Catgyrl's (Cathy's) Journey at age 42...

[klobird]

I've been thinking about you today and all I can say is:




CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[catgyrl]

WELL… I’M NAKED!!

As I have been for the past almost 2.5 years, I’m going to be brutally honest about the pain/discomfort involved in my debanding procedure. My bracket removal WAS painful on a few teeth (mostly the ceramic brackets). The lower Damons were much easier to remove because she kept the wire in, and removed the whole thing at once. Molar band removal was HORRIBLE!! My butt came out of the chair a few times, thinking they were pulling my teeth out. I told her, “They were hell to get in, and hell to remove!” The glue removal was brutal. I got stabbed royally in the gums twice; once by the assistant, and once by the ortho. I was squeezing my hands together so tight that I actually lost feeling in one of them and had to shake it out. He asked me if I had taken any Advil, Tylenol, etc. and when I said “yes” he said that could be why I was bleeding so much. No… I think it was because I was STABBED IN THE GUMS! TWICE! Thankfully, that pain subsided quickly. (Disclaimer: It may not be as bad for everyone, so don’t let this scare you…)

So, after the assistant removed my brackets and glue from my upper teeth, my ortho shaped them some more. Then I had my impression taken for my upper retainer. Had to do that twice because the first one didn’t come out. Thank goodness I don’t have a bad gag reflex. She let me go rinse my mouth, and I couldn’t believe my eyes – my teeth were so BIG! They didn’t even look like my teeth! By that time, I’d forgotten I still had braces on my lower teeth – I was so excited about my uppers!

While they were making the retainer, he started working on my lower bonded retainer. I really wish there was a mirror above me so I could see the process. I had tons of floss hanging out of my mouth; they applied the nasty etching solution (which I ended up swallowing – yuck!), then the glue, then the retainer. He bonded it to each of my lower 6 teeth. It feels really strange.

Then came Essix retainer time, and… it didn’t fit! He removed the plastic from each 2nd molar, and… it still didn’t feel right. So, she ended up taking a THIRD impression. In the meantime, he told me to wear the crappy one, and to come back after my cleaning (next door) to pick up the new one. The whole process took about 1.5 hours. I wore that crappy retainer for about 15 minutes, and that whole time I lisped, spat and drooled. Thank goodness I was getting a new one!

My goodie bag consisted of… a candy lei! Since I live in Hawaii, it’s a very common thing to give kids candy lei. She put it around my neck and told me I had to wear it all day. By the time I got home, every single chocolate candy in that thing was melted. LOL! I threw it in the fridge and will see how it holds up. The only other thing I got was a cool retainer case and one… yes ONE… denture tablet (I don’t even know what brand) she gave me to clean my retainer. I threw it in the trash and intend to use my SonicBrite and my retainer wipes for now.



I left to go eat lunch, but didn’t have much time, so I didn’t experiment with anything hard, crunchy or chewy. Fried noodles, and teriyaki beef – YUM!



After my cleaning, I went back for my upper retainer. When he put it in, it fit absolutely PERFECTLY! I said very loudly, “OH MY GOD! That is so much better!” Honestly, I can barely feel it in there. It is a beeyotch to take out, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I’m to wear it 24/7, except when eating and brushing, for 3 months, after which (if I’m a good girl), I will only have to wear it at night. I will probably wear it more often if I’m not going out in public because I do like the way it makes my teeth feel secure. I guess I got accustomed to that feeling. When I left, I shook his hand, thanked him for his hard work, and apologized for being a pain in the ass for the past 2 years. He said, “NO… I wish all my patients were like you.” Liar… hehe…

I’m sorry I don’t have more pics right now. It’s almost 5:00 PM and I just now got home. As I’m typing this, I’m attempting to whiten my teeth with Whitestrips, but after 45 minutes, I felt a huge “zinger” in my lower teeth. I actually jumped out of my chair. I ripped those strips off. I guess the whitening can wait a couple weeks... LOL! I will try to take more pics tomorrow. But this is one I took right before I ate lunch.



I will take another one tomorrow with the retainer in. You can’t see it at all when I smile, though when I do my “grin”/bite down pose, you can see a little space between the uppers and lowers because the bottom of the retainer gets in the way.

Are my teeth perfect? Absolutely not. Am I perfectly happy with them? Absolutely YES!! Sosososo worth all the pain and suffering (how dramatic!).

[klobird]

Who is that a picture of with no braces on??? On your blog????

OMG--IT'S YOU!!!

You lucky duck...but, I woulda thought the goody bag would have at least one piece of good 'ol crunchy peanut caramel corn!!

ENJOY!!!

YOUR TEETH LOOK AMAZING!!

[iBorg]

Let me be the first (guess I'm second)....they look great!

I hope tomorrow morning you'll look at them and say, "I love my teeth.....I love my orthodontist......I HATE his assistant....... I'm glad I did it."


"I'll also wear my retainer so I'm never tempted to do it again."

[catgyrl]

@Klo - I just looked, and the absolutely worst thing they have in that lei are GOBSTOPPERS!! Shoot, i couldn't even eat those things BEFORE I got braces! Also, peanut M&M's. I find myself still trying to clean food out of my teeth, and then I remember, "Oh... no more braces!"

@iBorg - I DO love my teeth... I DO love my ortho... I actually DO love his assistant, even though she had violent tendencies... and I WILL wear my retainer more often than required.

My retainer isn't causing any pain at all so far. It feels like I still have braces in my mouth, except no pokey hooks or brackets.

[NICURN85]

CONGRATS CAT!!!!! Your teeth look AMAZING! I am at work looking at the photos of your food and candy and I am drooling wishing I could have some!! LOL! I can not wait to see your pics tomorrow of the retainers. I am so happy for YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jem]

Looking brilliant Cat Congratulations!

Jem

[Noni]

Your teeth looks amazing ! Congratulation

Let us see more photos for your full upper and lower teeth

[AM21]

WOW! Your teeth look amazing! Congrats!

[anngie27]

so happy for you!! your teeth look amazing! Enjoy some of that candy for us still suffering in braces.
So essix on top and permanent on the retainers on the bottom? Mine had mentioned something in the beginning about permanent on the top and bottom, but that was during the consultation and i know i have a long way to go still.
Good luck with everything!

[klobird]

One more thing Cat--don't be a stranger!! Check my blog from time to time--I want you to be a part of my celebration too!! (I better not be in braces this time next year!!)

[catgyrl]

One more thing Cat--don't be a stranger!! Check my blog from time to time--I want you to be a part of my celebration too!! (I better not be in braces this time next year!!)

Klo - I could never leave you!! LOL! I plan to hang around here for a while, so don't you worry. I will be there to celebrate with you!

[catgyrl]

WOW! Thank you everyone for your kind words and well wishes! It still hasn’t sunk in that I got my braces off. I absolutely cannot feel my Essix retainer until my tongue touches the roof of my mouth. I’ve had no pain whatsoever. Drinking water feels a bit strange because I can’t feel the water until it hits the back half of the roof of my mouth. I’m getting better at taking it out and putting it in. But here’s one warning: It is FUNKY in the morning after you wake up!! Pretty nasty, actually. All I wanted to do was take it out, clean it, brush my teeth and put it back in.

Brushing is SO WEIRD!! I have to totally change my “technique” because I’m so accustomed to brushing around brackets. My gums are still a bit tender, so I’m just brushing gently right now.

More pics, as promised. Had to wait until this morning when I could fix up my makeup and lipstick. LOL! Here are some without the retainer:

SMILE


GRIN


RIGHT


LEFT (That black thing you see is a HUGE filling. Must try to get that replaced someday. Gross... I know the bite isn't perfect, but between the shape of my teeth, my extraction, and all the fillings, I felt this was the best he could do, and I was fine with it.)


UPPER


And WITH retainer (The empty space you see beneath my upper teeth is the bottom part of the Essix. It looks like it could really mess up your bite, but I find that a few minutes after taking it out, my bite is fine again.):

[Ellebraced]

Cat

You smile is gorgeous!!! You look so happy. Congrats I am so happy for you.

Elle

[Angel269]

Amazing-gorgeous smile, you must be chuffed