Apparently it's not over till it's over, and sometimes not even then ...

Today I went back to the ortho to be fitted with my removable retainers. She was a bit concerned as I should have had these fitted early last week, but I could not get to the dentists at that time. So for the past 2 weeks I have been brace-free apart from the bonded retainers.

I have been given clear "Essix" type retainers. They hurt when the ortho first fitted them, probably because my teeth have shifted a bit since the cast was made. I was concerned at the hurting, and also concerned because - in my view - my teeth have started to fit together a bit better since the braces first came off, and I didn't want them to go back to the old awkward bite.

I was surprised how much I disliked the Essix retainers. They were actually much more of a big deal than the bonded retainers, which I hardly notice at all now. These big clunky plastic things in my mouth collect spit, scrape the sides of my cheeks and interfere with my speaking. I can't close my teeth, which freaked me out a bit when the retainers first went in. And I have to wear them all day for the next 3 weeks, except when I am eating or brushing my teeth.

I'm afraid I whipped them off when I was travelling home from the dentist, and only replaced them at the end of this evening. I have managed to fix the scraping with the use of some dental wax. Now I will have to see what it is like to sleep in them.

Anyway, here they are:

I've made it! Just over 2 years since my first appointment, the braces have finally come off. After a lot of waiting, plus mysterious wizardry from my orthodontist, I now have a set of nice straight teeth. We had been waiting for more than 6 months for the gaps around my left canine tooth to close. These were closing up, but very gradually. Here is a picture of how they looked last month:

This month there had been barely any further change, and the gaps were almost too small to see, so the ortho offered me the option of having the braces off now. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance!

The ortho cracked off the brackets and their concrete mounts. Suddenly my teeth felt naked, and kind of springy, like a set of dogs let off their leash. When I tried to close my teeth I found the front ones bashed together, but the ortho said this would be OK.

Then the ortho and her assistant thoroughly cleaned my teeth and got every last scrap of cement off. Here are the results:

But - I was not quite out of the woods yet. One last thing had to be done: I had to have retainers fitted. The ortho fitted "bonded retainers" to the backs of my upper and lower teeth. These comprise a wire fixed in place with blobs of resinous stuff. I couldn't get a photo of these, even after shoving the camera lens right into my mouth, but there is a link on the Archwired site showing what these are: http://www.archwired.com/6-_come_off.htm . Apparently I have to have these for the next 6 months at least. They are not uncomfortable, but I can feel them constantly with my tongue. Apparently they should not interfere with my eating.

Last of all, I will have to have a removable retainer too. I had to have new casts done of my teeth. Having this done was not pleasant, especially for the upper teeth, as the rubbery stuff pushed against my palate and made me gag. It was all over in minutes, though.

I just have to collect my retainer next week, and go back in 6 months for a further check-up, but ... my braces journey is at an end!