Six months later...

Hello! Time flies and it's been six months since I got my braces off!


So, why is the 6 month anniversary important? Well, because now I'm allowed to only wear my retainers at night!! :D That's exciting right? But I'll probably keep wearing them during the day too because I kinda like them, but at least I know that I can take them off and not have it weight in on my conscience.

And, I know I've been saying this for a while, but I'll be uploading pictures from back in the day when I first had my braces put on. So feel very free to follow my blog, leave comments (I read them all!), etc.

♥,
Ana.

Retainers, bleh.

Sorry it took me a while to update you on my teeth status, but I turned into a narcissist and I look at my teeth on my free time... Ok, not really! I'm just a procrastinator ^-^' (Which one is worse??)

Anyways... Here's my story! Pictures too!

When I got out of the ortho, they told me to come back at 1:30 AM for my retainers. Ok, no biggie. I drove to Walmart, bough candy, went home. I then began to eat, and smile, and be in love with my teeth. It was amazing! I was so happy to have my braces off. Time flew of course, and it was time to go get my retainers.

They passed me to a small room with one patient chair and a couple of regular chairs, the assistant told me to wait there. There was a man sitting there at the computer, giving me his back. I had seen him before, when I had my impressions taken. I waited for 5 minutes or so, and a guy in black scrubs came in. He was very nice and asked my name. He then shuffled through some baggies (there were three), and got mine. He opened it and took out a black case and gave it to me. "This is yours", he said. I looked at it and I though: "Pretty!! ^-^". Looks like this:

Glossy black with silver glitter, very nice.

Then he told me to open my mouth and put in my top retainer and bottom one. Both with some struggle and stretching of my face. He asked if they were bothering me, I said no. I heard myself. Not a lisp, but definitely something weird with my speech. Then he told me that I was supposed to clean them with water and a toothbrush. I asked if I should use toothpaste, and he said: "No for the retainers... but yes for your teeth". I was like, "Duh, yes, I know I need to use toothpaste for my teeth...", I almost felt offended :[ Then I noticed, I couldn't close my mouth. I asked him if that was normal, and he said that it was normal because the plastic wouldn't allow it. Sucks. Then I looked at myself in the wall mirror. Oh noes. My teeth looked huge! He asked if there was poking or anything. There was a little discomfort in some parts, so I told him, and he took my retainer off and went somewhere to get it filed down. While he was gone, I got up and looked at my teeth up close. I hated how I could see where the plastic ended, and wondered why they couldn't file it down to the maximum. When he came back, he put the bottom one back in, and asked if anything was bothering me. I told him that a part was bothering me in the top one. It wasn't really bothering me, but the plastic was too high and I felt it looked ugly. He took it out and went to get it filed down. He left some papers for me to sign, basically telling me that I'd received my retainer, blah blah blah, and a little guide on how to care for them. Then I took my Hello Kitty compact, and looked at my bottom retainer. I touched them, and I felt a sort of crack in between my front bottoms. When he came back, I asked him why it felt that it was broken, but he said that it wasn't broken, but that he couldn't file it doen anymore or they would break.

Semi-open mouth :]

Then a girl came in, and the guy in scrubs told her to take a sit. He asked me once more if it was comfortable, and I said yes. So he asked me to get up. I asked if I was done, but he said that the ortho has to come check me. The girl and I switched seats, and then another girl came in, wearing very high heels. The guy repeated the whole speech of the retainer case, and how to clean them, etc. Then the two new girls switched seats, and once again we heard the "speech". "You're gonna memorize this, right? Haha", joked the guy. Then he said that the ortho was coming, and he left. The girls and I chitchatted a little bit about how long we had braces for, and stuff like that. The girl in high heels said she even had to have surgery in another town, and that the insurance had payed for the hotel and everything.

Then the ortho came and started checking us. She satarted with the girl in high heels, because she was still sitting int he patient chair. Then it was my turn, so we switched places. She said: "Bite down", but I did, but left a big gap. She said: "Harder", and I did, and she said: "That's better", but I still couldn't bite all the way down. Then se said, looking back to the guy in scrubs: "Very nice...". Then she grabed my x-rays and said, "Oh no, wisdom teeth! You're going to need those out". I felt kinda sad then, like someone had hit me in the stomach. Then I switched seats with the other girl. They examined her, and the ortho checked also her x-rays, but that girl had had her wisdom teeth removed recently.

Then the girl in high heels asked me if we brushed the retainers, and the ortho overheard and said to the guy in scrubs: "You're going to explain all that to them, right?. And he said: "I already did!". But he repeated again, then joking: "If you'll remember... See, she scolded me..."

Then the other girls were asked to go get their appointment, and so we said bye. Then the ortho gave me a paper with "recommended extractions". She said that if I didn't get them out, they would ruin my teeth. Then the ortho left, and the guy with scrubs said that he thought they would come out by the time I was 21, so I should get them out before that. He asked if I had insurance, and I said no, "You'd better get one", he said. That made me nervous, but I tried to calm myself by thinking I could take a quick "trip" to Mexico and pay way, way less for the extractions. Then he sent me to get my appointment. I sat with my piece of papaer, worried. Then they called me and gave me an appointment for MAy 5th, but I have a presentation that day, so she changed it to May 6th. She also gave me the phone number of a dentist, for my extractions. Then I left. I walked to my car where my mom waited for me.

"Look!", I said, pointing at my teeth, "It's plastic!". She said: "Let me see!". I didn't tell her about the wisdom teeth until we were already on the street and out the parking lot. It made me clamer that I had shared that with her, she would know what to do.

Then we laughed on the way to the grocery store, about how I only got 3 hours of teeth freedom. That's funny :]

So here are some picture of my teeth with the retainers on. These were taken on April 8th, a week after I got them, so they're not as clear anymore:

You can see where the plastic ends, at least I don't smile like that... :

Closing my teeth as hard as I can without feeling like I'll break them:

Very open. If you click on it, you can see that on my left (right on the picture) front tooth there is a little horizontal white line. I hate it ;-;

They're off!!

Pictures soon! Sorry.

I got my braces off!! I filmed a before and after video, but I need to edit it, and then upload it, so probably will take a few days. But for now, here's my story:

I woke up at 6:30 AM and started getting ready. I did my makeup and ironed my hair, which turned kinda messy, but whatever. I took some pictures right before I left, and packed my camera. It was around 7:15, so didn't have breakfast and left for my appointment.

I got there and filmed a video, then got signed in at 7:50 AM. I was feeling sad, but it went away once I sat down to wait. They called me in pretty quickly. I sat down and waited. Once they sat me in the chair, the orthodontist came over. It's weird since the assistant always comes first and preps me, then the ortho comes in. The ortho grabbed the mirror tool and said: "Open big!... Bite... Turn this way, Open... Bite... Turn that way, Open... Bite...". That went on for a couple of minutes, which felt endless. I was fearing she would say that I had to keep them for longer. But instead she said: "Ok, they're ready".

The assistant came over, sat down, and said: "Are you ready to get your braces off?", to which I said: "Yes!!". She grabbed some pliers, "You're going to feel some pressure", and started. "CRACK, CRACK, CRACK..." On some teeth it didn't hurt at all, but in others I could really feel it. She continued until she had all the brackets off. She took the top ones off in one piece. Then she continued to remove the bands in my bottoms. They all came off , except for one which refuse to leave my molar. The asistant tried different ways and switched tools, and it finally came off after a bit of pain. She took the whole bottom piece out.

"They're off", said the assistant. And I said: "Can I keep them?". And she replied, "Do you really want to keep them?", and the little boy in the next chair laughed, and so did the assistant. But I said "Yes". She sent me off to brush and floss, and I felt nervous to walk over to the sinks. Once I got there, I took a look at my teeth in the mirror. "Wow", was my first though. They looked huge! I felt like a horse! A horse with freaking straight teeth, may I add. Maybe it's just something everyone who has their braces taken off goes through, but I felt my teeth were too big for my face. I finished brushing and flossing, and went over to the chair. I took my Hello Kitty compact and kept looking at my teeth. I didn't know if I liked them. They looked really straight, but really weird and big. The assistant came over with a tiny manila envelope, and said: "Here you go". I opened it and there where my little metal friends. That made me happy.

The ortho came over after a little while and took a tool to shave off the glue. It was not as horrible as I thought it would be, but it was still uncomfortable. When she starting drilling off the glue, I could really smell it and I felt it was blowing the powder up my nose and I was holding my breath. But I couldn't hold my breath forever, so I had to breath in. Ugh. Also, the thing blew cold air, and when she worked on my molars, it blew the air right into sensitive spots, so that was painful. She was done and she sent me to brush. I thought I would have powder all over my face, but I didn't. I brushed and when I got to my chair and was about to sit down, another assistant said to wait on the bench. I waited for a good 10 minutes, I even gor my book out.

Then they called my name and the assistant told me to follow her down a narrow hall. I hadn't walked in this hallway since my very first visit. There were some girls waiting for the dentist, and one of them said my hair was pretty.

We got to a x-ray machine, the kinda that goes all around your head. I put my bag in a stool , and the assistant asked if I had earrings. I said no, but touched my ears to double check. She said "Open your mouth", put a cotton stick in my mouth and told me to bite. She said that she liked my shoes. Then she asked me if I was pregnant, and I said no. Then she asked how old I was, and I answered I was 19. So she grabbed a weird heavy apron/jacket looking thing and put it on me. I asked what that was for, and she said: "Just to be safe". Now, I don't know exactly if it was because radiation is dangerous, or because she though that I was sleeping with boys and didn't believe me that I was not pregnant. Jeez, I'm not fucking anybody. But anyways. Then she told me to step on the machine, put my chin on the plate, and she started the machine. After it was done, she took off the apron/jacket and told me to trhow away the cotton stick. And she told me to follow her down the hall. She told me to sit in the chair in the back. I sat down, and waited for her. She took pictures of my teeth, using those lip-stretcher thingies. She also took some of me while standing up, and I'm afraid I looked ugly in those. Then she told me to sit down again, and started mixing some of that pink stuff to make impressions. She took the molds, and it was kinda nasty because I could sorta feel the pink stuff going down my throat. She gave me some water to rinse, and we were off again. I followed her to the little mirrored hallway, where she told m that I needed to come back at 1:30 AM to pick my retainers. It was around 10 AM. I asked if I needed and appointment, but she said no. So I just left.

As I walked out, I had a huge smile on my face! I got in my car and took tons of picures and video. Then I drove off, singing from the top of my longs, smiling all the way to Wal-Mart. Haha, yes, I had to stop for candy! I bought some chewy caramel and Starbursts, which I didn't eat until I got home. I actually filmed myself eating a chewy caramel, I will post that soon.

When I got home, only my dad was there, and he said my teeth looked perfect and gave my a hug.

So there you have it, my story of how I got my braces off. I'm so happy and in love with my teeth, even though I kinda disliked them at first, not I think they're so prettyfu ^-^

1...

Let's pretend this is a gum ball ;]

Just one more day to go. Wow, this is starting to become nerve-racking. I think I'm also beginning to feel nervous and scared. What if it's painful to take them off? What if they chip a tooth? What if I get the nasty white squares where the brackets were?...

And I also feel sad, because I will miss them :[ I know, I know, I've been wanting to have them off since I got them, but I'm kinda used to them now.

I actually think they make me look somewhat cute, and younger. I liked when older men smiled at me, probably thinking I was fifteen. And how I could get away with wearing childish stuff, like a Hello Kitty purse, and a gummy bear necklace, because braces represent youth. Hopefully I won't look my age, haha.

Anyways, so I'll be uploading some pictures later today, the right before the after. Haha, does that make sense? Not really ^-^

Oh, and look, I'd forgotten I set my ReminderFox:

2...

Two more days
or
Forty Eight Hours
or
Two Thousand Eight Hundred Eighty Minutes
or
One Hundred Seventy Two Thousand, Eight Hundred Seconds
or...

Never mind, I'll stick with days. It feels shorter that way :]

3...

Just three more days... Will I make it?...

In the meanwhile, here's a picture of a cute llama I came across while looking for pictures of apples. Pretty random, but I think llamas are cute. They're all goofy looking and fluffy, and before you know it they've spit on your face. Lovely ^-^'

"Yesh, I'm goofy lookin' but Imma spit on yo' face!" ^-^

What I'm looking forward to eat.

When I got my braces on, they gave me a piece of paper with some important information. You know, stuff like the names of the appliances, how to keep them clean, what to do if they broke, and what NOT to eat.
For the first week, I followed it to the dot. Mostly because it was physically impossible to eat anything that showed resistance, but also because I'm a good girl :] But then I tried chewing gum, and I found that it wasn't sticking to my braces, and although it was a bit uncomfortable, I could chew it and I felt it gave my teeth some sort of "massage" effect. Kinda like a teething baby chews on those nasty plastic thingies.
From then I stuck the paper in my drawer to not be seen again. I think I ate everything that I wasn't "allowed" to. Until I broke two bands eating popcorn. From then, I became more cautious.
Enough intro, here are the foods that I will be stuffing my face with once I get the braces off:

Caramel Cubes
I've been craving these so much! And haven't had them in so long because they stick everywhere and it's just a mess.




Starbursts
Probably one of my favorite candy, I love chewy stuff! I've had this with braces, but same with the caramel cubes, they stick to everything ;-;


Popcorn
I love popcorn, it's one of my favorite snacks. I've eaten very little popcorn since I broke my bands, just for the fear of it, but I can't wait to watch a movie and stuff my face with popcorn.


Caramel Popcorn
I don't think I've had caramel popcorn in years (many, many years), but since I couldn't eat popcon, I've craved this. I don't even know were I can buy this...





Candy Apple
I was not a huge fan before, but you know how when you can't have something, you want it more than anything? Exactly. So I might have my mom pull her candy apple recipe, or I'll grab one from Google. I just need to take a huge bite out of it :]



So those are the foods that I'm looking forward to eat once I get my braces off.

One more week to go!!

I can't believe my braces journey is coming to an end so fast. I can't wait, though!! ^-^

Why do I think I look like a dinosaur in this picture? ;-;

Appointment: February 23, 2010

Today I had my ortho appointment at 10:30 AM. I had biology lab until ten, but didn't leave school until like 10:15 AM because the ortho is close to my school, but still, I got there like 10 minutes late (oops). I waited until they called my name, almost like 30 minutes, but I finally got in.

Guess who was there? You got it! Cute boy. Except I took a good look at him and I realized that he isn't that cute... Haha, I insist, I'm not a creepy girl.

It got to my turn to sit on the chair and the asistant came over and did the usual: removed my wires and sent me over to brush and floss. I came back to the chair and waited for the orthodontist. When she came over, she greeted me and started checking my teeth. "Open big. Close. Open. Close", she said while holding that mirror tool inside my mouth. She took it out and slid back a little on the chair and said: "Good, your braces are coming off in the next visit". Then she told me to keep wearing my rubber bands.

I couldn't believe what she said, and all I could manage to get out was: "Yay!", to which she laughed. She got up, said bye, and went to the other patient. I was left on the chair with a huge smile on my face. The assistant came over and she asked me which color chain I wanted. I asked: "Which colors do you have?". I know I always ask the same thing, but I don't care, haha!. She opened the drawer and showed me the colors. Lots of blue, greens, yellows and oranges. A couple of pinks and purples. I stared at the tray with the chain rolls for like three minutes. The assistant said: "Actually, you can choose two colors if you want, because you're getting them on the top and bottom". "Yay!", I though to myself, "now my decision shouldn't be as hard!". I kept on staring at the colors for a couple of minutes, and the assistant laughed, and I said: "Sorry, I'm very indecisive". I finally concluded on a hot pink on top, and purple on bottom (the same purple from my first chain). She put in the wires, and then the chains, asking me to confirm which color went where. She also gave me a new pack of rubber bands. The, she sent me to wait in the hallway, and I looked at my teeth in the mirror, and I actually liked the color combo.


This made me happy because it was going to be my last couple of chains, and I really liked the colors. The assistant came to meet me and said: "Ok, you're good to go. Just wait for your appointment. Oh, do you know you're getting them off next time?, to which I answered: "Yes!", with a huge smile on my face. She said okay, and then dismissed me. I sat down and waited, I was just so happy of the news. They called my name and the lady said a couple of dates in late March, but they were conflicting with my school schedule, so she set my appointment for April 1st, at 7:30 AM (sucky time, but I probably won't be able to sleep the previous night at all, LOL!).

I went to the restroom before I left, and then headed to my car with a smile that wouldn't go away. And I filmed the rest of the video that is in the post before this one. So check that out :]

Next (and final) Appointment: April 1, 2010

Exciting news!!

So excited!! Hopefully my accent isn't too annoying ^-^ Oh, and I was squinting and blinking a lot because the sun was very bright and was on my face.

In case you don't want or can't watch the video, or if you can't understand what I'm saying, here's what I said:

"Hey everyone! So today I'm going to take my braces off!... Actually no. It's actually just an appointment. So, to let you guys know how it goes. Bye!
Hey guys! I just got out of my appointment, and they told me that I'm gonna get my braces off on the next visit which is actually on April first! So I'm really excited, I'm all smiles, and uh *girlish shriek* I wanna scream! And... I just wanted to let you know, and, talk to you soon! Bye!
I hope it's not an April's fools joke, it better not be... just kidding. I'm really happy! So anyways, I'll see you guys soon, bye!"


Originally posted on March 24, 2010

Appointment: January 6, 2010

Today I had an ortho appointment! Yay. So I went in for the usual. Cute boy was there too, haha. And while I was brushing my teeth, he came over the sink and rinsed his mouth, and then he left. He's dreamy...

Anyways... Haha! I might seem like a creepy girl now, I promise I'm not!! Okay, so the assistant took my wires off, and she had trouble taking the bottom one off. It was a bit painful and I feared my bands would come loose :[ But they didn't. Then I was sent to brush and floss, and then I waited for the orthodontist to come with me (which took a while).

She checked my bite with a little mirror-tool-thingy, and told me to: "Open big, bite. Open, bite". She did this a few times, and I could feel she was unsure. Then she asked: "Have you been wearing your rubber bands?". To which I answered: "Yes... but not all the time..." "I knew it!! I knew it!!", she said. Then she told me that I had to wear them because she had to see if they were coming off. Then she told me to wear them all the time. I asked if I should keep using the right one during the day, and both at night; but she said I had to wear both full time. Then I was done and was left with the assistant.

Being good, with my rubber bands on ;]

The assistant asked me which color chain I wanted. DUN DUN DUN DUUUUN!! And I asked: "What colors do you have?". And she opened the drawer and I saw turquoise. YAY!, so I told her I wanted that one. But she said she could use it because the chains were too separated... I felt disappointed yet again, but continued looking through the colors. I said: "How about that neon pink?", but she told me she couldn't use it for the same reason as the turquoise. I glanced at the greens and oranges and yellows, but I quickly thought that it would look like I had salad on my teeth, or that my teeth were yellower than they are. So I ended up choosing a metalic blue, which I actually like alot :]

The chain does look like it's turquoise in the pictures, but it's a darker blue.

So then I was told to wait by the door, in the little mirrored hallway. The assistant came a few minutes later and told me that I would have my next appointment in 5 to 7 weeks, and that in my next appointment they would evaluate if I was going to get my braces off. I got excited, but she tried to cut it by repeating: "Only to evaluate, not to take them off". But still, I was excited!! I might be getting them off 6 months earlier!! Can't wait till I have a retainer, haha :]

Next Appointment: February 23, 2010

PS> I'm sorry every post is like a freakin' novel. You don't have to read it all, it's just that I like remembering every little detail :]