I had to wear my braces for 16 months, 4 months longer than expected. After the doc bracketed my 4th molars a few months ago, I had been counting the days until they would come off. Those wisdom teeth were never meant to see braces! In fact, they were the reason I was back in braces at the ripe old age of 48!

Dr. B fitted the wire for the bottom permanent retainer, and then the tech popped off the metal brackets. It was easy. Then Dr. B came over to remove the ceramic brackets. Wow. I wish they had told me that they may look a little better but they come off in bits.

It took a lot of cracking, and my teeth are sensitive. One felt like my tooth cracked, but she assured me it was fine.

Then came the drilling, grinding, etc. Again, having sensitive teeth, this was no fun. Dr. B covered my gums with a cotton pad, and had a tech blow warm air on the site. When it got too painful, I’d raise my hand and she’d go to another area. Actually, knowing that I could stop the process if necessary helped a lot. I felt like a big baby, but she told me her teeth are sensitive, too, and she knew it was really hurting.

We joked about the pain we will endure for beauty!

She left some of the glue on the back teeth, for the follow up visit. It had been a long process. When I looked at my watch, I had been in the chair for nearly an hour and a half.

Then the tech bonded my lower retainer to my bottom teeth, no sweat, just nasty-tasting chemicals. Next came the impressions for the upper and lower removable retainers.

Next another set of x-rays.

Finally, they told me the retainer would be done in about 45 minutes. It would take me that long to get to work and back, so I just waited. They gave me a bag of candy and some balloons. I didn’t feel silly, just pleased and happy.

The retainer is clear and fits very tightly. It is comfortable to wear and my only problem is it is pretty hard to take out. The man who made it for me had to cut it down 3 times so I could get it out of my mouth.

In two weeks I go back for my other retainer, a Hawley. I picked plain old pink for the biteplate part.

My teeth don’t feel weird or slimy at all. When I was a kid, they felt very strange when the braces came off.

I love my smile, now, and it was all worth it.