After 19 months of treatment – the day was finally here. I ate my bagel for breakfast thinking, "this will be the last time I have to pick the food stuck in the back teeth!" 

At my last appointment, they had given me some Atropine tablets to take one hour before the appointment to help dry up some of the saliva in my mouth. I had to take half-day off from work since my appointment was at 1:00 p.m. I arrived exactly on time and there was only one other person in the waiting room. Nothing like the hustle and bustle of those morning appointments. I was led to the treatment area, where I laid back in the chair and the assistant began taking the rubber bands off.

But then she asked if I was concerned about anything. I did mention that I seem to have some spacing issues still and wondered if this was indeed the right time to take them off. She agreed and decided to call in my orthodontist to have a look. He looked at my chart, then in my mouth, had me open and close a few times and then declared, “Nope, today is the day.”

I was excited and apprehensive all at the same time. He began by removing the arch wires, which actually took some hard tugs to get them out of the back brackets. [Note: I was not watching in a mirror, so I can only tell you what it felt like, not what exact instruments he used]. Then he picked up an instrument to begin removing the brackets from the teeth. He just began snapping them off, it was loud and some places did hurt, but in mere moments, they were all off and I was left with a gritty feeling in my mouth. Next he picked up a different instrument, something akin to a drill and began scraping off the glue. That was loud, and when he got close to the gum line (on the bottom teeth especially) it was a bit painful. All the while, the assistant used a suction tube to remove the debris and make sure not too much ended up in my mouth. After he was done, he left for the assistant to complete the process.

First she rinsed my mouth with water. Then she told me she was using the same instrument the orthodontist had just used, only with a rubber end to help smooth out the teeth surface. Other than being loud, this part did not hurt at all. Once she finished, I was finally able to get my first look at my new teeth. She let me get out of the chair and go over to the sink to rinse again and look in the mirror. When I smiled for the first time, I was blown away! I had tried to imagine what they would look like without the brackets and wires but I couldn’t do it. They were so good looking! I immediately begin jumping for joy. Another assistant commented that was one of the best reactions she’d seen in a while!

I went back to the chair where she gave my teeth a polish to get them nice and shiny and then Dr. Fristoe came back. He told me instead of giving me retainers to wear right now; I was going to wear an Ortho-Tain device for the next month. They were going to take advantage of the “loose” feeling my teeth still had and try to help close the spaces I had commented on earlier. [Note: he had already considered this course of treatment prior to me questioning it that morning] It looks like a small blue mouthguard like you wear for sporting activities. I am supposed to “exercise” my mouth by squeezing and releasing it for 4-5 times a day and also wear it to bed. Here is a link to the site: http://www.ortho-tain.com/interim.html.

They took one more x-ray and then I was ready to go. The whole process only took 40 minutes. My next appointment is in 4 weeks and at that time they will give me retainers (they haven’t decided if it will be permanent or removable) and also take my “after” photos.

I am so happy I did this – they look great and feel awesome. I keep running my tongue over them. And I am smiling all the time!