Braces are OFF!

Holy moly - I cant believe the day finally came to have my braces removed! It felt short... but long if that makes sense. I would definitely do it again though. Getting the brackets off wasnt that bad, it was the cleaning and buffing and teeth shaping that was hard to take. More so because of the sensation as there wasnt much pain at all. When i finally got to look in the mirror I was so shocked to see teeth without something covering them, it was bizzare! It took me a moment to realise how straight they were because I had actually thought they wouldnt look as good as they do. They felt super slimey at first, like i had flour on them or something and they were all furry like i hadnt brushed for 7 years. That wore off though after a few hours of getting used to them though. I got my retainers done as well on the same day which look more like invisalign then a retainer and you cant even see them when I have them in which is awesome. When I compare pics of myself before and after I cant even believe the transformation - its amazing how a few mm's here and there cant totally change the shape of your face! Here are some comparison shots...

New blog

I just thought I'd let you know that I have created a new blog - its called things i love and things i hate. It's me talking crap really. I predict having 0 followers :-) but please prove me wrong.

I can't believe I'm posting this but... I get my braces off in 4 weeks and 2 days! I can't even believe it. I will have had surgery 2 years ago next week. Where does the time go? I must be getting old...
I am planning on taking some pics after they come off and posting a series of about 10 images to show the trasformation I have gone through. Hopefully this will help others going through the same thing or about to go through it to show there is light at the end of the tunnel! I had my doubts thats for sure.
I have been wearing my rubber bands religiously for the past few weeks to ensure they is NO WAY my ortho can extend my time in them. I have to wear 4 of them at the moment - they go from the inside out on both sides at the back and in a triangle at the front on both sides. It doesnt look pretty but hey, I dont even care right now! Getting given a date to have them taken off has really put me in a good mood. I'm usually just thinking to myself 'oh another 12 weeks or so', but now I can do a countdown. Awesome.
Ill be back in a few weeks to give a final overview of my experience along with pics. I can hardly wait...

Um...

I am alive and well, I'm just super slack at posting in my blog :)

So its been like 18 months since surgery now, I've only got 7 weeks in braces left, and I've moved back to Brisbane. Oh and I got engaged! So nothing has really happened since my last post. Pfft!

So I changed orthos and its cost me another $1200 and 2 months in braces but I'm happy with the new plan my new other has given me. He is keen on getting my bite perfect whereas my old ortho was ok with settling with less than perfect. Whats another 2 months when you've had braces for 20 months anyway? Well at the moment a long time actually because I could have them off by now! Ah well. Ive been wearing bands for about 10 months now to get my bite in place. One side is being stubborn and isnt conforming like the other side by the bands are slowing doing their job. I just need to close a small gap in my bite then I'm done. Wow. Seems like only last year I had surgery and not 2 years ago. That expander is a long forgotten memory now - thank god! What a hideous peice of shit that was. Bit it did its job and for that I'm grateful to it. But the day that thing came out I wanted to burn it and send it to hell.

My front teeth are getting less and less sensitive which is great. They still arent normal but they may never be which I have accepted. I can now however bite into a steak burger without feeling weird about losing a tooth. Still, the weird sensation is still there to some degree.

I have to admit I am not that diligent with flossing... purely because its a serious chore. Threading it through the wire then flossing the tooth then pulling it out without the thread getting snagged on one of my many hooks is seriously the most annoying and frustraing thing in the world. I do admit its pretty satisfying having a fully flossed mouth. I sound sick saying that but my other braced mates will know what I'm talking about hopefully!

Well thats it for today. I hope to keep up regular posts now until debracing and possibly beyond. So here is a new pic to show my slight bite change...