The Dr. Gets Braces- Pics! UNBRACED! 10/20/06

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#16 Post by **blackcat20** » Sun May 21, 2006 12:58 am

Ive been getting that same annoying comment, from almost everyone: "you wouldnt have even known you needed braces...". But I noticed! So they werent that crooked, but I wasnt happy, and thats the important part. So congrats on making the choice, and ignore those that dont understand, they are not worth worrying about

#17 Post by **JumpTheDitch** » Wed May 24, 2006 4:43 am

I got a few of those comments, but not really in a nasty way. I think people were more surprised than disapproving. Like you say though, it was me that had to deal with the overbite and overjet, not them. There's no point being unhappy about an aspect of yourself if you can improve it! Nosey parkers anyway!

#18 Post by **CLAmom** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:48 pm

I get comments like this from time to time but most people seem to be more surprised and curious than anything else. There have only been a couple people who seemed "offended" by my braces. I don't know if that's the right word but they sure didn't seem to like it. What's up with that? Anyway, I'm pretty darn proud of myself for going through this (we all should be) 'cause it ain't easy!!!

#19 Post by **juf_84** » Sun May 28, 2006 1:19 am

I've had a few comments like that as well. I've also had someone say to me it's a very expensive cosmetic exercise.

Ultimately it is you that has to live with your smile and no matter what, when the braces come off and you have a beautiful smile that you're happy with, it will all be worth it.

#20 Post by **BraceMD** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:22 am

Okay, I had my 666 adjustment yesterday.

I am now wearing a horrible vertical configuration of elastics.

My goal is to get these braces off late August- I have to do a speech for a very large ceremony with hundreds of people attending, at my med school. It would be GREAT to have naked teeth for that. With my ortho's permission, I'm doubling up on the rubber bands to speed things up a tiny bit more. I also have a rubber band way in the back, from inside top to outside bottom, to continue working on my crossbite.

I'm happy with my teeth- the above pic doesn't do them justice. The vertical elastics snap my mouth right shut!

#21 Post by **CLAmom** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:35 am

Man, that has got to hurt!

#22 Post by **BraceMD** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:23 pm

I've not posted in quite a while, but I did want to say that they're FINALLY coming off! October 2 is the big day!

As I said before, I'd hoped to get them off by late August, but that didn't happen... my open bite was a bit difficult to fix.

I will be wearing some odd sort of retainer for the first few months- one that goes over your teeth kind of like invisalign?

I have always said that I would whiten my teeth the VERY DAY I get these braces off... and I am. I made an appointment to have whitening trays made a few hours after these braces are off. The ortho advised against it- my teeth will be sensitive after they yank the braces off. I don't care. I'll suffer any pain to whiten these teeth. I'm not going to post a current picture until I whiten, because... they're disgusting!

I'm at the point now where the braces just look out of place on my face. I'm glad I did it, but I'm tired of them.

A little more than a week and I'll be a naked woman (teeth, that is)!

#23 Post by **BraceMD** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:31 pm

My damon 3's have been off for 1 week!

Total treatment time: 16 months

Retention: Currently wearing a POSITIONER at night- a big huge mouthguard thing. It's not too bad... I will get a Hawley retainer next Monday.

Pictures:

Before front:

After Front (picture quality is poor- I apologize)

Notice the bleeding gums and weird gumline...

For some reason, my gums bled constantly for the first 4 days of having my braces off. My ortho said he'd never seen that before. It was painful and frankly, I couldn't brush very well.

And my gumline... notice how my gums are sort of uneven such that my teeth look different sizes. I don't like that at all. My ortho is going to do laser gumline contouring- I've known I would have that done. But I'm realizing that it's not going to totally correct the gumline- on some teeth there's just too much gum!

I've been slowly whitening... and it's helping immensly with my yellowed, dental-fluorosis teeth.

But all in all, I'm happy. Here's a front shot that I touched up to make my teeth look nice and white:

#24 Post by **Leslie022** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:02 pm

Beautiful!!!

#25 Post by **BraceMD** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:43 pm

Thanks for the cat compliment!

Yeah, I don't know what was going on with my gums, doesn't even make sense why they'd bleed like that.

It was just a bit frustrating- I was so excited to show off my naked teeth. But people would come up to me and say, "Oh, your teeth are so straight... wait, what's wrong with your gums?" It was just kind of anti-climactic.

#26 Post by **BraceMD** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:41 am

Almost 2 naked weeks... I've been whitening when I can and my teeth are starting to look better.

I'm wearing my positioner at night, and for one hour during the day, per ortho's orders. Boy was that thing painful last night! I don't usually notice it, but last night all of my front teeth were aching whilst in the positioner. I think it was because I had a LONGGGG day yesterday and my teeth were out of the positioner for about 21 hours (usually it's about 15) and they started to shift. Ouch!

#27 Post by **Drewjb007** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:07 pm

Congrats on getting your braces off! Your teeth look picture perfect. They are really white too! Hope everything goes well with your retainer.

Drewjb007

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The Dr. Gets Braces- Pics! UNBRACED! 10/20/06

They're coming off soon!

The Naked Teeth