Well the days leading up to my removal saw an increasing ammount of nerves on my part, it was the old butterflies in the stomach and to be honset i wasnt really sure why. Maybe it was because my teeth would be in that position forever (i hoped) or maybe it was because my treatment was now 100% down to me wearing my retainers im not sure. I knew i had to have me second molar removed sometime before debanding too so i scheduled this rather last minute for 2 days before my debanding.
Tuesday was extraction day and with my appointment not being untill mid afternoon i must say i was getting increasingly nervous by the minute. I arrived at the dentist a short time before my appointment and decided to sit in the car for as long as possible to avoid having to spend any longer in there than i had too. I hadnt long been in the waiting room when i was called in to find my rather enthusiastic dentist waiting for me after a general chat and asking her if she could do my check up as well as checking out a brown spot on my tooth, i was injected in two places with the numbing liquid. I would like to point out that this part is that i dislike the most and thus was really dreading, anyway it passed and whilst i was gonig numb my dentist did my checkup she also began explaining that because most of the tooth was made of a temporary filing / old filling the chances are it may crumble up when being removed or may even need cut up and removed in segments. Great, this definatley wasnt what i needed to be hearing. After some poking and prodding it was decided i was numb enough to start the extraction, after some pushing and pulling i was experiencing a little pain and i was asked if i would like some more pain relief to which i declined and just asked her to remove it, i was quite glad when it came out in one piece with not alot more pain.
It seemed to take forever for feeling to return and due to my increasing hunger i decided to eat some porridge while still numb, this went supprisingly well and feeling returned shortly after. Tuesday night is the night i go trampolining and i actually felt well enough to go
Wednesday - I was a little sore around the injection and extraction sites but all seems to be healing well and my nerves were still mainly about the upcoming debanding. That night i cleaned my teeth as best as i could and decided to stare at my teeth with braces for what seemed like an eternity. I finally managed to get to sleep sometime around midnight.
Thursday - debanding My 9am appointment ment i had to be up really early and drive into the city where i discovered they had now changed some of the roads to be busses only
I made it there with a few minutes to spare and took myself a seat. I'd been sitting there around 10 minutes past appointment time and finally i see my ortho walk in and exchnage a few words with her receptionist then dissapear into the back area. A short time later her assistant comes out to get me and my ortho has a quick check of my teeth and hands me a plastic bib. My ortho started by loosening off my bands, which wasnt too painful at all mabe around the extraction site but it was still bearable although she did have trouble with a few of them. Next came the removal of the brackets, she basically tugged at them with something and most of them came off with no problems although two or three of them were really quite painful and it felt like my teeth were going to be removed along with the brackets. but finally it was all done and my braces were removed intact for the most part. My ortho let me rinse my mouth and it sure felt strange running my tounge along my teeth with no metal. My ortho then got a tool to remove (it sort of sands) the glue and it wasnt too uncomfortable although i was aware of some bits coming off into my mouth. She then removed the leftover glue with a hand scraper and this was really the most uncomfortable bit as it seemed to be mainly inbetween the teeth it was used. After some more rinsing it was the part i had been dreading, the impressions. I've always been a gagger when it comes to these, mainly the uppers and so after one succesful lower impression which was done mainly by relaxing and breathing through my nose my ortho informed me that they actually needed to do two sets, one to make the reatiners off and one for study models. It was another lower one next and i even managed to get one upper one done before i began to have problems, my mind started racing and i was really aware of the tray and gunk on my upper palate and began to gag luckily it was over though.
I rinsed out my mouth and then got haned a mirror to look at my teeth, i thought they were cool.
My paperwork was written up and i was given my notes to take down to photography, whilst i was waiting i decided to have a brief flick through my notes and looking at my before photos were quite shocking, my buck teeth were awful, even looking back at my xrays from when i was first assessed aged 9 my buck teeth were quite obvious then. The photos involved alot of lip stretching as well as listening to the screams and howls of the small children coming around from the recovery room next door, i didnt get to see the final photographs but at last i was free. I walked out with a huge grin and walking around town to kill time before i had to pick my retainers, i found myself looking in anything reflective at my smile and teeth, im sure most people thought i was nuts.
The first thing i did when free was go and get a donut and i must say it was really nice to have something to eat and not end up with the majority stuck in my teeth, i then had to go back to the ortho to get my retainer.
It was 3 hours after my debanding and i was back sitting in the ortho's waiting room, my ortho appeared to be running late but then again there was nothing new there. When sitting there i saw a guy come up with some models and other bits and pieces which were actually my retainers etc, shortly after he went into the back i was called through and my ortho checked my retainers a lower essix and an upper hawley for those that are interested. They both fitted quite well and my ortho and i had a little chat and she said i dont suppose i need to tell you about how to keep them clean etc with the ammount of appliances i've had over the years. She hands me a sheet with some information on it and a blue sparkly box for my retainers and thats it i am done. My retainer check is in 3 months
I actually think that having so many things in my mouth actually helped as the hawley caused no lisping at all, which i was told was to be expected. The lower essix is as good as see through and you wouldnt even know it was there unless i pointed it out to you. Everything is generally comfortable, my only complaint is my teeth are a slightly yellow colour but as has been reccomended here i'm going to try some crest white strips, im not sure if i should go for premium or supreme or regular though.
I'll get the photos uploaded as soon as i can find my camera.
