brace free and loving it!

So I have been brace free for 19 days and here is a pic i took the evening that the braces were removed. My teeth were still sensitive that day and I got my retainers put in the next day.



My best friend still has not had the baby but, thanks to a few people and Steph too, I have decided to give her my East African name because I think it will make her special.


hugs and kisses!


Nabukay

The adventures of brace free Nabukay and the annoying retainer!!!

Its official!!! I am braces free and it is the most amazing thing to see your teeth afterwards that is unreal. I can't even believe that someone asked me if my teeth look different are you kidding me?! lol they look fantastic!

So I went in for debracing on the 4th of June and the ortho and oral hygienist were like: oh wait we made a mistake - your teeth are not ready. Dear ortho bloggers my face fell and I opened my mouth and no words came out. I was stupefied! Anyway I totally fell for it then they both relieved my intense panic by saying: we're just joking.

The actual process of snapping off the brackets is not that bad. Its quite quick unless some of them get stuck. I had the clear brackets which chip as they are trying to snap them off so that took a bit more time than the copper brackets would. Removing the bands on the teeth at the back is what hurts alot. Oh my gosh that was not so nice. But if you don't have sensitive teeth like me it should not be that bad. It was no where near as bad as my oral hygienist had said it would be.

So after removing the braces she had to scrape off the glue. I got to see my pearly whites when they had removed all the brackets and bands and they were beautiful! The glue makes your teeth feel like they are really really really dirty. They polished my teeth and I was off.

Everyone in my department at work was quite impressed. Even all the people who were always sceptical about braces. My teeth look so much better than i though they would its amazing.

So that evening i went to a friends house for dinner and tried to eat meat but it was still too painful. I got my retainer the next day which i was not happy about because it felt like I had appliances again. I got three retainers - two permanent ones at the backs of my front teeth - both upper and lower jaw. Then I also got a removable retainer which was too loose so I went back and now its tight again. The removable retainer does not stink or anything it looks totally different from any of the others that I have seen. It has a plastic plate and wire in the front. Seriously the only way to describe it is to post a pic which i will do soon. my digicam is freaking out at the moment - all the pictures i took in the last few weeks are not on my card but all the ones i deleted weeks ago are.

I can bite into things with my front teeth and its not sore but the back teeth are still really sensitive when I eat. I asked on friday if this is normal and they said it takes some time to get used to eating without the braces. On the plus side brushing my teeth now is so easy its unreal! And i don't need to be too careful about what i eat because there is no food getting stuck in my teeth. Sometimes people tell me I look nice but they can't put their finger on what's different, and some people notice right away. I am so glad I did this and I don't care if some people think it was a waste of time for doing it for cosmetic reasons because I am really proud of my teeth now. I was always so insecure about them but now i smile proudly and over all I look so much happier and better!

My love life is in limbo, i'm not sure at the moment. Work is okay I guess. I've decided to start looking for something else so I guess now I am calm. My Boss asked me if I'm okay today. It was weird because if i ever start talking to her about something bothering me she dismisses me immediately. If something is not about a task then she is all ears up to a point and if its about something else then she dismisses it. what the hell why does she ask if she is not willing to listen? Sometimes I hate work, shit. Well some parts of it anyway.

Oh and the best thing i was told today: one of my best friends is giving birth to a baby girl any moment and today she told me that I am the God mother of the baby and that they are going to name her after me so i should decide which name to give the baby - my first or second name. Couldn't believe it - its such an honour so which name should I give the baby - in your opinion - the East African name which is Nabukenya, or the English one which is Florence? bear in mind that we are from different cultures. thrilled all the same. Let me catch up with the rest of you all...

hugs!

painful teeth from adjustment

it turns out i had to go for another adjustment two days ago because i had a couple of spaces in between my teeth. i decided i don't want my braces off unless i am absolutely happy with my results ala jen and laura. apparently sometimes when the wire stretches out you get spaces. Well i didn't know i had about three i thought there was only one right in between my two front teeth. suffice it to say i was in alot of pain when i left.

i had a really nice oral hygienist but damn! some of these things we do are just barbaric. All because I wanted to have decent teeth and not like everyone else who needed it. I always forget just how painful adjustments are for me.

on the same morning some idiot from the ortho's office called me to ask if I have a daughter coming for treatment can you believe it? I've been there for a year and a half and this is the second time they call to ask if Florence is my daughter when that's my second name. This time i almost lost it cos they always mess up like that. I was jumping for joy thinking I would not have to see those ugly dogs at the ortho's office then i remembered that I will need to go in alot for the retainer.... not a nice thought.

oh well. less than 2 weeks to go can't beleive it. Here is a picture of me after my adjustment pretending my teeth were not sore.

official debracing date: 4 June 2009

At my last ortho visit the oral hygienist replaced the hook that broke off the last time. I'm still wearing four elastics but only at night so the discomfort is better. My teeth were really sore in the morning when I first took them off but they are better now.

so I have two dates: I will be debraced on the 4th and get the retainer on the 5th. I'm terrified of getting debraced I have a really low pain threshold and that's all I think about. oh man totally not looking forward to that. It doesn't help that everyone else that had their braces off in this month had the copper brackets and not the clear ones like me.

Now that's out of the way I can't believe how many ortho friends are only friends now! Laura, Jen and wired lady all had braces taken out at the same time. How cool!!!!! check out their blogs for the latest.

Oh and I can't believe how much my teeth in the bottom jaw have moved since I started wearing double elastics again its incredible. the bottom teeth have really moved back alot, no wonder I wake up with a toothache....

my teeth are doing strange things

So I have a confession to make: one of the flimsy hooks they put on the front of my bottom teeth for the bands fell off during the weekend. I think it broke on Saturday. You know what's its like when you're eating something feel some foreign non edible piece of something in your mouth? Well i pulled it out and it was one of the hooks.

I called the emergency number of my ortho on Sunday afternoon I think it was, to no avail. This whole week i have been in 8 hour lectures for this intense project management course that I am doing and it finishes on the other side of town from my ortho. I'm always too drained to rush there because I have to rush to the office to catch up on some things.

So its been like six days and I have only been wearing one set of elastics and not two as I am supposed to for the second configuration. Tomorrow is the final day of the course so I'll pass by the ortho once I'm done.

But the strange thing that is happening with my teeth now, they are almost perfect except that i have two gaps which I did not even notice, people pointed them out to me so I need to show the oral hygienist when I go next week cos I have to go for two week adjustments now.

The first gap is the one between my top two front teeth - laura or steph what are they called? the teeth right at the front? anyway there is a gap between those two again, it keeps opening. I guess its okay but there is a very random one between two of my teeth on the bottom jaw at the right which is scary. Holy, when I saw that gap i was wondering where the heck it had come from and also actually lots of other gaps.

well update you next week. In the meantime let me check on y'all.

ps. today some stupid B*&^%h i work with told me she would never get braces when she is 30, then i looked at her teeth and told her they need work and that its the best decision I ever made cos it taught me discipline. She didn't respond but even if she did, you all would also think she is strange. She's told me before that braces are not cool. Today i told her that they turn men on (at least in my experience) and she was like: "really" and her eyes expanded.....

miserable and also sensitive teeth

Today I had to break up with someone that I really care about. It was so hard. Why does it have to be so hard? God I forgot what it feels like when you break up with someone.

My teeth have been really sensitive lately so last night I didn't wear the elastics. I promise I'll wear them tonight!

one more adjustment and i'll be debraced!

its true!!!

I went for my last adjustment two weeks ago which was not too painful, obviously there was a little pain it was not the worst. Initially I was told the braces would come off this month (March) but even I did not believe it.

I was wearing elastics for months and could not see a difference. Last month I was wearing double elastics, well actually I only started wearing them at that adjustment and they were freakin painful. That was the point I started to see a small difference. I also got pink 'donuts' or elastics like the ones Michelle used to have and they are utterly cute! Whenever I smile people notice them and call them cool. They are too cute will post a pic soon.

Anyway at my last adjustment they put two more hooks on the bottom front teeth for me to wear elastics in a totally different configuration which took some getting used to. Its quite tight but after the first night I noticed the difference its incredible how quickly my teeth are shifting. Well the aim is to get my back teeth to shift back which is happening sort of slowly. I have what they are saying will be my last adjustment on April 9th and then in may the braces will be removed.

I always look at the teeth of people that have had braces and every now and then I see someone whose teeth I don't think look that great. My bottom teeth have shifted a bit and are no longer perfect. I think this started before I got the braces but I reckon they can be fixed now and I told the oral hygienist and she said we can look at it.

I can't believe it - Ive had the braces since October 2007 and I'm attached to them now, not sure if I am ready to let go. Wow, lol.