And... they're off!

[sirwired]

Went in yesterday morning and got the accursed things removed from my teeth! I have to say, that's probably about the most painful single thing I've had done over the whole course of treatment (except for the jaw surgery, of course.) It started with little "tweaks" as each one had it's wings popped, then continued with the cement scrapers, and finished with my ortho grinding off the remaining cement with a (cold air powered) dental burr tool. At least I was used to the gag-inducing impression process by now. (Two upper impressions, and one lower.)

As an added bonus, the treatment room TV was playing re-runs of the Dukes of Hazzard instead of the inane talk shows it's usually tuned to... (if I'm forced to listen to one more vapid and content-free celebrity interview, it will be too soon! I won't miss that part of my treatment at all!)

But in the end, I walked out with nice, smooth teeth and my new upper Essix retainer. (And an appt. in a couple of weeks to pick up my Hawleys and a complimentary set of bleaching trays and bleach.) I immediately ate an apple, and then went to see a movie (Monuments Men, which both my wife and I enjoyed) and had an entire bag of popcorn.

I know you are all going to want to know how satisfied I am... and... I can't really tell you for a few years. Going in, my smile was cosmetically fine, except for some crowding relapse on the lower (which the braces did indeed fix). My intention going into braces was to improve my bite function and arrest my gum recession. I won't know if that worked for some time.

[Norrie]

Congratulations on getting them off, and many thanks for your honest recounting of how it all went. It's appreciated. And I am very glad that you had Beau and Luke there to get you through the process.

[Anna5]

Congratulations on your debanding sirwired! I am glad that your long journey finally came to an end. I am so happy for you! I hope time will tell you that everything is fine now! And for now you have all reason to be happy that your braces are finally off.

But... I hope you still remain on this forum, we don't want to miss you here!

[MrsCharisma]

Congrats!!!

[mapleleafman888]

Congrats! Post a photo for us to see if you would?!

[Matilda]

Congratulations!

[Gerib]

Congrats! I'm envious.

[Lorianne]

OMG sirwired! Congrats to you!! I hope it is everything you hoped for years down the road. How funny that you ate some "forbidden" foods right out of the gate! I miss apples and can't wait to eat one too. I don't even do well with cut up pieces. They are still too hard to eat so I don't bother. Also, thx for the movie review. Was wondering about that one.

[TheKT]

So happy for you, congrats! Please stick around, us newbies need you!!

[KatrinkaNoir]

Congratulations!

[JumpTheDitch]

Congratulations on your newfound freedom - pics??

[djspeece]

Congratulations, sirwired! Well done. I'll be interested to hear how your post-bracing retainer phase goes.

[Matilda]

Please stick around, us newbies need you!!

He must! He's one of the most knowledgeable members of this forum.

[klobird]

Well it's about time!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!

[chichi]

Congrats!!!