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...

Moving and changing orthos!

I'm moving back to Brisbane in 5 weeks ! I've been living in Melbourne for 4 years now and I have enjoyed it heaps but I am really looking forward to going home. I miss the warm weather and my family. My fiance and I moved here for his work, and then we had another opportunity to go back for work so we took it. The only downside to moving is changing orthos, and hairdressers :) So I had an appointment last week and I will have my final one with her in 4 weeks. She has been really great and is a no fuss kinda gal which is comforting really. She just gets in there and does what she has to do and doesnt take any shortcuts. She has set me up with ortho that she has met many times when travelling to conferences around the world so I'm glad I get to finish my treatment with someone recommended by my original ortho. She insists on getting regular updates and pictures along the way too which made me feel like she really cares. I had some power chains put on at my last appointment which have been a tad painful. I opted for the silver ones since the clear ones stain and I just cant be bothered worrying about that! They look kinda dirty now with the silver thing on there but Id rather have that than yellow stained ones thats for sure. Its amazing how quickly my teeth move when I get my wired changed too - its only been a few days and already I can feel a difference. My bottom teeth have been really stubborn but are finally giving into the pressure. If all goes to plan I only have them on for another 6 months! I cant believe its been a year this week. Its really flown past which isnt exactly a bad thing.

So here's a new pic... not much change really.

A few changes

Let me see... whats happened since the last post I made? Well, not alot really! Boring.

But at my last appointment which was a week ago my ortho took off some brackets them replaced them in slightly different spots on my teeth. This is to help with straightening them up even more I'm told. I had to get some x-rays before hand so my ortho could see the roots of my teeth to determine where to place the new brackets (it was all very technical). I had a look at my x-rays and it was amazing to see how far the roots of your teeth actually go. They are like 2cm long :\ Another cool thing was seeing the new bone in my palate - she said everything looked great and the bone grew in nicely. Thank god.

So as for the pain associated with taking off the brackets... it was a tad painful but more uncomfortable. The top ones hurt more than the bottom ones but she made me bite down and some hard cotton ball thing which did help with the pain. When she took them off my 2 front teeth I threw my leg up in the air because it hurt and it jolted my head so I freaked out! I almost kicked the light above me :) they all thought it was hilarious but me, not so much. They werent the ones getting massacred. So when they were aboutt to put on my new backets on my front teeth, the assistant dropped one of them on the floor. No big deal right? Wrong. They only had 2 brackets in the whole place that were for a front tooth. They spent a good 15 minuts looking on the floor for this thing but couldnt find it. Im sitting in the chair with those mouth expander things in to open my lips up and expose my teeth (i looked like i was from a horror movie) and I was trying to look as well from the chair... until I started to dribble, then I knew I had better sit back down. So eventually they opted to put a different type of bracket on there... one with a band to hold it in place so I have to be careful about staining now on that tooth. Pfft. It acually looks alot smaller and less noticeable than my normal brackets. But because they stain that would really annoy me because I like to eat and drink things that stain.

So after that I couldnt chew for a few days but it wasnt as bad as I thought. Last time when they put a thick wire on the bottom holy moly, that was hell. I couldnt eat at all for 2 days and what I did eat was mush. Not fun. But thats life with braces isnt it! I know it will be worth it. Only 8 months to go for me. I cant believe I had surgery over a year ago now... I must be getting old because time is going faster and faster. Remember when you were 10 and a year felt like 5. Ok I am getting old because I'm reminiscing...

New pic