Debracing

GUYS!

I FINALLY GOT MY BRACES OFF! You would not believe the JOY it brings.

This is actually the second debracing of my adult life, but the ecstasy of getting this metal prison out of my mouth was just as strong as the first time.

The appointment lasted two hours, but getting the brackets and the rings off only took about five minutes. It didn't really hurt; they just snapped off easily. The assistant then spent some time crafting a little metal bar to fit at the back of my bottom teeth, from canine to canine, and glued it on.

After that, the orthodontist sanded off the chunks of glue remaining on my teeth, and his assistant polished off the rest, cleaning any stains on my teeth that were previously unreachable because of the brackets. Once this was done, I brushed my teeth and spent the next ten minutes running my tongue on my smooth, slimy teeth and looking at my new smile in the handheld mirror they gave me.

They then took an impression of my upper teeth to create the retainer that I would pick up a week later, did some X-rays and took the "after" photos. I was supposed to get an impression of my bottom teeth as well, but unfortunately, an old filling chipped off and I need to get it fixed before they take the impression.

I'm incredibly happy with how my teeth look. My smile is so perfect that it looks almost fake (in a good way)!

It looks like the lip incompetence is the same when I smile, but in the before
pic, I'm actually fake smiling to keep my upper lip from going up too much,
and in the after, I'm laughing from a joke the assistant told me right
before taking the picture.

I had one week of complete mouth freedom until I had to pick up the upper retainer, and I now have to wear it 24/7 for the next three months—a small price to pay for a nice smile. After that, I will only have to wear it at night.

I did have three "problems" after the debracing:

1. The aforementioned chipped filling. It happened a week before I got the braces off, but everyone decided it would be better to wait until debracing to fix it. However, since I'm getting it fixed in gold so that I don't have to ever redo that filling again, it'll take two different appointments with two weeks in-between, which means my orthodontist won't be able to take the bottom teeth impression for another three weeks. He didn't seem too worried about it, which is good, but I'm actually wondering why I even need a bottom retainer. I have the metal bar after all, so why would I need a full retainer? I forgot to ask him about it... [Edit from the future: It's to keep the molars from moving.]

I had the first appointment at my dentist and let me tell you, it was not fun. I'm already really anxious about fillings because I don't numb well, and the anesthetic makes me shake (thanks a lot, adrenaline). They usually have to give me 2-3 needles of it, which means I'm shaking and feeling dizzy/anxious for quite a while. And they won't give it to me in one go; they have to test it in between, which means I feel the pain and have to ask them to stop. Ugh. I hate it. Luckily, the filling wasn't very deep so one needle was enough this time!

However, my jaw was VERY unhappy about the whole thing. The dentist used the smallest rubber thingy that keeps your mouth open, but my joints were killing me about two minutes in. I was worried that my mouth would be locked in that position, but I didn't want to say anything until the procedure was done just in case. I'd rather not panic until it's over! It did get extremely stiff, and I needed a few minutes to "reset" my jaw whenever the dentist asked me to close my mouth towards the end, but it didn't lock. My jaw was sore all day after that, and the day after.

I'm really hoping this is not a sign that I have TMJ. I've been having some jaw pains/pops/cracks for the past month; I'll talk about it a bit more in the next post I'm planning to publish soon. I'm definitely not looking forward to the second appointment where they'll be replacing the temporary filling with the gold onlay, but if that means I won't have to replace that filling ever again, I'm all for it.

2. After wearing the upper retainer for about two days, I started getting pain on the left side of my palate, above my molar. I tried to figure out if there was anything sticking out on the plastic part of the retainer, but it seemed completely smooth. I touched the area a few times with my tongue and my finger, looked in the mirror, but other than some redness, I couldn't see anything. I decided to wait a few days in case I just needed to get used to the retainer, but after three days, the pain had gotten worse, and a small bump appeared. It was super hard, kinda like bone, so I went to see my orthodontist. He said he didn't know what it was. He sanded down the retainer so that it would stop touching it, which completely fixed the pain. He did mention that irritation sometimes happens with new retainers, but when I pointed out that it was hard as bone, he touched it again and seemed perplexed.

This is what the upper retainer looks like.

He wants me to wait a week and see if it goes away, then check with the surgeon just to be sure. He doesn't think it's anything to worry about, and I don't think it is either, but it's just weird. It's been over a week now and it's still there, so I'll be making an appointment with the surgeon soon.

Not to gross anyone out, but I keep wondering if it's a small shard of bone that's making its way out? Maybe a screw, but it doesn't make sense that it's on the inside, right? It might be just the bones settling after the braces are off, but it just seems so odd. The orthodontist said the surgeon could "open it up" to see what it is, which makes me NOT want to go to my surgeon... But I also want to make sure it's nothing bad.

3. This isn't really a "problem" but more of a concern that I had addressed by my orthodontist, so I thought I'd mention it for those of you going through it as well. Before debracing, my molars still weren't touching. I was concerned that we'd debrace and get retainers that would hold a bad bite, but my orthodontist assured me that the teeth would still settle because I'd eventually only wear the retainer at night, and you'd need to wear it for at least 18 hours a day to get full teeth movements. So basically, my molars should shift up and down to meet each other, and the retainers won't undo the settling once I wear the retainer at night. I find this very odd but I trust him, so we'll see!

Also, the upper retainer messed up my bite at the front as well, but the orthodontist assured me that it would get back to a good position eventually. Weird! He seems to be right about that, because it's been two weeks and it's already getting better.

Other than that, everything has been going on smoothly. I love that I can smile naturally without my lips getting stuck on my braces. I don't have sores from the brackets anymore and no longer need wax. Flossing is SO much easier! For the bottom teeth, I use a small interdental brush since I can't floss in-between anymore, and I'll still use my Waterpik every day to keep it extra clean.

These are the interdental brushes I use.

I ended up wearing braces for a year and three months. And that's even though I had braces before, which means my teeth were already straight. I really thought I would get them off much sooner after the surgery, but the results are totally worth it!

If I'm completely honest though, I'm a bit disappointed with the lip incompetence at rest. It's much better than before, but I thought removing the braces would lower my upper lip a little bit more. It didn't at all. At first I thought my mouth at rest looked weird with the teeth showing, almost chipmunk-like, but I've gotten used to it now. The surgery wasn't done for aesthetic reasons, so I have to accept the fact that it didn't fix every single problem that I had. It did improve it a little bit, so I'm thankful for that.

Also, the laugh lines are still a little too deep for my liking. I haven't gone to the dermatologist because I'm afraid that they will tell me I'll need injections to fix it. I don't want to do that and I don't want to be tempted to do it either. Maybe it's another thing I'll need to get used to.

So there you have it, my thoughts on the whole debracing process and final results. I'll be posting a full 10 months update with comparison pictures soon, along with an updated Photos section. The next post after that should come at the 1-year mark!