I was originally supposed to go in next Tuesday, but I start training for a new job (woot woot!) on Monday, and I REALLY didn't want to miss training and jeopardize the job. Luckily, they were able to get me in today! I get there at 10:30 a.m. and wait for MAYBE three minutes. I'm settled in the usual chair with my usual tech, but I'm dancing around like I have ants in my pants because I'm SO nervous the ortho will change his mind.
The office is REALLY busy, so it takes him about five minutes to come over (which felt like an ETERNITY to me). He comes over, checks my bite, tells me, "Girl, your bite looks SO good! Let's get these things off!" I wanted to hug him, but I refrained. 
Now, my teeth tend to be a little cold-sensitive, so I have been brushing with Sensodyne since Christmas. I also took two Aleve about 30 minutes before my appointment to hopefully head off any pain or discomfort (especially since I have ceramics on top). My metal bottoms came off first -- what a breeze! Thirty seconds max, and my bottoms were free. Then came the tops. I'm not gonna lie -- I was really nervous about those. However, I don't know if it was the fact that I took Aleve or if the tool and tech were just THAT good, but the tops came off without a hitch as well. There was more pressure involved, but no pain whatsoever. I rinse, swish and spit and my lips hit my teeth for the first time in almost two years. WOW!!! My mouth almost felt empty, but it was awesome!
I reminded my tech about my sensitivity to cold. She said she would scrape as much of the glue off by hand as she could so she wouldn't have to use the drill for too long. She did a GREAT job, and I never even flinched from the drill (though I think if she WOULD have had to get all the glue off with the drill I might have been a little more uncomfortable). She went over each tooth twice and thoroughly checked my gumline for leftover glue. Since I was getting a bonded retainer on the bottom, she went ahead and cleaned my bottom teeth while she was down there. More swishing and spitting followed, and there in the mirror were my shiny straight teeth!
They felt so SMOOTH. And OH MY GOSH I am doing some at-home whitening as soon as possible. I would also like to get some bonding done in the future, but that's WAY down the road. Anyway, I digress! 
Back to the chair! So, they take the molds for my upper retainer. I HATE that part, but luckily I remembered to breathe through my nose (I had to concentrate pretty hard on that) and it wasn't so bad. I almost lost it at the end, though...anyway, I was surprised -- my ortho ended up giving me an Essix retainer after all!
I'm a little concerned about the Essix being able to keep my canines in place, but I'm willing to give this a go. They prepped and placed the bottom retainer (which tasted NASTY :feelsick:, and was probably the most time-consuming part other than the polishing). No additional retainer for the bottoms other than the bonded, so yay! I have to wear my retainer 24/7 for two months, then at night only for a month before my checkup in April. I got a certificate for a free professional photo session and free 8x10, too. And a pretty pink sparkly retainer case. So that's it! I can't believe the transformation. I will post pictures tomorrow (as I'm pretty exhausted right now!) but it was such an experience...and I am SO glad that I decided to quit my adult whining and just get the job done. And I did it!
No more
I'm all about 
I can't stop smiling these days; it's SUCH a relief to be rid of those vampire teeth and that awful overbite. Sooo...here we go:
