...And they're off!

[Mpkh]

https://imgur.com/a/2s6QTpp

After 673 days, my braces came off today!

Upper and lower permanent retainers were applied prior to the brackets' removal; the process for that was maybe 10-15 min in duration, but it seemed rather involved and detailed oriented for the tech. The actual bracket removal wasn't terrible, felt like a pinch to my teeth at times when the tech was prying the brackets off, but no pain whatsoever. Polishing off the glue and cement was the worst, because of the vibrations. It wasn't pain, but definitely uncomfortable, and I could live without ever having that done to me again. X-rays and photos were taken, a tiny bit of teeth shaping was done on my request, and impressions for retainers made. Waited in the in waiting room for about an hour prior to picking up the retainers....and they're definitely not braces! The Essix retainers feel bulky in my mouth, and I could barely talk with them in (I've got a major lisp going on with them in), and having plastic in between my teeth feels weird, but not uncomfortable. Just different. Something else my mouth will need to get used to.

My teeth does look bigger than I remember them being though, and that first look at my debraced teeth was a bit of a shock. Good shock though.

My official instructions from the orthodontist office is to wear the retainers nightly everyday for the first year, and then transition to every other night before going to two to three nights a week. I'm not going by the official instructions. I'll wear them when I'm home for longer stretches of time. I'll never wear them out in public or to work....but at home, I'll definitely wear them. I'm not taking any chances of my teeth shifting back...especially not after the 19 months of religious elastics work I put in!

It definitely feels weird to not have the braces in, and I have to relearn how to brush my teeth without all the orthodontic appliances in my mouth. Also feels weird to be able to eat whatever I want, and not have to worry about food being stuck in the wires, or if something's too hard on the teeth. Feels weird to be able to just eat and not dash to washroom to rinse and brush and to pull out bits of food from the wires. Brushing and flossing just became insanely easier, although I have to relearn how to brush and floss the "normal" way.

My teeth's definitely not the perfect Hollywood teeth, but I wasn't looking for that. I wanted to correct my cross bite, edge to edge bite, and to straighten my teeth for aesthetics, and I got all that. I'm pleased with my results, and have no complaints about my journey.

Good luck to those still in the braces journey, and may your debracing date come sooner rather than later!

[djspeece]

Congratulations on completing your journey! I agree with you plan for retainers. The variation in the instructions that orthos give for retainer wear is interesting. I would think there would be a single, data-driven method. Mine said every night for the rest of my life. I have skipped a night here and there (three years post-debracing) due to laziness but would not want to vary more than that. Well done and best of luck to you!

[kplatt2010]

Hey there; I'm getting close to the end point myself. Congratulations on crossing the finish line!

So the ortho did not tell you to wear retainers during the day? I know my neighbor and my own past experience it was 24/7 first six months then transition to night wear only. Perhaps though I was misinterpreting your post; I have a cold and operating at 75%
Karla

[Mpkh]

Hey there; I'm getting close to the end point myself. Congratulations on crossing the finish line!

So the ortho did not tell you to wear retainers during the day? I know my neighbor and my own past experience it was 24/7 first six months then transition to night wear only. Perhaps though I was misinterpreting your post; I have a cold and operating at 75%
Karla

You didn’t misinterpret anything at all! Officially, I am to wear retainers at night only. Supposedly the permanent retainers will be just fine for daytime. If the retainers feel tight going in, I am to wear them more until they don’t feel as tight before resuming nighttime wear.

I was verbally told by the office staff that that’s the practice over at my orthodontist’s office, confirmed by a pamphlet on retainer use, care, and maintenance that I was given.

However, I’m going to wear them more than just nighttime because I refuse to take any chances of my teeth moving!

[Prometheus]

Congrats they look great! I received the same instructions form my ortho, that I needed to wear the retainers at night only unless things seemed to be going awry. 9 months since debracing and all is still good.

[kplatt2010]

So you have a permanent upper and lower and then they gave you a removable one too?? That's actually pretty cool. I think I"m only getting permanent lower and removable upper. At least that is what I remember him saying 3 years ago.

[EmilyTravels]

Congratulations! I have been following your journey on your blog and am almost as excited as you for your debracing!

Interesting that you are on night-only Essix retainers, but since you have permanent retainers both top and bottom, that makes sense. I find the permanent retainer (I only have one on the bottom) to be a PITA, since you still have to use floss threaders, so I am not sure I will have it left in for the rest of my life, but for now, I'm okay with it. I like that you don't have to wear your Essix retainers out in public, because the top one, to me, is just too weird. Mine causes me to lisp terribly and fills up with saliva bubbles so looks super strange. I do wear my lower Essix in public, because it barely shows and doesn't cause a lisp, but I will only wear the top one at home and at night. I have not noticed any shifting of my teeth since having my braces removed.

Like you, I didn't get a "Hollywood" result, nor did I expect one. I wanted to fix my bite and align things as well as possible in the shortest time possible. In my case, 14 months. If I had worn braces for two years, I would have expected perfect alignment, but without jaw surgery, I knew my bite would never be perfect. Still, I am happy with my results, as you are.

Congratulations!

[Mpkh]

So you have a permanent upper and lower and then they gave you a removable one too?? That's actually pretty cool. I think I"m only getting permanent lower and removable upper. At least that is what I remember him saying 3 years ago.

Yup I have a permanent retainer for both arches...I may need to ask to have the upper retainer repositioned as it is very close to my gum line and I can’t floss underneath it!

[Mpkh]

Congratulations! I have been following your journey on your blog and am almost as excited as you for your debracing!

Interesting that you are on night-only Essix retainers, but since you have permanent retainers both top and bottom, that makes sense. I find the permanent retainer (I only have one on the bottom) to be a PITA, since you still have to use floss threaders, so I am not sure I will have it left in for the rest of my life, but for now, I'm okay with it. I like that you don't have to wear your Essix retainers out in public, because the top one, to me, is just too weird. Mine causes me to lisp terribly and fills up with saliva bubbles so looks super strange. I do wear my lower Essix in public, because it barely shows and doesn't cause a lisp, but I will only wear the top one at home and at night. I have not noticed any shifting of my teeth since having my braces removed.

Like you, I didn't get a "Hollywood" result, nor did I expect one. I wanted to fix my bite and align things as well as possible in the shortest time possible. In my case, 14 months. If I had worn braces for two years, I would have expected perfect alignment, but without jaw surgery, I knew my bite would never be perfect. Still, I am happy with my results, as you are.

Congratulations!

Thank you!

I will have to agree that permanent retainers are a big annoyance, and that keeping them clean definitely can be challenging at times. I find the Essix retainers bulky and I can’t seem to able to talk right with them in, but hopefully that will resolve itself with more wear time. No saliva bubbles for me (or ones that I’ve noticed), but there’s no way in wearing them when I’m out or when I’m at work—if they didn’t impede my talking ability, I might consider, but seeing as how I lisp something terrible with them in, that’s a no go.

I never expected a perfect Hollywood smile as an end result of my braces journey—that simply wasn’t my aim. I just wanted to straighten my teeth and to correct my bite. Aesthetics was my main reason for doing braces, and I think my teeth looks miles better than my “before” teeth. They might not be the perfect Hollywood teeth, but to me, my teeth are pretty damn perfect the way they are! Beside, some minor imperfections and flaws makes one’s teeth look natural and real!

[EmilyTravels]

Thank you!

I will have to agree that permanent retainers are a big annoyance, and that keeping them clean definitely can be challenging at times. I find the Essix retainers bulky and I can’t seem to able to talk right with them in, but hopefully that will resolve itself with more wear time. No saliva bubbles for me (or ones that I’ve noticed), but there’s no way in wearing them when I’m out or when I’m at work—if they didn’t impede my talking ability, I might consider, but seeing as how I lisp something terrible with them in, that’s a no go.

I never expected a perfect Hollywood smile as an end result of my braces journey—that simply wasn’t my aim. I just wanted to straighten my teeth and to correct my bite. Aesthetics was my main reason for doing braces, and I think my teeth looks miles better than my “before” teeth. They might not be the perfect Hollywood teeth, but to me, my teeth are pretty damn perfect the way they are! Beside, some minor imperfections and flaws makes one’s teeth look natural and real!

I completely agree. I like looking human and not plastic.

I don't know what to make about my saliva bubbles except that maybe my ortho's tech wasn't very experienced in making the retainers. I get some bubbles underneath the bottom Essix as well, but they are much less noticeable than the ones around my big central incisors up top! I knew from day 1 I would not be wearing those puppies in public. I probably should have asked for upper permanents, but for whatever reason, my ortho doesn't typically do those. And I'm glad not to have to floss around them!

[Meowmeowbeans2]

Hooray! Similar to you I have an edge to edge bite and a canine in crossbite at the start - you give me hope! Amazing what braces can do!!

[Mpkh]

Hooray! Similar to you I have an edge to edge bite and a canine in crossbite at the start - you give me hope! Amazing what braces can do!!

Indeed, amazing what braces can do! It was a lot of inconvenience, frustration, annoyance (and let’s not forget about the pain), but the end result is all worth it!

[pcspinheiro]

It's really great when you find an ortho that solves your problems instead of focusing on the non-problems, thus creating problems that were never there... Your teeth look very nice!

[Kalia]

Hey, I am in the same situation as you! Permanent retainers top and bottom, and essix retainers to be worn nightly.

I know that you want to wear the retainers as much as possible, but I just wanted to mention what my orthodontist told me: He said that if I put the retainer in very easily and don't feel any tightness etc, then I may as well just immediately take them out again, because they're not doing anything! I've also found that the retainers do start to wear a bit in the places where my teeth touch, so in order to make this set last as long as they can, I tend to not wear the retainers if I don't need to.

Just food for thought.