I would be lying if I said that appearance doesn't contribute to my self esteem or confidence. Every one wants to feel good right. I remembered a few years ago I wrote about my insecurities of which one would be my teeth. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say. thank God, the appearance of my teeth would be a 9th. The minus 1 is the cause of one particular tooth on my upper set of teeth. It is legit the "thorn amongst the roses".
That particular tooth stands out because it is longer than usual and it is far behind. So technically whenever I open my mouth, that tooth sticks out like a sore thumb. Which is why whenever I talk to people, I feel very conscious because I look like a hippo. (Don't worry, I have pictures, read until the end)
I've had people telling me there's nothing wrong and that I shouldn't be affected by it but it's hard you know. Especially since it has something to do with my appearance, it's hard to not be affected by it. I mean, which girl/boy don't wanna look pretty? (I feel like I have to add the "boy" cause later people say I sexist or whatever lol)
Appearance aside, ok lah, it has something to do with dental hygiene as well. Because of the certain area the tooth is, it makes it hard to reach certain angles and brush it so this will result in tooth decay right? See, not everything is about appearance hor.
Anyway, like I was saying, so I have been bothered by this matter for quite sometime. Until recently, an Aunty from my church recommended this dentist to me. She said that he is quite good from her experience so I decided to do a consultation with him and see what he says.
Compared to other dentist I went to (who brushes off my problem and did not give me a solution), this dentist gave me a solution for my problem. Braces.
I was like "heck yeah, I'd do anything for nice teeth."
So he said that I'd have to wear braces for about 9 months to 1 year and that first and foremost, the braces needs to push that tooth OUT before it is able to be pushed UP.
I was legit excited because I was on the road to nice teeth! Hehe.
Thankfully, I had to only wear braces for my upper teeth because my lower set was already nice and perfect so no need waste money right? Because I had to wear only for the upper set, the price was only half.
So after consultation, we did an X-Ray and took some pictures of my teeth. I was legit fascinated by my teeth in x-ray form ok, I was like "woah is that my teeth" to the nurse and she's like "yes as you can see your wisdom tooth is like blah blah blah" I can't really remember what she said cause I didn't wanna remember what's up with my wisdom teeth cause... right now that's not my priority lol.
September 2017
Anyway, I went back to the clinic two days later and had my braces done! All I remember while getting my braces was how I could feel my drool dripping (LOL) cause my mouth had to be opened for like an hour. And how I had to wear that mouth thingy and that I was surprised at how it could even fit into my mouth lmao.
People were telling me that wearing braces will make you feel uncomfortable in the beginning because you can't eat much cause it is so painful. I was like "really meh.."
Wowzie, slap me for making that comment. The dentist told me after the braces placement was done, was that as soon as I get home and start using my teeth (eating, talking etc), the pain will kick in. I was like "okay, but I think I can handle it."
Jokes on me you guys, the moment after I ate finish my watery porridge, the pain started kicking in. AND IT WAS SO PAINFUL THAT I FELT LIKE CRYING. It feels as if your teeth are being punched repeatedly non stop istg.
It was so painful that I didn't feel like talking or eating at all. It was really that bad.
I supposed it's because the teeth is starting to move and shift which is why it's super painful? I mean imagine having to start moving after years of remaining stagnant. (Imagine yourself as a tooth)
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| gif source |
So the pain was really bad, so bad that I could only eat water porridge for a week. But I don't mind though, cause I lost some weight in the meantime! Woohoo! Nice teeth plus weight loss? OH YEAH.
So anyway, the pain lasted for a week after which, I slowly eased my way into eating rice and soft meat again. Feel like I'm being a baby all over again, learning how to bite and chew on food.
Oh but the downside is that with braces on, I can't use my front teeth because it's really difficult. This means that whatever food I eat, I'd have to eat them in small pieces. (Fork and knife are my best friends now)
Try eating pizzas with fork and knife. A whole new world man.
Eating is easier day by day, but still can't eat tough meat :(
But the treatment is working! Within a month that tooth is finally pushed outwards! Okok, here's some before braces pictures ok? Apologies for the bad resolution of the pics.
So as you can see from the red arrow, this tooth is the only tooth that is hidden behind. So shy for what sigh.
Because it is far behind, it is hard for me to brush it so it stains more easily than the rest of the teeth.
As you can see here as well, it is longer than the rest right? So it's actually really ugly and I hate it. Period.
Thankfully, there was no need for me to pluck any of my upper teeth before wearing the braces. Cause I've heard stories of people needing to pluck several teeth before they were the braces so that there will be spaces for the teeth to shift I think.
Back at it with a selfie again! Here's me on braces, day #3! I may be smiling, but I'm crying inside cause it was still pain pain pain pain pain.
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| Selfie no. 2, on day idk. |
Who says you can't look nice even with braces! Hehe, I used to think wearing braces will make you look ugly but then it isn't so bad after all! Hehe. Though I steer clear of dark and bright red lipsticks now cause my upper lip is sort of protruding out and it'd look like I have duck lips if I wore like dark colored lipsticks. (I know thick lips are like da bombz but nope, not my thang)
I just had my one month checkup with my dentist a few weeks ago, and he just tightened the wire around that tooth which took like less than 10 mins lol. I expected lots of discomfort for the next few days but surprisingly the after effects of the tightened wire lasted only for a day.
Update: December 2017
Today was my 3rd month dental checkup! It has been about 4 months since I started braces, thank God, the changes for my teeth were made super quickly.
So I finally found my picture that I took on the very first day I got the braces.
This is day 1 of the treatment. As you can see by the arrow pointing, the wire is like slanted downwards right, because of how back that tooth was, this was the actual problem. So the main goal was to shift the teeth front first like how I explained earlier on.
And this is day idk what, but was about my 3rd month in..??
As you can see.. the tooth came to the front really quick! This photo was taken after I had my wire changed.
Na na, another shameless selfie. LMAO. (I love the SNOW app ok filters damn cute) The improvements are happening so quickly day by day thank you Lord, that it makes me confident whenever I smile or talk now knowing I'll be having nice set of teeth soon hehe!!
My most recent selfie! This one shows how big the changes are for my teeth as compared to DAY 1 picture that you saw earlier on. Btw, my friend's face is covered up to protect her privacy ok.
The dentist changed my wiring today so my upper teeth is hurting currently. But do ya know, pain is sort of a good news. Because it means that the teeth is shifting again and is doing what it's supposed to do lol. That's how I comfort myself. (Did I already mentioned this earlier on?? oh wells)
So the whole treatment is supposed to be for about 9 months to 12, but I'm praying everyday that I'll be able to take out after another few months.. hopefully.. so I don't have to carry toothpicks anymore lmao.
I'll check back in a few months time! :D
Update: Aug 2018
Alright, it's been a few months since my above update!! My teeth so far has significantly improved a lot! It's almost going to be about a year since I had braces on and I'm loving the changes!!
My dentist is very meticulous I'd say. I always think of dentists as an artist, like they want their "artwork" to be perfect so they'd do everything they could to ensure that the end results are perfect! Which my dentist has been doing hehe.
This is how my teeth looks like at the 11th month! I just had my 11th month check up and my dentist said that it's almost there so I'm crossing my fingers and praying hard that I could take the braces out by the 12th month!!
You could actually see the vast difference between the 11th month and the 4th month pictures!!
I actually can't wait to take it out because I don't really like it when my lips would stick onto the braces when it's dry especially and then when I talk, I basically gotta manually pull my lips uGH.
And then in pictures when I smile widely, the first thing people will notice is the metal thing on my teeth like uGH. So really, I can't wait to take it out!!!!!
Okay, I'll update in a month's time, hopefully I'd have taken it out then! Wait for the final pictures of my new set of upper teeth!!! woohoo~
Update: November 2018
Wow, it's been so long since the previous update! Why, yes in case you're wondering, it's the month of November and I still have my braces on :(
It's been exactly 1 year and 1 month since I got braces and to be honest, I am getting a little impatient. I seriously can't wait to take it out!
I aksed my dentist a few appointments back and all he said was "just a few more months" and I'm like :(((((
To me, I am more than satisfied with how the braces treatment worked out. My teeth looked nice and straight already. But I guess the dentist isn't satisfied. All he keep doing is changing wires after wires so I guess he wants to make sure it looks 100% perfect??
Final Update: Jan 2019
I took it out!!!! FINALLY.
Yes, I finally took my braces out after a year ++!!
this was two days after taking out! I was wearing my retainers too.
Yes, unfortunately, after taking out braces, it meant retainers for life. So what are retainers? They're basically this plastic thingy that you need to wear every hour for the first few months. This is so that your teeth won't shift back to it's original position. Fun fact, did you know that within 3 hours, your teeth could shift quite a bit! You wouldn't want that right after spending thousands on the treatment!
So since my braces was for my upper set of teeth, I had to wear one piece of retainer only. The first few days I didn't like it. It was uncomfortable and I kept spitting everywhere when I speak. Also, I wasn't used to the metal stuff not being there anymore lol.
It made eating very inconvenient also lor. Because I need to wear my retainers every hour for the first six months, I can only take it out when I need to eat. And that means bringing my retainer box wherever I go and then having to wash it whenever I take it out to eat. Super troublesome :(
Plus, I used to snack on sweets especially during class but now I can't unless I take my retainers out. That itself is already very troublesome. tsk.
Anyway, it's April already (as I upload this) and I've gotten used to the retainers. But I still can't wait for July where I can start wearing it only at night heh.
This is what my current teeth look like with retainers on! You could see a little bit of the plastic. The 3rd tooth from right is the tooth in it's new position! Previously if you scroll all the way up, that tooth was actually hidden behind and stuck out like a sore thumb. Now, it's at the front and lined up quite nicely too! It's not perfect but I love it! I'm satisfied with the end result.
Alright, the end of my braces treatment also marks the end of this post! I can finally publish this after a long time! :)
God bless! <3
