Life without braces is great! I keep looking at my teeth in disbelief. Eating was a different feeling and after brushing I kept thinking I forgot something (rubber bands). Because of the brushing habits I developed while in braces, I will continue to keep my grill nice and clean. One thing I did notice is that my teeth are tender. I think it will be a little while before I can sink my teeth into some corn on the cob or an apple.
This morning when I looked in the mirror I noticed a sliver of light breaking through the front teeth! Could it be? Yes, they had already moved! No worries though, I had an appointment just a few hours later to get my retainer.
My ortho has a lab in the building so that you get your retainer faster. The longer you go without a retainer the more the teeth will move. Here's a little advice: Choose an ortho with an inhouse lab. You don't want to wait on a retainer. Here's why...
After the dental assistant showed me my retainer and gave me all the wear and care instructions, I had to put it on. Because my teeth had moved a little (millimeters!) trying to shove them in that retainer was a nightmare. There was a lot of pushing and pressing to get it into place. I'm not going to lie - it hurt so bad. It was much worse than all the times I got a new wire. It actually caused me to tear up! Then after that, my ortho decided I needed a different one so I had to retake the impressions.
As the day went on, the pain lessened but it is still tight when I put it on. According to my instruction sheet, after a few days it won't be painful at all. It just has to go through the process of repositioning the teeth. Fun times. It was a great lesson on the importance of wearing a retainer. After the money, time, and comfort you sacrifice it would be STUPID to just let your teeth go back to square one! More advice: Wear. Your. Retainer.
Anyway, that was my day. Now I'm off to go smile at someone for no apparent reason ;)
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