I have been working on my teeth for the past three years. I take my dentist and orthodontist's advice VERY SERIOUSLY. I have invested a lot of time, money, and emotion into this whole process. Basically, what I am trying to say is that I am not a 13 year old girl who doesn't care. I am a girl in my thirties who cares a lot.
I had my braces removed in December of 2011. I went straight into retainers, which I was instructed to wear 24/7. Being the good girl that I am, I wore them constantly. Most people only have to wear them full-time for about 6 months, but in my case, I had to wear them full time for a year and a half. The reason I had to do this was because I didn't have the money to complete everything at once, so I had to break my treatment plan up into two separate oral surgery visits. So, everything took longer than I initially expected. But I am not nearly as vain as I thought I was, and wearing my retainer didn't really bother me.
Finally, after three years, I am finished with EVERYTHING. I really can't believe it myself. I don't know what my dentist is going to do with all his free time. I had my last implant crown placed last Tuesday and then I had an orthodontist appointment on Friday. The orthodontist declared that everything was great, took some final photos, and told me to just wear my retainer at night. AWESOME!
But I can't do it. I know that sounds insane (because it is insane), but I just can't bring myself to go retainer free all day long. I worry that everything is shifting around in there. It consumes my thoughts, and I just end up putting the retainers back in. It is easier to wear the retainers than it is to deal with my craziness. When I tried explaining this to my husband yesterday, he looked at me like I was a lunatic. And you're probably thinking the same thing.
It took me several weeks to get used to wearing retainers, and it will probably take me several weeks to get used to not wearing them too.
6 comments:
You're such a good girl!
So where are the pretty smile pictures?!?!! You need to show off all your hard work!
That's exciting to have all that work done! Definitely need to see pictures! And good luck with weaning yourself off the retainers. After all that hard work, I'd be nervous too!
Totally normal in my book. ;)
I want smile pics too!
i still have mine and on occassion i try to stuff them in my mouth. no luck. i say wear em! it doesn't hurt anything right??
Congratulations! I wish you posted some pictures but I'm sure you have a beautiful set of teeth now. A year and a half wearing retainers? That's a long time! I understand why you're having a hard time adjusting to a life without them.
Cody Zieba @ ReedOrtho.com
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