One of the Greatest Days of My Life

Yep.

BRACES OFF!

Best day ever! Or close there to.

It also happened to be Ivory's birthday. I tried very hard to not say anything about it in the morning. We talked about Ivory and the plans for the day. I wanted the day to be about her, even though I was super excited for myself.

I had been wearing my bands dutifully and also, this appointment was later than usual. It had been over a month, since they only take braces off one day a month. So I waited the extra week or so and went on Art Tour with my braces, but the day finally arrived.

I had the clear ceramic brackets on top for the year I had braces. I could have had colored bands, but I always chose clear to match them. Even though the bands were 'clear', they didn't always stay that way. Things like curry could dye them strange colors, and I found out recently that yellow mustard dyes them...well...yellow. Or a nasty tannish brown when all is done.

I went in and they started taking the braces off first thing. The bottom metal brackets popped right off. Super slick. The top, ceramic ones also came off pretty well but they made this terrible crunching noise as they came off. It sounded like my teeth were shattering into little pieces. Then they were off. I took a picture of them sitting there. Look how nasty and brown that band looks on the left.

All the glue was still on my teeth, so I had to sit there for a bit longer while they buffed and cleaned my teeth. Finally, my teeth were mine again. They felt so good. People sometimes say they feel slimy, but they just felt smooth and nice to me. Hello teeth.

A year is really not a long time. It sure feels long when you are forty, but I made it through...all the seasons, all the vacations, all the activities, all the food...for a year.

I got my retainer of course and I wore it for a month. My removeable retainer is just for the top. I have a permanent retainer on the bottom, since those teeth are more likely to want to stray. (Sorry wayward teeth, no moving for you.)

I actually haven't been back in to see the orthodontist because of Covid-19. But it has been over a month now of teeth freedom and I am happy to report that I love my smile. It feels good and it was worth every penny. (Not pennies for me since my braces were free, but all the pennies for my kids. I hope they like their smiles just as much.)