One Year Anniversary

It's been a year since I got my braces off. I'm still being really good with my retainers and wearing them every night. I'm a good girl :)

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!" ^-^