Retainers--1 week later

I've been in my Essixes for a week now and I thought I'd update my progress. Everything is going well. I noticed the other day that one of my front top teeth moved a bit. Before I got my retainer molds, Dr. J shaved my two front teeth down to look even. Now they aren't anymore, and I have no idea how that happened, since the retainer keeps my teeth still. Argh!

Caring for my retainers: Let me just say it's easier than caring for my braces! It's annoying sometimes having to pop them out when I eat and drink anything other than water, but I am sick right now and not eating much anyway. Every morning I brush my retainers, and every night I soak them in Polident Retainer cleaner. This stuff rocks. It's meant for Hawleys, but it gives the Essix ones a good cleaning too. It's mainly baking soda. It keeps the odor and plaque away.

I can feel my teeth pushing against the retainers sometimes, and it gives me this weird sense of satisfaction to, I don't know, restrain them back. You're not going anywhere, suckers! Bwaa ha ha. They're trying go go back to the way they used to be, you know. But I won't let them. So there. I wonder how long it will take for my bones and muscles to give up and let my teeth settle in their new position. I do have stubborn bones, you see. Just like the rest of me.

I have one more week of wearing them full-time and then I can switch to night time only. But I probably won't. I'll most likely pop them in during the afternoon and evening too, for another month or so. A few extra hours here and there can't hurt.

In a couple of weeks I'm going to the dentist for a cleaning. I really need one!

A note about flossing since getting my braces off...it is so freaking easy and quick! I can floss in 3 seconds. It's awesome.

Retainers

I have the clear ones that look like Invisalign. I heard the wire Hawleys are better, but these are fine so far. Up close, my teeth look like they're encased in Saran Wrap, but you wouldn't notice from a distance. They feel okay, not very bothersome. I was expecting a lot worse.

So that's basically it. I go back to Dr. J in April for a recheck. I go to my surgeon Dr. C in a couple of weeks for another recheck, and to discuss shaving excess jaw bone down on my left side, to fix my crooked-face-itis.

Now, on to the joy of retainers. I wear them full-time for 2 weeks, then every night for...well, the rest of my life. I eat a lot due to my consistent low blood sugar, like every 2-3 hours, so this is going to be a pain in the rear. Ah well, I've been through worse, right? Remember those two weeks of not eating at all? I do. Vividly. This is a walk in the park, comparatively.

Hope you're all doing well!

I never was good at predictions...

I AM BRACE-FREE!




Those little problems, like the tiny gaps, they were able to fix right there in the office, in a few minutes, with a tight power chain. Then Dr. J did some more reshaping.

Getting the brackets knocked off was a breeze, but the scraping...oh my, the scraping. Ouch. Not painful as much as plain uncomfortable.

I got my molds done for my retainers and I pick them up tomorrow. So I have 24 hours of being brace and retainer free and it feels lovely. :)

My smile isn't perfect and it never will be without thousands of dollars worth of veneers and crowns and whitening, but it is a vast...VAST improvement over what my teeth looked like 2 years ago.

I can't believe it's almost over!

Just a prediction...

The braces are NOT coming off tomorrow. No one has told me this, and I haven't been checked by a professional, but my teeth have moved in the past few days. They were perfect on Thursday, but not anymore. I have small gaps, and my bite feels a little off. I don't want my braces taken off until my teeth are as perfect as humanly possible.

Oh well. Maybe next week, after a few days with a power chain. I will update tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 10:00am

Yes, folks. That is the day these braces come OFF. Yippee!

Dr. J actually wanted to take the suckers off today because my teeth are ready, but I had time constraints, and four other people had gotten their braces off this morning and they were backed up with retainers, so we put it off a week. That's okay. I did almost two years...I can do one more week. I have some flashy metallic blue ligatures on for the week, so I can go out in style.

Dr. J also shaved some of my teeth down today so they all match up and stuff. It didn't hurt at all, but I hate the smell of burning teeth. Ew.

Six. More. Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!