Christina's Story

Alright, it's the day -- the BIG DAY. The day that every person dreams of from the beginning of treatment I'm getting my braces off!! It's the day before the BIG DAY and I'm sitting at work filled with excitement. Every time I stare at myself in the mirror, I smile and try to imagine my mouth without all the metal in it. The excitement is just overwhelming.

Okay today is the day…I wake up early due to my excitement about being brace free. I arrive on time and Nicole, the front desk assistant, greets me and ask me if I'm excited about getting my braces off. I just reply "you have no idea." The assistant calls me back and I take a seat in the lounge chair and prepare myself for removal. I ask the assistant if she minds if I watch with a mirror. She said it'll be no problem. So I grab the mirror and watch intently as she removes the pink power chain. She then clips the metal ligatures that I had around a few teeth for a tighter adjustment. She then removes the arch wire and I'm staring at my mouth for the last time with the metal brackets.

She then takes this instrument that has a rubber stop on one side and a pick looking thing on the other and grabs onto the metal band on my back molar and with one closing of the instrument, the band is gone!! Just like that…it seemed so much more difficult than it was. She then proceeded onto the other 3 bands and viola, the bands were gone.

She then took this other instrument and grabbed each bracket and they seemed to just melt off with the instrument. She then allowed me to brush my teeth. WOW what a wonderful feeling, but strange, not having the metal there when I close my mouth. I brush brace free for the first time and it feels so weird and I cannot stop smiling into the mirror…even though there are clumps of cement still on my teeth from where the brackets used to be.

I head back to my chair and the assistant then uses the instrument that has the rubber stop and pick on it again and starts to scrap the cement off my teeth. Of anything, I think that this was the worst part of the removal…it feels like fingernails on a chalkboard, well at least to me. I was so afraid that she was going to break my teeth off in the process. After about 5 minutes of scraping, she's done and I run my tongue over my teeth and they feel smooth and slick and weird…once again. I keep looking at my teeth in the mirror, to enjoy my new smile!
It was like only yesterday that I was getting them put on. Me and my braces have been through a lot together. From eating nothing but soft food in the beginning to using a syringe to rinse out during my deployment. I was thinking, "man, I'm gonna miss my braces," but I look in the mirror again and think other wise.

The orthodontist then comes over and looks at my teeth and begins the drill. Well, it has a bur on the end to remove the rest of the cement off of my teeth. He then uses the same drill, but with a rubber piece on it and rubs it over all of my teeth, almost like he's polishing my teeth. He then says you can go and brush your teeth. I walk over to the sink and smile and my teeth are black….ewwww. I brush really good and they are white again, thank goodness.

Time for a tray with the mold stuff in it to make my top retainer. Not that bad…watermelon flavor. I sit patiently while I wait for the mold to harden, I don't think anything can bother me, my braces just came off. She pulls the tray out of my mouth and I can go rinse out and wash around my mouth. I return to my seat and she lets me know that I'm going to get a permanent retainer on my bottom front teeth and then I'll get to get my new pictures taken. She fits the wire to fit my bottom teeth and proceeds to cement them in. No problem..5 minutes and I'm finished. I then walk to a back room where they take my new pictures..brace free!!! I smile big, like I've never smiled before. The assistant then asks me how old I am and I tell her 24. She gives me the option of a bag of candy or a bottle of wine. I'm not really into candy, so I accept the wine instantly. I'm sure I'll need it later when my teeth are sore!!!

The orthodontist then comes to me with my retainer…it's clear and plastic looking and he asks me to pop it on my top teeth. WOW tight fit, and I'm told to wear for 24 hours a day, only taking it off to eat and brush. He then handed me a purple case with my name on it, to hold my retainers in them while I eat and brush. He told me never to leave it in a napkin or not in the case, because it can accidentally be thrown away.