My story
FEBRUARY 10, 2009 - The ugly duckling turned into a swan
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Hi all,
120 weeks and a half... 28 months... 844 days... Count it as you wish, it's a long time to endure braces! Fortunately for me, this ordeal ended today!!
In fact, it was about time. In the past 3 weeks, I kept on doing nightmares almost every night about my braces; sometimes they would come off on their own while I was brushing my teeth, sometimes brackets would come off, sometimes my orthodontist was telling me that she wanted me to keep my braces a couple more weeks, etc. In short, I was so beat this morning when I woke up! Also, I spent the last 7 days making a list of "last times"... I made my family laugh last weekend with this! It was simple, I was saying "It's the last time I..." and I would complete the sentence with something that I knew I was doing for the last time before today's appointment! Hahaha
I went to work this morning for an hour and a half and I left for my appointment. When I arrived at my orthodontist's clinic, one of the receptionists greeted me and she asked me how I was doing. I told her that I was quite excited. She told me: "I wonder why..." as a joke... It's true that I was quite excited; my pulse was faster than usual and it felt like it was 100 degrees inside. I had decided this morning to not try to get rid of this nervousness, but rather to try to turn it into energy to smile...
A few minutes later, I was called to sit down in one of the hygienists' chairs and my orthodontist came in the room. I was a little nervous to see her because I still had the fear that she would tell me that my braces wouldn't be removed today... When she saw my teeth, she told her hygienist: "It's a go!" Phew! Double phew! I thanked her for freeing me of my nightmare episode! Hahaha
The removal of the brackets was done very quickly. I think that within 2 minutes, everything was removed. It was a good feeling hearing all the brackets being removed one after another... crack... crack... crack... Then, the hygienist removed the glue that was still stuck on my teeth and she polished them at the same time. It felt so good!!! And then, she handed me a mirror so I can see the results... WOW! In front of me, in the mirror, was a pretty woman smiling back at me with all her teeth freed of braces! FINALLY! Despite what I had anticipated, I wasn't under the impression that my teeth were that long. I think that I thought like that when I could see the brackets on the teeth beside the ones that no longer had brackets on them when my orthodontist replaced a few brackets in the past to position them properly in my mouth.
And a big thickness of hardware was now missing from my mouth!! It was a weird feeling. My orthodontist came to see the results and she levelled my front teeth for an even better smile. Then, before she left the room I was in, I told her that I had a little something for her and the other members of the clinic's personnel. I therefore stood up to go get a letter from my bag (oh yeah, I had to continue the tradition!) and I handed it to her. She seemed really happy of the small thought, she thanked me and she told me that it wasn't everyone that would think of these little considerations... It's not complicated for me, when I want to thank someone, the best way to do it is always by writing! ;)
After that, I started my tour of almost every room in the clinic for different reasons: pictures, X-rays, etc. After taking pictures of my teeth, my face and me sideways, I asked the woman that had taken the pictures if she would take another one of me with my digital camera that I had brought for the occasion. She accepted and she asked me if I wanted to get my picture taken with my orthodontist. Hey, why not?! So, I have a memory of me and my orthodontist! :D
After all these pictures, another woman did my retainer that I have to wear for the first 48 hours after the removal of my braces and for 10 hours per night after that for an undetermined period. Everything went smoothly; anyway, I was way too excited to be worried about anything! Haha I had to wait for half an hour until my retainer was baked and ready to be worn. I then went back to the waiting room. I took this opportunity to go brush my teeth. I was under the impression that I didn't know how to brush my teeth anymore, it was so easy now! No more brushing the teeth above the brackets, the top of the brackets, the brackets, under the brackets, the teeth below the brackets... Phew!!! Only a beautiful toothbrush to brush my teeth!
I also took the opportunity to talk to the receptionists while I was waiting. I still had pictures of me after my surgeries on my digital camera, so I showed them... They all agreed: I was a lot prettier now! Hahahaha While I was waiting, the Bon Jovi song called (You Want To) Make A Memory played on the radio station the clinic plays in the waiting room... Life is well intentioned sometimes. I put on a big smile throughout the song and I was already thinking of the next time I would see Jon and the rest of the band in concert... Jon will not be able to resist me, that's for sure! Hahahaha I will make him look at me for more than just a couple of seconds one day...
When my retainer was ready, my orthodontist and a hygienist gave me instructions to follow and they showed me how to put it on. At first, one of the hygienists asked me where my mother was... What, my mother? She thought I was a teenager! HA HA HA We laughed so much. After their instructions, I returned to the front desk and I made another appointment with my orthodontist for a follow-up after the removal of my braces. At the same time, I saw my surgeon's secretary that was then beside me; she came upstairs with a patient to my orthodontist's clinic for a problem I didn't quite understand with all the emotions I was living... Anyway, when I turned my head and I saw her, it took her a few seconds before she reacted and she said a big "HEY!!!!" hahahaha I found it very funny because I had coordinated a little surprise for my surgeon with her a few days ago. After this morning's appointment, I was supposed to go downstairs to my surgeon's clinic and she was supposed to get him without telling him that I had my braces removed today...
It was good timing, she was at my orthodontist's clinic, so I went downstairs with her. However, I told her that I had a few things to put in my car, so I went outside and when I returned, I opened the door of my surgeon's clinic and he was in the hallway to my left, so he saw me right away! HA HA HA The surprise effect failed poorly. My surgeon's secretary looked at me, she didn't quite understand what was going on since she couldn't see him from where she was and she understood right away when she saw him come to the front desk from the other side! We talked for a few minutes at the front desk, my surgeon thought I had an appointment... In short, I successfully created a little confusion in the clinic... Me and my infallible plans, they don't succeed often... I got my picture taken with my surgeon, I had to have a memory of him too; he played a big part in my physical transformation after all! In short, I left a few minutes later, as excited if not more excited than when I arrived at my orthodontist's clinic a little earlier!
The retainer is pleasant to wear; it doesn't have any metal wires that hurt me, it doesn't bruise my lips, etc. To celebrate the event, I had lunch in a fast-food restaurant with my husband that seemed impatient to see me... And he didn't want me to send this email as long as he didn't see me, so I decided not to wait until this evening to send the email and I suggested to him to have lunch with him...
And you must be impatient to see the results as well... Well, go ahead, see my before/after pictures so you can appreciate the changes...
I am very happy with the results, I didn't think it would be that nice. OK, my teeth are a little yellow, but everything can get fixed! I'm at least better looking than 3 years ago!
I hope to see you all soon,
Marie-Hélène
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