Jillianleab is NAKED!!! Pics included!

[Tin Indian]

Awesome News Jillian! Your teeth look fantastic!
T.I.

[Miss Smiley]

Are you thinking up retainer colors????

[Jillianleab]

MommaDucky - Thanks for stopping in on my story! It's very exciting to be so close to the end, and hang in there, the time will fly by!

TI - Thanks for the compliment!

Denise - Wahoo is right! From looking at your progress you are moving along quite nicely; I'll cross my fingers that you get released early for good behavior!

rage - Partial nakey pics indeed! Can't wait until they are FULLY THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT IT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.!

Karen - I am really, really excited! And it's so nice that I've gotten all the support here over the past 14 months. Oh, and the dancing banana? HA!

jt - Trust me, I'm counting down the days! Still fighting the urge to call and say, "Take me NOW!!!"

Miss Smiley - My ortho uses Essex retainers, so no colors for me!

Thanks again everyone for stopping in and giving such well-wishes! Your continued support and encouragement has been great![/b]

[Jillianleab]

I am officially.... HALF NAKED!

It's a long story, but pics follow, so feel free to cheat! I've also put this in the main forum.

Here's the rundown:

My appointment was for 8:30am and going in, I wasn't really nervous, excited, or anything. It felt like any regular appointment. I get to the office a little early and got sent right back. ALL the chairs were full, as well as the records room, so they were having quite a busy day! I chatted with the asst for a while asking her about prices for replacement retainers, etc. It took my ortho a while to make his way over to me (he was banding someone), and as he was walking over he says, "So, are you happy?" and I said, "I'll be happier if you take the lowers off today too!" He did the bite open thing and said, "Nope, come back next week for the lowers, but today only the uppers." I figured well, I'll take what I can get!

Then began the debanding process! The asst took this tool and popped each bracket off, then tugged the whole thing out of my mouth; brackets still attached to the wire and everything. Very weird looking! She placed it on her tray and I said, "That was IT???" and she smiled and said the fun part comes with taking the glue off! She started scraping and scraping and scraping.... I admit I'm not crazy about the scraping! It doesn't hurt, it just SOUNDS horrible! Another asst came by and she took my molar bands off. I expected those to be harder, but it was really simple. She grabbed the cleat with a tool, wiggled it, then grabbed the bracket portion on the other side, tugged it, and it slipped right off. No pain, just a little pressure, and that was it. Of course, my mouth was full of glue, but a quick rinse took care of that. Then on to more scraping.... and then the polish. The polish was fine, but I ended up SOAKED! They use a power-dental-tool and have to spray water on the area as they polish, and the water sprays everywhere; maybe I should have skipped my AM shower.... With the polish done came the molds. I was nervous because I've heard such horrible things about the molds, and I'd never had them done before. To be honest, it wasn't that bad. The material they use sets up REALLY quick (about 30 or 45 sec), and the whole thing came out with no problems. Another quick rinse and I was on my way out the door with instructions to come back for my retainer in an hour.

At this point, I STILL haven't seen my teeth! They never gave me a mirror, and there aren't any around the office; weird, huh? So I make it out to the car and take a peek in the rearview. My first thought? They're HUGE! I know everyone says that, and I know why, but it still shocked me. I also thought they looked a little yellowed, but my ortho told me he was going to give me a bleach treatment to take care of that. It was very weird to look at myself. Honestly, I didn't look like me! The whole way home I kept looking in the rearview and my little pocket mirror just getting used to my new smile. Now, several hours later it's grown on me, but I'm still getting used to it, lol!

An hour later I went back to the office and got my retainer (essix). I popped it in and said, "Wow, that's tight!" The asst told me it's supposed to feel tight, so we're on the right track! She told me about how to care for it, and also how to use the bleaching stuff. Apparently my trays can be used as bleaching trays, and my ortho supplies patients with a little syringe full of bleach gel. All I do is put it in the tray, put the tray in my mouth, go to bed, and wake up with white teeth! Cool, huh? AND, I get five treatments out of one tube - even better. My ortho came over to check the retainer and asked the asst to put a bend in my lower wire to tweek my right cuspid just a bit more. After that, I was on the road again!

Now here's the weird thing; I'm only supposed to wear my retainer at night! I have no period of full-time wear, isn't that strange? I trust my ortho, but it's just weird this is the case since it seems everyone here goes full-time for 6-12 months.... I suppose if I notice some shifting I'll step it up and wear it during the day too!

So here's the moment you've all been waiting for, and kudos if you bothered to read my whole story, as it's quite long! Here's a pic of my new smile (forvige the yellowness)! I promise I'll post more pics next week when the lowers come off!

Left is one month in; right is today.



For some reason in the pic they look like they are off-center, but I swear, they aren't! I took the pic really quickly, so I probably wasn't looking head-on at the camera. Or maybe it's just me thinking they look off-center. Whatever. I'm pretty dern happy and doin' the half-naked happy dance! My lowers will be naked next Thursday at 9:30am; so expect a FULLY-NAKED happy dance next week, as well as more pics!

[Jillianleab]

Well, so much for going naked today!

When I was in last week, my ortho put another bend in my lower wire to shift my right cuspid and lateral a little bit. Well... they shifted, but they also opened a gap! Darn! So going in today I knew the bottoms were staying put. I don't mind too much; at this point I'm used to them, and it's actually weird to eat and NOT be sucking stuff from my top brackets....

Anyway, the asst took my lower wire out and my ortho put a few new bends in it, straighted out a few old bends, and back in it went. Believe it or not, that was the hard part; one of my "doors" just didn't want to close - they ended up pulling to "door" off the bracket and putting a lig over it to hold the wire in place. So I have one lonely lil' lig on the bottom...

My next appointment is for three weeks from now; August 23. I'm a little bummed because I visit the dentist a week PRIOR to that appointment, but I've rescheduled my dentist appointment about three times now to work around my debanding schedule, so I think I'll leave it where it is. I was really hoping to go in fully naked, but, looks like I'll just be topless! Oh well, a good cleaning will be nice anyway!

[Laurie]

Oh it stinks they didn't come off but the wait will be worth it in the end.

[Jillianleab]

Thanks for stopping by, everybody!

I know it's best to wait until the bottoms are done to have them off, which is why I'm not really upset about it. I've gotten used to them, there's no pain, and they aren't really visable, so really, what difference does it make? I'd much rather have them for a few weeks and have better results and no gaps than have them off and be unsatisfied!

Already the gap is closing, which is great. My cuspids were sore for about two days, but nothing so bad I couldn't eat. Now I feel fine and my teeth are on the move! I think they will be done by the time I go back, but my right cuspid seems to be stubborn, so maybe not! I guess I'll know in a few weeks!

[cwatt1]

Hi Jillian!,

Just wanted to stop by and say "hello" as I'm still catching up with everybody's stories. Boy, there's so much GREAT stuff on this website. Anyway, just let me say that the transition from your earliest days to where you are now is just stunning! You're an inspiration to those of us who are still in the early stages of our braces journey. Just shows you what perserverence and a postive attitude can do. After you're naked I hope you stick around the board -- such a pleasure to read your posts. Your pictures are awesome, too!

By the way -- took a look at the website on St. Barths -- what a gorgeous place! My wife and I love to travel, and our favorite spots are scenic ones -- mountains, lakes, forests, national parks, etc.

Take great care -- you're almost there

[Jillianleab]

Thanks for stopping in, jt and cw!

jt, I have gotten used to my brace-free smile now, thanks for asking! It was just so strange to see them naked and they looked HUGE! I look at the pic I posted now and think, "Nah, they look fine, I must have been crazy!" but I know it was the shock of seeing them without the brackets that made me think that way.

cw, I too am amazed at the progess I've made in such a short time; I really thought it was going to take a lot longer than this! I'm one of the lucky ones, my teeth move really fast. I hope my pics and stories entertain those still in braces and encourage them to hang on, because it really is worth it! Oh, and thanks for checking out my website! We made another trip down there this past April, but I never uploaded the pics to my site. If you and your wife are looking for a fabulous, relaxing, beautiful (and expensive ) vacation destination, St. Barths is it! I've never been anywhere like it in my life - I don't think there IS anywhere like it!

[Lisa65]

Bummer about having to wait another few weeks but as you say, it's best to have them completely right.
Looking forward to the nudist party on the 23rd

[Milk n Cereal]

Jillian, your smile looks fantastic! Did they feel all slimey without the brackets at first? It stinks that you'll have to wait a bit for the lowers, but it will definitely be worth the wait. Can't wait to see your fully naked smile!

[Jillianleab]

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!

I had a dental appointment today. I thought, "Oh, no big deal, wish I had my bottoms off, but oh well, should be no problem." Well! Settle in for a story!

My dentist has expanded her practice and another dentist has joined her in the office. My appointment was with the new dentist. I get there, get taken back, no biggie. The new dentist is very soft-spoken and seems a little unsure of herself. There are also new assistants who seem to not know what they are doing. The dentist asks me if I have any pain in my mouth and I mention two lowers which are a little tender because they are moving, but other than that nothing. She peeks in my mouth and comments on how great my teeth look, and how amazingly clean they are considering I have braces. She says my teeth are cleaner than any patient she has ever seen with braces. I'm thinking, "Awww, how nice!" So she goes about cleaning and remarks about how she really wishes I had my bottoms off before I came in. That's when I think, "It's not my job to make YOUR job easier..." but I figure maybe she means so they will have a full polish. She asked if my ortho will clean them when they are removed and I said no, just a polish to remove the glue. She seems peeved by this. I had xrays taken before she started cleaning, and when she finished she took a look at them. She's frowning. She turns to me and says, "Ok.... it seems you have a cavity here.... and another one here... and another one here... and possibly one here." WHAT???? YOU MEAN I BRUSH AND FLOSS LIKE A MAD WOMAN AND END UP WITH NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE, ALMOST FOUR CAVITIES???? %*#&#%$@##$$%^^@!$%%^&

I'm dumbfounded. I ask her how it's possible; I floss I brush, I mouth wash, what more can I do? She says, "Well... you must have soft teeth. I'll prescribe you a floride mouth wash, that should help. It's also common with braces because you think you are cleaning really well but it's hard to get to all the spots."

So I'm mad (at myself), but I figure I need to get over it, there's nothing I can do about it now. She tells me to just have the fillings done once the lowers come off (two are on the bottom), and maybe have a floride treatment done at that time too (which I also have done at EVERY appointment!). So then the asst comes in to polish my teeth. I know I'm in trouble because she can't find the switch to turn the spotlight on right away. She finally finds it and get started polishing which she does faster than I brush my teeth at night. I tell you, she just FLEW over my teeth with the polisher and barely paid attention to the lowers at all. Then she says, "Ok! Time to floss!" Ok, I've been seeing this dentist for 2.5 years, and she's never flossed my teeth with regular floss. She's always used the jet stream of water instead. But whatever. She gets a piece of regular floss and wraps it around her fingers. I'm thinking she's going to do the uppers. WRONG! She flossed my lowers by going in at the top, to the wire and back up! Not under the wire at all. Well, sh!t, lady, that did no good! Then she does the uppers and I'm done.

I go to the front, make my 6 month appointment and get my script for the mouth wash. I leave mad at myself and irritated about the lousy asst.

So what should have been a normal, great, cheery appointment turned out to be one of the worst trips to the dentist I've ever had.

So let this be a lesson to you - if you have "soft" teeth, brushing and flossing isn't enough. Neither is getting an in-office floride treatment every visit. You MUST use a floride mouth wash in addition to every thing else....



An an attempt to end on a good note; my dentist now uses a water thingy (the water tool they spray your teeth with) which uses warm water. No more cold water shock!

[roxxie]

Oh no! This is what I'm afraid of myself, I had "weak teeth" even before braces, in fact one tooth that's being extracted next week has a cavity.... I've only been banded for a day but I just know I'm going to come out with cavaties. But just think, what are a few fillings compared to all you've been through?? I just read your whole story and it's very inspiring! My problems are more with bite than crowding, though, so I'll be in braces for at least 24 months and I sure won't see dramatic results in pics, like you did.

Still, hang in there!

[Jillianleab]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone!

The dentist did say once the lowers come off she would do another xray before starting on the bottoms because it's hard to see with the braces in the way. She's positive about the one on the top, however. It was weird; she seemed positive about the one on the top, then a little unsure of the two on the bottom, REALLY unsure about the third on the bottom, but once I started protesting that I clean my teeth like crazy, she was more and more positive about the ones on the bottom. She insisted three were in the dentin (must be filled) and the fourth was not that far yet, so there was hope for it to reconstitute with lots of floride. I wonder if maybe these were "almosts" before I got braces and now they've become full on cavities. I don't know. I'm still angry!!!!!

When I book my appointment for the fillings I'm going to wait to see my old dentist and have her do a second xray and have a look for herself. I also plan on informing her of the assistant's lack of knowledge on how to floss when a patient has braces.

[Miss Smiley]

Yikes...I'm glad my dentists have always flossed or used the water thingy. They never let their assistant do the flossing or even polish my teeth.