Hey Jem, Dee, Braceface and everyone else reading.....
How are you all?
My apologies for taking so long to touch base......I have been really stressed lately with all sorts of stuff. My daddy had a minor stroke about 3 weeks ago and it basically caused alot of stressed and turned our world abit upside down. On a positive note, he is recovering well but it was not nice at all for about a week or 2. So please forgive me guys for not sticking to my word in my previous msg in this topic when i said i would catch up with you guys on the weekend.
Well back to business.....
Brace was successfully removed on 29th June as planned and bonded retainer fitted same time. Picked up my removable retainer on 5th July. So I now have bonded retainer on upper and lower arches plus hawley retainers x 2. When I first got my hawley for my lower arch back in November I was told to wear it every night. I was told in my last visit that I can reduce it to every other night or every 2 nights. Same for uppers.
I still need to watch what i eat in order not to damage the bonded retainers. I was warned about pizza crust, baguettes etc. Presume the same will go for apples.
It is such a great feeling to finally have the braces off, though I must admit I do miss them. it's amazing how quickly the time flies. My next step now is to have the composite bonding in the front tooth that was chipped and then in a couple months do the gum reshaping surgery. It's still unclear what date I will do the bonding as I am awaiting the dentist to send me the details. I will be heading off on holiday for a couple of weeks from 26th July so it possibly won't be until i get back. Will keep you guys posted though.
I have attached below a pic (not very good quality) taken the day brace was removed. I will try and take a better one soon. You can also see a pic from the date my upper brace was fitted (10 weeks after the lowers) for comparison.
and jem 
