone out there going through a similar journey, I hope this blog has helped. I also apologise for waiting 6 years before giving closure, haha.

And for a happy ending, here is a photo of me and my new smile, on my wedding day.

❤

Mrs M

Wow…107 Day Wait

Sorry Everybody!

I can’t believe it has been 107 Days since my last update 😦 So much has been going on. My dad had a life threatening operation, and I had to go through some medical checks myself. But all should be going well now.

I’m a bit sad going through my previous posts that I haven’t documented as much of the last 107 days as I would have liked. (107 days is alot. Is that right?) So to make up for it, I have taken ALOT of pictures of how my smile is going.

Don’t worry though, even though I haven’t posted it on the blog, I have been getting photos taken of my teeth. These include my expander being removed and my bottom braces going on! I’ve had to take time to adjust, but it seems to be going ok. Can’t wait to put up the photos and catch up with my blog! I will be working on it tonight to try to get it up to date.

I hope I don’t have a long break between updates again 😦

Love,

Miss M

One More Day Until My Smile Changes Forever

Treatment Status: Pre-Palatal Expander (1.5 Days)
Current Procedure: Separators
Mood: Anxious 

But first let me tell you about how I am doing with my Separators. For 4 days I was scared of biting down on the elastic, but now I am a little more relaxed. I was very worried that the elastics will come out, but they haven’t seemed to moved. The only things that seem to have moved…are my teeth! On the 2nd day with the separators eating was difficult, and as the days have gone by it had become increasingly difficult to eat. And a little painful now that my teeth are moving. On the 3rd day I was getting sharp headaches in my temples most likely from it and my teeth have been very tender.

I have been trying to find softer foods to eat, and the basis of my diet has been pasta and yoghurt. I have it about twice a day (in different ways of course).

For dinner my best friend has been roast dinners. Roast meat (nice and soft), and roasted veggies like carrots, potatos, pumpkin and sweet potato…oh and pasta.

One of the most painful things I have eaten today, was lettuce! It wraps around my teeth and I have to try and scoop it with my tongue so I can chew it with my front teeth…it was death. My teeth were moving and sore as I tried to navigate the lettuce around my mouth. I haven’t had bread except for a bread roll I tore into small bits, and sucked on till it dissolved.

I am hoping that the expander might be easier to eat with because it is fixed in my mouth and I should in theory be able to close my back teeth and chew. I’ve also had to stop myself a couple of times from unconsciencly going to dig out these elastics from my teeth.

However the days with these separators have gone pretty fast surprisingly! And it has been a good chance to see how I am going to cope eating and brushing wise.

In other news, my H2Oral Irrigator should be getting delivered soon 🙂 Here is a picture of it.

It hooks onto the showerhead and I can rinse out my mouth and around the appliance much easier. I hope it comes soon!

Hope things go well when the time comes for me to get my expander!

Love,

Miss M

Orthodontics In Your 20’s?

Treatment Status: Pre-Palatal Expander (8 Days)
Mood: Average

Some people have been pretty surprised at the estimated length of my orthodontic treatment. At the moment, my orthodontist has calculated that correcting my smile will take a total of 18 months. And during these 18 months, I will only need braces for 14 of them.

This comes as a big surprise to my friends, and also me a little due to the fact that many of my friends, who I think had better teeth before braces than I, had their braces in for around 3-4 YEARS. I won’t even be needing 2 years.

This is one of the benefits of having my orthodontic work done in my 20’s. The main reason being is the time to research, and to let technology advance. The main reason the time with braces is so short for me in comparison to my friends is that I am using newer technology. The Damon System. No elastics, or the painful tightenings. Having the time to research, also makes me more positive on having this work done.

Some of you may wonder if I am too old to have effective treatment done. I did, but to my surprise, it is actually possible to have orthodontic work done at any age.

While it is expensive, (about 7 1/2 thousand, roughly) I have learnt it is far cheaper and more practical to do it now, rather than wait and try to fix it all up, or have dentures or implants in my older years. I am already finding it difficult to floss with my overcrowded teeth tearing up the thread…but it is something that needs to be done, and will only get worse over time. I also have an issue of my compacted wisdom teeth. They still haven’t broken through, and one is completely on its side inside my mouth.

Back when I was in primary school, I was fitted for plates, but for some reason, nothing more ever came from it after the moulds were made…

I had not been back to the dentist till the end of high school. I was told I needed braces, but I did not think my smile was that bad, besides the fangs.

After having the opportunity to go to dental seminars, find a new, and excellent dentist and get a much better understanding about what is out there, I feel much more at ease about the process. I am actually kind of looking forward to just getting things started! However that feeling may change down the track, haha.

I also feel lucky that I am able to go through this procedure using the Damon Braces, and the Rapid Palatal Expander which I get fitted to the upper part of my mouth next Wednesday.

I have already modified my eating habits to include foods more suitable and easier to eat with braces, and exclude those that aren’t. Good thing I love yoghurt!

Here’s hoping things go well with 4 months of Palatal Expander 🙂

Love,

Miss M

One Door Opens, Another is Closed

Treatment Status: Pre-Palatal Expander (23 Days)
Mood: Contemplative

With 23 days left until treatment for this unchanged, vampiric smile, I wonder if this is the smart thing to do…

Now I don’t disagree that this will be beneficial for my overall health and wellbeing. That isn’t what I am pondering. And even though I will miss these fangs, as will many of my friends…what gets me is not knowing if I am blowing an awesome and easy way to earn the big bucks. To cash in on this sudden craze with the Vampire universe!

Think about it…actors can have fake pointed choppers, but me, it’s all real baby. I don’t bet that some get cosmetic dentistry to craft such fangs. It could be my big break… Can you imagine?

I guess that’s life for you. I’ve had them all these years, and just when I am about to change this smile, people everywhere are going gaga for my fanged brothers and sisters.

At least I can still play a zombie…

Love,

Miss M