Braces OFF!

Big moves with the my grill, y'all! I'm extremely late in posting this news, but yes, I did get my braces off a few weeks ago. It was quite the experience and I'm so happy with how my teeth turned out! I started my orthodontia journey a while ago - Thinking 'bout it and then finally making the Big Move going for it!

I got expanders before getting my actual braces. We had to make some room for my teeth to actually move where we wanted them. I had a very narrow bite prior to the expanders. It was crazy how quickly the space was created and my teeth started shifting. (I'll apologize in advance for the weirdo teeth/mouth-only pics, but this is all about the teeth, so there you go!)

A bit after expanders were installed. My teeth were not this uneven when we started!

Next came brackets on my bottom teeth.

Brackets on lower teeth.

Then on the top. Then a whole lot of moving into place!

Full braces.

What surprised me the most is how quickly I got used to having all this metal attached to my teeth, on the roof of my mouth and under my tongue. I remember telling my orthodontist and tech that I'd never get used to it the day I got my expanders. I also remember being near tears a few times the first few days I had my expanders because eating was so awkward. I thought for sure I'd never be able to eat normally until I got everything removed. I got over that really quickly! Oh, there were times during the process that my teeth hurt like a bugger, but it usually only lasted a couple days after an appointment. Once I had my appointment scheduled to get my braces off, I had a few moments where I thought I'd really miss them. I had gotten used to them to the point where they just felt like a part of me.

After 14 months of expanders and braces.

If you've never had braces you'd be shocked at how quickly they come off! They remove the wires, then pop the brackets off each tooth. We then did impressions so they could make my retainers. I've been wearing those on the regular now.

The part that takes the longest is removing all the cement used to hold the brackets to each tooth. They use a tiny tool that sounds like a dental drill to scrape off the left over cement. This process was a little tedious. The tool emits a fine mist that at times left me feeling like I was laying on a lawn chair in the rain. My tech, A, was awesome though and kept drying me off. Once the cement was gone, she polished my teeth and I was on my way to work after a chat with my orthodontist.

All in all, it was an interesting experience, a journey I'm happy to have been able to have. I'm still considering one small additional dental change, but I'm still on the fence.

All smiles. Gonna go brush my chompers and get ready for bed now!