I've been on here pretty much since I was braced (February 18, 2016), but I've rarely commented, content to be a creeper and find comfort in the fact that I'm far from the only twenty-something who's going through a second, very expensive puberty.
My issues were relatively mild, all things considered (although aesthetically horrific to me lol). Crowding of my top two lateral incisors, causing them to push back and hide half behind my front two top teeth. Some crowding in the bottom that I legitimately never noticed because of the severity of the crowding going on upstairs.
Before I could even get my braces, my right lateral incisor had to go through a root canal, which thankfully solved some extreme pain I was experiencing from a tooth abscess that I had believed was due to my low-sitting sinuses.. Long story short, I was very wrong. Thankfully, it was a relatively painless procedure.
I was then sentenced to 18 months in ceramic braces (I opted for these because I work for a City government and didn't want further attention going to my mouth. I was already self-conscious enough), with no surgery, expanders, buildups, or any other torture techniques, apart from plain old elastics to line up my bite for the past 2 months.
So, I went to my orthodontist appointment a few days ago, and officially scheduled my brace-off date!
July 27th, 2017, I will be metal mouth, no more! Well, apart from my bonded bottom retainer, but whatever. It counts.
I will have to go get a filling done, which I'm attempting to get done before the mold for the top retainer is done, on the off chance that it will cause the retainer not to fit properly. One of my lateral incisors grew with a bit of a divot over the years (due to it's nifty little hiding place behind my front tooth) that looks a bit off and gets food caught in it. Not very noticeable, but very irritating.
I know, it's a very charming story, but stick with me...Just like the food.
The interesting bit is, the mold for my bottom retainer was taken this last visit, meaning that will be all ready to go when my braces come off and my teeth get reshaped (my two front teeth are slightly pointed towards the outside of the teeth, so we're reshaping them once the brackets are removed). The mold for my top, clear retainer will be done then, and then normally I'd come pick it up a week later, all shiny new and ready to go.
But I'll be halfway across the country a week later, at a sci-fi convention with my nerdy family in Las Vegas. Yep, my younger brother and I, both adults, are taking a week-long vacation with our parents to sightsee and geek out with about 2,000 other Trekkies. Live Long and Suck it.
So I won't actually be getting my clear retainer until the Monday we fly back, about 10 days post-removal, after I've had a chance to sleep off the jet-lag.
Whew!
I may post some before and after pictures of my lovely choppers once they're off, assuming they don't fall out of my head...That is a legitimate concern, ok?!
It just feels amazingly good (and somewhat terrifying) to finally be able to post that I'm in the home stretch, even though technically I've still got two years of retention (probation lol) to go. I think I'll switch to calling my orthodontist my tooth probation officer, then. Let's just hope my pearly little guys don't end up back behind those expensive metal bars!
