New teeth!
 

Well, it happened. My braces came off. It's hard to believe... I've had them for four years, since I was just 12, and now... oh god, it's wonderful. Sure, they became very natural and were only painful after wire changes, but it's still wonderful to have them off! I no longer have to fear breaking them on something I eat!

Sure, I have to get a retainer next week, then wear it 24/7 for 9 months, but oh well. :P At least I can take it off to eat and brush my teeth.

I'll try to take a picture of myself with David Tennant's grin from my old avatar sometime this week.

Congrats, sir! Enjoy your newfound freedom. Make sure you keep up with the retainer though... I ditched mine after a couple months and my lower teeth are now no longer properly aligned. Doesn't bother me too much, but it's kind of annoying that I pretty much went through the whole thing for nothing... Ah well.

Your lucky, mine are coming soon. But I've also got to wear a retainer. I'm looking forward to the freedom. :D

Thank you both! :D

Yeah, I'll be sure not to slack on the retainer. It can't be worse than the Spreader...
I'll try and eat something hard or chewy sometime soon!

By the way, I found out earlier my gums bleed when I floss and a little when I brush. Probably due to the fact that I hardly ever flossed while I had braces... and went through a breif period where I hardly brushed...

Oh well, still too happy about the braces removal. And I have a dentist appointment in a few days so I'm not worried. :P

I've got to have braces fitted in a few months (as one goes out of the tunnel the other goes in, eh?). Any tips?

Let me just tell you that when you get them for the first time it's likely going to drive you up the wall. It's not INSANELY PAINFUL, but your teeth and gums become so sore that it's hard to eat a lot of food.

So that's something you'll have to endure. But after a while you'll adjust and they'll feel natural, you can eat again. I can't really tell you when the pain will stop, but it'll probably go away in a couple of weeks or less. Try to keep yourself from going nuts in the meantime. It was hard for me but I managed.

You'll be getting regular wire changes every other month, and after those your mouth starts to feel sore again. Don't fret, it won't take as long to adjust to those as it does to adjust the first time.

Flossing is going to be time consuming and irritating(why I didn't do it), so I suggest you get Hydrofloss or something.

Last of all, you shouldn't have yours for as long as I did... I was a rather special case. My kanines took forever to grow.

I know they aren't the best thing to have but try eating some sucky sweets. Because they won't hurt you teeth and will help when you feel hungry. Smoothies are good too as they are quite filling.

But the pain goes down after a few days. Normally after a wire is changed its bearable. SO don't worry about that.

Superkid does it hurt when you take them off?

Not at all. There may be minute soreness, but it is absolutely minimal if there is. I haven't had a problem all day. Nothing I've felt so far can be described as pain.
I mean sure, the process of removing them hurts, and is downright unpleasant when the adhesive is being ground off, but the pain is over after they're gone.

It does feel strange though. When rubbing your inner mouth on your teeth you may feel as if you've lost the feeling in your inner lips because you're used to them touching the rough surface of braces.

You may also look in the mirror and think your teeth are huge. It's just an optical illusion as you'll be used to seeing them with braces.

... well, this may be notable. When they fit you for a retainer they use this stuff to cast a mold, which they usually do right before you get braces too. I could tolerate it when it was done on my lower jaw, but on my upper... it's a good thing the orthodontist lady planned ahead because I just couldn't take it for very long. I actually threw up a little. Fortunately the mold was cast.
My gag reflex is very strong so this may not be a problem for you.

Thanks for all of the advice, Superkid and Jamie :)

I'm not sure about mine.

sticks middle finger down throat

Well, It's not too strong. I can kind of bear it but it makes my eyes water a bit.

I got used to it after gum shield fitting every year!

Have fun.....'n what all the others said. ;)

Grats Super! ;)

Remember when I got mine off ages ago, went and ate a bunch of stuff that I wasn't supposed to with the braces.. haha. The retainer wasn't a big deal at all and now I have very nice teeth.. so yeah, it pays off.

Happy for you though!

I remember when I had my braces taken off. My expander actually came off with the braces as my orthodontist used the expander to hold the braces on. I hope you have good luck with your retainer, I lost mine too many times to count! So, if you take it out when you are eating, remember to put it back in ASAP!:)

Anyway, good for you. I really feel happy for you, it's a pain with the braces, innit? No rice... ugh! *shudders* That. Was. Torture. I love Chinese food, and the rice kept getting stuck in the braces... I'm so glad I'm done with the orthodontist!!:D

Wait. I'm confused.

Are you still here?

Or did this post somehow echo into the future from before you wrote your "final goodbye" message?

Hate to be the bearer of bad tidings (and double posting) but it sounds like you have gingivitis. Welcome to the club. I'm your tour guide. And what's a Spreader? It sounds really bad if you have one...:(

EDIT: Yes, I'm stiiiill here! I really changed my mind. I'll ignore RV's posts and try to avoid his threads, too. I really try to be nice, but they (RV, RR, RS, etc.) don't understand. So, I'll ignore the people who are rude to me and just talk to you, Superkid, or anyone else who's willing to be nice. Are you willing to be nice, Danny?

So you go to the trouble of making a goodbye post, sending Danny a PM, then just flip back around on it? Maybe because people didn't suddenly cry out for you to stay and offer attention, plan backfired?

James, seriously, look at the other posters like Danny, RV, Chris, Super, the list goes on and on.. try and pick something up from how they act. No one likes someone that continually tries to get attention and doesn't accept any criticism. It's really not hard to follow forum rules and not act like such an easy target.

Anyways, back on topic.. I had the same thing happen to me Super. Just start flossing regularly again and pick up some decent mouthwash. Should be fine!

QFT.

QFT=?:confused:

Larren: OK, I'll read the rules. I never do on any forum. They are all pretty much the same, aren't they? "No swearing, profanity, double posting, etc." But I will read the rules if it gets me on everyone's good side. I don't like being on people's bad sides, it really doesn't feel good to the psyche...:(

Quoted for truth- Quite possibly the most overused and annoying phrase on this forum :P

Yes! Us EVIL ONES THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND. All us with names beginning with R that can be resolved into a 2 character string!!