Month 8: I Got My Braces Off!

(February 20, 2017)

They're OFF!!!!! Omfg I can't believe it!! 

So I knew that I might be getting my braces off today, but I didn't wanna get too excited about it cuz you never know, right? Lemme give you the backstory...

Six weeks ago my ortho basically says to me, "After 30 years, they might be kicking us out of this office building soon. They wanna make more room for retail shops... Let's see if we can't get you out of these braces before that happens!" So he doubles up on the power chains (my front lower 4 teeth) and gives me a new rubber band configuration. It hurt like hell! Now, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that you can't just rush teeth like that. But maybe he wasn't rushing - maybe it just sounded like he was rushing. :P

Lemme find a picture... this one doesn't show the gap, but it does show off my awesome rubber bands.

Not my favorite configuration.

The goal was to close up the gap I had between my lower left #2 and #3. I went back 3 weeks later and he said everything looked good, and we set up today's appointment to get the braces taken off.

However, there's this slight gap between my upper and lower teeth on the left side - you can see it here. (In the picture, it's on the right side.)

Definitely not terrible, but visible.

It's fine, right? I thought he might want to fix it up all perfect, but nah, whatever. Which is fine with me. It doesn't bother me and I don't think it'll affect my bite. So there you go, no more braces! :)

My (omg) last 2x2 picture?

MONTH 8 - no more braces!

I made this video today. :D Yay! I think I'll make another one soon to show you guys my new retainers - and to let you hear how I sound when I wear them. I'm totally dreading it...

And then came the retainers... 

Pain: Normally, ZERO, since the brackets no longer rub against the inside of my scarred up cheeks! However, when I EAT I bite my left cheek. So then it's like, I don't know, a 3 when that happens? Hopefully, it's because my cheek is still swollen from being rubbed-up-on by my brackets. Maybe it'll chill after a few days of non-rubbing??? Otherwise I'm getting those scars cut off.

Numbness: Bottom gums numb on the outside portion. Chin area and right side of jaw very very slightly tingly.

Discomfort: When I eat, I still feel like there's a "shelf" of food in my mouth - and there kinda is. Basically, food is getting stuck between my cheek scars and my bottom teeth. I don't know what to do about that. Maybe nothing?

Weight: Meh, normal now.

(Black items stayed the same as the last post. RED items changed slightly.) 

~m