Week 93, 94

...and I'm officially two weeks from being braces free! My, how fast have time flown by...in just two weeks, I'd be debraced, and starting the next part of my braces journey (retainers). Now that I'm so close to having the braces off, I'm feeling a little antsy. I just want them off now! Not two weeks later! But, I've survived this long with them already, another two weeks isn't really much of anything. Beside, the two weeks will go by fast, and before I know it, it'd be debracing day. I'm looking forward to the entire procedure--the bracket and glue removal, permanent retainers application, making molds for retainers, and being fitted for said retainers. And of course, my first dental cleaning without the braces in the way! It's gonna be a long day on Feb 8, but it will be all worth it. Plus, I'm celebrating with eating dinner out that night, so it'll be nice little end to my journey with braces.

No updates, because there isn't much to update. I'm literally just waiting to get the braces off, and my teeth looks and feels fine. Bite's wonderful, feels comfortable, and I've had no issues with my bite. No issues with my teeth. Just the usual frustrations with elastics, but even that is mitigated by the knowledge that I won't have to deal with them again in two weeks time. My braces aren't really acting as braces now anyway; they're just retaining my teeth in their current formation until braces are off.

So here's my list of things that I've learned with braces:

1) 100% worth it to do it. That's not to say that it will be easy, smooth sailing, or straight forward. But it is worth doing. I joke about my teeth being a $3700 smile, but in all seriousness, braces are absolutely worth it. The improvement in aesthetics and bite goes such a long way that I didn't know what I was missing out until during my treatment.

2) Braces will test your patience. With braces you have to relearn how to eat, brush, floss, talk and position your jaws. These can cause frustration (lot's of it too!). It's especially worse in the beginning, when you are just starting out. But all that will dissipate eventually. Your mouth will learn how to maneuver and function with braces in.

3) Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Borrowing this quote, because it captures braces related pain quite accurately. There will be pain with moving teeth (you're moving teeth through bones! It will hurt!), but the attitude and mindset that you have for the pain will determine how the pain affects you. I didn't really have too much pain throughout, but did take the odd Tylenol whenever I needed it. I didn't let it stop me from doing anything. Not even eating.

4) Speaking of eating...it's become an event with braces. You plan for it, and around it with braces on. Sometimes you don't bother because it's too much work. I imagine retainers will be the same.

5) Elastics are the devil. They just are. They're annoying, inconvenient, and frustrating at times. They snap off, they can be difficult to put on, and they add some pain to the treatment. You become a slave to them once you're prescribed to wear them. Posterior box configuration on the molars is the absolute worse (and I'd know. Been wearing them for 11 months now). But wear them religiously, and the results are amazing.

6) Things can get worse before they get better. Everything in braces is interim, so things can and do look way worse before they get better. Teeth don't always look align and straight throughout the journey and that's okay. As long as the teeth are where they need to be by debracing day, it's fine. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

7) You will develop better hygiene. It's just an inevitable side effect of having braces, really. One that I'm sure will make my dentist very happy about.

8) You're the only one who really cares about and obsess over your own teeth and braces. Well, and maybe your orthodontist too. But generally, nobody cares that you're in braces. Nobody.

Week 93

Week 94