Dental Braces Forums - Blogs - lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/ Adult Teeth Braces Forums Discussing Dental Braces, Invisalign, Ibraces, Teeth Whitening, TMJ, and More! en Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:21:28 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Dental Braces Forums - Blogs - lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/ <![CDATA[It's Over!]]> http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/its-over-2466/ Wed, 30 May 2012 03:51:39 GMT Last Friday was the BIG DAY! I arrived at my orthodontist's office bright and early, at 10:30am, and was seen right away (no time for any freak outs, yay!)

Getting the actual braces off was the shortest part of the process, and took about 10 minutes. He popped each bracket off with a plier-like tool, and wiggled the molar bands off (I thought this was going to be painful, but it wasn't) and just like that, no more braces!

Then we went on to scraping off all the left over glue, and polishing my teeth, which took about 45 minutes. From there, I was off to get a cleaning, and then wait for my temporary retainer.

My temporary retainer took a few hours to make, and looks a lot like an invisalign tray. I'll be wearing it 24/7 for the next two weeks, until my actual retainer (the kind with a metal wire) comes in. I'll probably make a separate retainer post once I get it.

Sitting for lots of scraping, buffing and polishing. That glue sure is hard to get off!


And here I am, in all my braces-less glory! (don't judge my hair, it was super humid, and I had just sat in a dental chair for an hour!)


And then later that night, making crazy faces for the benefit of my facebook friends. Can you see my retainer? Didn't think so!



... and just for some perspective, My starting point - day one in braces!


It was definitely a weird feeling to lose my braces after almost two years (21 months) in them. My teeth felt big and slimey in my own mouth ... but that didn't stop me from chowing down on taffy, carrots, mustard, gummy worms and pita chips that weekend! Lots of crunchy and sticky food was had.&nbsp;

I don't know if I'll every really get used to having "normal" teeth. My way-less-than-perfect teeth have always been a huge part of who I am, and it's almost surreal to see this set of straight teeth in my mouth. For the past few days, I have been exploding into giggle fits when I catch sight of them in the mirror. I just cant quite believe that the journal is finally over.
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]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/its-over-2466/ We have a removal date!!! http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/we-have-removal-date-2427/ Mon, 14 May 2012 18:52:27 GMT After 21 long months, I finally have my removal date!!! The bracket on one of my front teeth came un-glued last week, and I had to wait a whole... After 21 long months, I finally have my removal date!!!

The bracket on one of my front teeth came un-glued last week, and I had to wait a whole week to go in and have it fixed, as my ortho was on vacation. I went in on Friday, and was expecting to be told that it would push my removal back by at least another month.

My jaw almost hit the floor when he said "you know what, lets just make your removal appointment" He said that I've had no movement (even my front tooth that got un-glued stayed relatively in place) so we were good to go!

Judgement day will be May 25th. My first foods will probably be: gum, raw baby carrots, pizza, and pasta with red sauce.

Did I miss anything? What are you guys dying to eat once you get your braces off?? ]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/we-have-removal-date-2427/ The waiting game http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/waiting-game-2333/ Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:28:14 GMT It's been a while! Honestly, I've had nothing of interest to post in the last few months. I feel like I'm stuck in a holding pattern.

December - We put an e-link (similar to a powerchain) on top to squish everything together and hold it in place. We also tweaked the bottom wire.

January - We took the e-link off, and also everything else that was causing movement. The plan was to wait a month, and if nothing shifted significantly, we could take the braces off.

February - We noticed that the gap - yes that pesky gap - had opened up again on the top. So the e-link was put back on (ouch) to close everything back up.

March - I have an appointment this coming Tuesday, and everything will be taken off again. We'll wait another month, to see if anything moves, and if not, it's bye, bye braces! (Even if "the gap" opens up again, my otho is done trying to fix it. He offered to put a little bonding material on one of the teeth, and call it a day. Sounds like a plan to me!)

Wish me luck! ]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/waiting-game-2333/ Smiling with Teeth http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/smiling-teeth-2229/ Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:06:15 GMT I've never been one to smile with teeth. Never ever. My teeth were always crowded, and it just wasn't pretty (lol) so I didn't do it. Now that my teeth have straightened out, it's been/will be a huge adjustment.

While on vacation (to San Francisco!!) in December, we snapped quite a few pictures. I was surprised to catch myself smiling with teeth way more than usual (anything more than zero is more than usual) so I figured I would post and share my smile with you!


me and the boy


tasting wines!

What a huge difference a year in braces can make!

My next appointment is in a few weeks, and hopefully I will get the thumbs up to make my de-banding appointment! ]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/smiling-teeth-2229/ 16 Months! http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/16-months-2217/ Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:03:18 GMT It's been a while since my last post! November was boring, and nothing changed much (just some minor tweaks by my perfectionist ortho), but this month has been more eventful. I had my first December appointment on 12/15, where my ortho decided that one of my bottom teeth needed to be turned slightly. He couldn't get the spring on it the normal way, so we had to MacGyver it a little. We also discovered that another one of my bottom brackets was busted. Of course, the one next to my original busted bracket. (back most brackets on my right side) No biggie. He figured that it was so late into my treatment, that it probably wouldn't matter, so we left them busted.

About a week later, I noticed a change in my bottom bite. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but closer inspection revealed that one of my bracketless teeth was turning. (UGH) So, after a mini panic attack in my bathroom, I had to go back in and have it checked out.

As I had suspected, I needed to have new brackets put back on the two bracket-less teeth. But he didn't have any more ceramic brackets, so I had to settle for metal (I believe my exact words were "at this point, I don't care") Getting the ligature on that last tooth (the one that had turned a bit) was torture. My entire bottom row of teeth was sore for a few days ... but it was worth it, because that little guy is now back in place!

My next appointment is in mid January, and hopefully I get the thumbs up to make my debanding appointment then ... unless my ortho finds something else that he wants to tweak!


You can see my two metal brackets on the left side, and my ghetto rigged torquing spring on the right



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]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/16-months-2217/ Smile Pictures! http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/smile-pictures-2139/ Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:38:50 GMT I think it's finally hit me that I'm really in the final-final-final stages of braces, and I'm starting to freak out a little about getting them off. I know I'm going to be all about my retainer, so I really have nothing to worry about ... but my braces have been a HUGE part of my life for the past 14 months! It's weird to think that within a few months, there will be nothing holding my teeth in place!

In progress news, my last remaining gap is closing up nicely! It's only been a couple of weeks, but I can already see a difference. That e-link is really doing it's job!

I also realized that it had been a while since I posted some smiles pictures, so I decided to take some tonight. I took a silly one so you could see all of my teeth when I smile/laugh big. (For added effect, I will also include the first smile picture that I ever took!)

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What a big difference a year can make! ]]> lileepers http://www.bracesreview.com/forums/blogs/lileepers/smile-pictures-2139/