It’s been one whole year since my braces have been off. My teeth ended up shifting a month or two after my braces were removed. I panicked and ended up rushing back to my orthodontists appointment telling him that my bottom teeth were protruding out like a bull dogs. I guess that was the over-analyzer/panicked inside me. Nobody could even remotely comprehend what I was saying and thought I was being ridiculous. Which is true. I wanted them to stay exactly perfect, the exact same way as they looked the very first day I had my braces taken off. As one friend inconveniently pointed out to me at one point in my life, one of my two (top) front teeth, the gum line is a bit higher up than the other. Unfortunately there isn’t anything I can do about it unless I go under the knife by some oral surgeon and have it sliced off on the other side, all costs by me. Not something I’d like to do, as the gum line naturally recedes with age.
I’m very happy with the outcome of my teeth. I actually had a check-up with my orthodontist on Monday, to check my retainers and tighten them a bit. I usually visit him (he’s in the next city, so it’s kind of a big ordeal for me to go out there since I don’t own a car and have to bus it out) every three months now, just to see how things are going with my retainer and if my teeth are staying straight.
Below you can see the work of art he’s done on my teeth/jaw/face.. I feel like my jaw is a bit wider now when I smile. I had a bit of an overbite before which I never knew I had so it wasn’t totally obvious. But he fixed that, and now my jaw has been brought forward a bit. Okay, on to the photos! (I’ve even allowed you to click AND enlarge lol yey). Also, please ignore the spacing of these photos. I was working on saving the draft, then previewing, then editing…and repeating the process. It would not look right, so I just gave up.
February 2005. Says it all right there. This is what my teeth looked like pre-braces. Ahhh..yes the face I’m making? Ignore that. I cropped out a bottle of sour puss I was holding, to do shots at my friend’s going away party. Not sure if I look scared, or disgusted in this. But that’s not the point of the photo, ignore the eyebrows now that I just pointed them out. The teeth are the main topic here, folks.
September 2006. I look chubberooni here but I don’t really have any other photos to show. I think I might’ve been high on pain killers. This is a few days after I had 2 teeth pulled on top, and gotten my braces on — tough week, let me tell you: I couldn’t even eat french fries that’s how sore my teeth were! I was also a bit stressed since I flew back to Newfoundland for 2wks during this time, to visit my Father who was having surgery.
January 2008. 2mths before my braces came off. I’m hiding the pink piece of elastic that I had to wear diagonally across my teeth, from my top right to my bottom left. It was to bring my bottom teeth to the side, as they weren’t lining up correctly. Those elastics were the scariest things for me, at first. I always thought they were going to burst in my mouth if I yawned. Surprisingly enough, they were…very elastic and didn’t. Duh?
March 17, 2008. I realize that this too, wasn’t the best choice of photos. But it shows how happy and excited I am. This is one day before my braces came off! I wasn’t fond of frontal shots when I had braces.
March 18, 2008. One year ago today. As soon as I got back from my orthodontist appointment, I immediately got out my trusty canon point and shoot and shot this. I couldn’t stop smiling this afternoon as I had braces for 18 months and couldn’t wait to see what my new straight teeth would look like!
August 2008. Subconsciously I think that my left is my better side, ha ha. Five months after my braces have been removed. At this point I was wearing my top removable retainer at nights, and was completely annoyed about my cemented in bottom retainer. My appointment was in 2 more mths and I was going to have the bottom one removed, no matter what. Food always got stuck underneath and it was a terrible annoyance.
October 2008. BLAAAHHHH MY TEETH IN YO’ FACE! Here I am wearing my new removable top and bottom retainers. I didn’t have to wear these during the day time as my teeth weren’t moving all that much to begin with. Lucky me. I was pretty religious about wearing them, and still am right before I get ready to go to bed, I pop these babies in and they’re in for about 12 hours a night.
January 2009. So, this is basically what my teeth look like right now! Hip Hip Horray for braces.
7 Comments
Hey Nancy, how much did your braces cost in total?? How come you chose an ortho out of the town??
As soon as I moved to Ontario (June 2006) I knew I immediately wanted braces as soon as I could afford them. At that time, it just so happened to be one month later when I had my first consultation. I was living with relatives in the other city, at the time. Her kids (who are my age) had gone to this orthodontist, so I saw three sets of teeth that he has already worked on, and thought I’d just go with him.
Consultation was free.
Two teeth extracted for fitting: $200
Xrays / Moulds of teeth / Before Photos / Getting braces on: $600
Payment plan: $160 for 24 months (even though I had them on for 18)
So about $4600 once it was all done with.
You have gorgeous teeth!
I’ve always wanted braces but growing up the only time it was ever an option was right before my mom got sick and died so I didn’t get to have them. I’m ok with it now, but for a long time my teeth were a huge issue for me.
You look fantastic! (not that you didnt before) but you have a gorgeous smile.
I made a consult for some place in waterloo at the end of march. Its a free consult too.
I had a back molar removed years ago and the bottom left side of my teeth shifted. I HATE IT. My dentist told me I can have that chunk of teeth braced to fix it. I think I’m going to get the whole bottom done. I get 2000$ from my insurance. I dont want to spend much more than that at all! I know it’s going to be worth it but I have soo much stuff to pay for atm.
Thanks for the info :)
Your teeth are awesome .. I’ve had to have braces on for two years, had them taken off, and then had them put on again! They are off now and I wore my retainer but I feel they are still not perfect. Grr.. haha It’s hard to find a good orthodontist but you definitely succeeded! Gorgeous!
I agree, horray for braces! I had them when I was much younger, I remember all the pain and discomfort, but the outcome was amazing. My teeth have shifted a bit over the years, but I’m sure it’s only natural. I had two eye teeth, so I looked kind of like a vampire. Not cool lol.