Wednesday, January 9, 2019

...and just like that, I have a debracng date!

I went to my orthodontist appointment today, and it turned out that it was my second to last "regular" appointment with the office today. I am now officially in the last 30 days of my braces journey, and my debracinging date is set for Feb 08! Funnily, it would've been Feb 07, which would make it exactly 22 months...but alas, I have some work obligations that day that I can't reschedule, so alas, it was not meant to be. So all in all, by the time I debrace, I would've been in braces for 22 months and 1 day (well, not really a full day. My appointment is bright and early at 0840, but still.). And what a journey it's been.

And with that, I can now say that I'm in the final stretch of the process, which feels really damn good. Though now that I have an actual debracing date, I can't wait for the next 29 days to just fly by, so that I can go to my debracing appointment and get the braces off! Antsy isn't the word I'd use to describe what I'm feeling now, though I anticipate that I would feel more antsy closer to the date. Eager anticipation is a more apt descriptor right now.

My appointment today was really short and sweet. The orthodontist that I see wasn't there today, so another orthodontist who also works at the office covered for him. The tech that I had seemed to be relatively new at her job--she wasn't bad at what she was doing, and she didn't do anything wrong that I noticed. She was just slow, that's all. But there's no crimes to doing things slowly and surely. The tech took off the powerchains and wires, and then waited for the orthodontist to come and do his assessment. The main thing for today's agenda was to evaluate for debracing.The orthodontist had me bite down a few times, looked at my teeth, had me bite down a few more times, and declared that I was good for debracing for next appointment. He did put a bend in the wire by my upper midline, to bring up one of my central incisors a bit, to match with the other one. I honestly can't remember which, I think it's the left, but it's so insignificant that had he not mentioned it, I probably wouldn't've cared enough to do anything about it. But hey, since he insisted, I'm not going to say no. I am also to continue with my nightly elastics routine, which I expected. I did ask if I can stop the elastics, but I didn't think I'd be granted that. No harm in asking though! But at this point, you can ask me to do anything with my braces, and I'd probably say yes. I mean, I can do keep up and maintain any routine for the next 30 days if it means braces comes off right after.

I asked the tech for more details about the next appointment--what will happen, what to expect, and the length of the appointment. She told me that it was actually two appointments--one for the actual debracing, and one to pick up the retainers. The debracing bit will be about one hour in length, and it will consist of physically removing the braces--removing the wires, powerchains, and of course, the brackets. The remaining glue will be polished off. I will be fitted with a permanent retainer for both arches, so one for top and bottom, and impressions for retainers will be made. Also, photos and XRays will be taken. Then I will come back to pick up the retainers, though I don't think I'll leave the office waiting room during that time. My debracing appointment is at 0840, and they've got me picking up the retainers at 1030. Assuming the debracing takes one hour, I'll just hang out in the waiting room for 45 minutes or so. It just seems rather pointless to go anywhere during that time. And then after all that, I'll be done!

Well not done done, but I won't have another braces adjustment appointment ever again. It'll just be retainer checks for the next 12 months, and that'll be that when it's done. And yes, I've already planned for dinner out to celebrate on that day!

So...here's to the next 30 days going by fast!

These puppies are going off in 30 days. By this time next month, I'd be braces free and onto retainers!

2 comments:

  1. Woohoo, congratulations! I do feel bad for you having to have permanent retainers on both arches, though. Flossing is a pain, and I only have the lower. Hard to imagine having to use floss threaders for the rest of my natural life, so I will probably have it removed at some point down the line. Also, the Essix retainers are a PITA. In some ways, I miss braces, as at least I could eat in them! I look forward to reading about your debracing appointment and seeing your "after" photos. You have come a long way, and I have enjoyed following your journey.

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  2. Thanks! I look forward to braces removal, although I'm not too sure if I'm equally as excited about retainers...haha!

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Life after braces