Today I went to get my retainers and they are super annoying to take off! haha It's just hard to take off since of course, it's a super tight fit. The orthodontist ladies said that I'd get the hang of it soon. Like there's a little technique to take it off quickly. I'm hoping that I learn the technique soon! I'm just that the plastic retainer itself might break or the my teeth will be pulled out. I know that my teeth won't get pulled out but the retainer is just that tight of a fit so it feels like it. And when you're wearing the retainers, it feels like you've got a mouth guard because even though it's not that thick, it's still thicker than not having anything there. :P

This is what I look like with the retainers on:

And what I look like without them on:

So it's not really that much of a difference. When I've got the retainers on, it just seems it seems a bit waxy/shiny if you look at it up close. But who even looks that intensely at teeth unless you're trying to purposely spot it. It also makes my teeth seem whiter in the photos but I'm pretty sure it's just because of the lighting. (Sorry about the up close ugly photo)

I just went to clean the retainers for the first time and it honestly felt like I was cleaning dentures. Also, another thing with retainers is that you get a lisp! They told me that it'll only be the first few days though, so I'll update you guys if the lisp disappears. :P

Another thing that I forgot to mention in the previous post is that the process of removing braces is so incredibly quick and seems easy!? I thought that I might take the same amount of time as getting the braces on. But nope! The time take was more like a usual appointment where they change out the elastic/brackets. (I'm not sure what the technical term for these are.) The most time consuming part was washing my teeth because they carefully and thoroughly cleaned every single tooth. It felt nice though, my teeth felt really smooth(?) haha. That was probably also because there wasn't any braces in the way anymore though. :P


Love,
Elaine

I've only had the retainers for a week but I'm already used to them pretty much. The only thing that still affects me is talking, I'm still not that used to talking with them on. However, as I mentioned in the previous post, I had a lisp when I first had them and that lasted for about two days. I just don't like talking much with them on but it has been a few days since I hung out with friends and cared about whether I was talking differently or not. Because when I'm just talking to my family, I don't really think about whether I'm talking properly or not. I don't know how long most people's lisp lasts when they get it from having retainers or braces, because I'm sure it would've disappeared eventually. The way that I got used to speaking in the retainers was by singing songs out loud. It might sound random but it's not like you're doing something out of the ordinary. 

One thing that I'm getting bored of is having to clean the retainers every morning and night. I clean it by brushing it with a toothbrush and toothpaste, which was what the orthodontists told me to do. It's pretty much just like brushing your teeth. I'm pretty sure that the retainers will remain clean though, because it's not like you're eating food with them on or drinking non water liquids. 

I have gotten the hang of taking them off and putting them back on. It's much more easier now that I just pull it off as hard and fast as I can. The longer you try to slide it off, the more painful it gets. So just don't worry about anything and just pull it out.

Love,

Elaine

Anyways, I'll talk about that in another post later, maybe at the end of this year to talk about my first uni year. Today, I want to talk about my braces! I finally got them off! I got them taken off yesterday (29/06/2015) and go back tomorrow to get my retainers which they said I have to have them on pretty much 24/7 for the next six months. I could blog about them If you'd like. :) It feels like I've had them my entire life and it feels weird not having them anymore. Not having anything rubbing against my lips. I'm not sure if it's because they cleaned it thoroughly but they are really slimy/shiny? It's a weird sensation. You'll understand if you've had braces before. I haven't been able to feel my whole teeth for the last few years due to the metal brackets taking up so much space.

Having braces wasn't even that bad in my opinion. The only time that it hurt (and on my pain scale it would only be like a 1 out of 10) was the day when they tightened it. And the pain only occurred when I ate food. It definitely didn't help that most of the time I got my braces tightened, that my mum had planned to have steak for dinner. (Honestly a coincidence) So she didn't exactly cook the softest food for dinner. Like on the worst days, I'd make noodles but not be able to eat the, because they were too hard and chewy to bite. They were already the softest that they'd go by the way. Another painful thing is getting little cuts on the inside of your lip. They hurt so much, especially since you can't prevent it asap, once it's cut, it's there for a few days. So it just stings throughout the day. You can put this wax thing on but that makes it annoying having to take it out whenever you eat or drink. The wax thing was given to me by my orthodontist. I'm not sure if every orthodontist does it though. I personally didn't even use much of it. I only used it when my lip was badly cut because it helped a little, but having it on made it difficult to talk so I just had it on for a short while. Which in all honestly, barely helped. But hey, would you prefer to not have a cut lip every once in a while or have a cut lip every so often and get straight teeth out of it. :P

Apart from having my teeth hurt a bit a few times and getting cut lips, getting braces aren't so bad. Oh, another bad thing is always being worried that food is stuck in the braces. After realising how embarrassing it would be if I had something stuck in between my teeth/braces, I immediately tell my friends if they have something stuck in their teeth because I know how embarrassing it is without knowing that you've got something stuck there for the rest of the day. (Or until you look into a mirror to check of course.) One product that has definitely saved my life (not literally) is the little brushes. The ones that I used are these:

I'm honest not sure if NZ sells another brand that does the same job but I've just always bought these ones. I've only had to buy 2 or 3 packs though, within the 3 years that I had the braces on for. Which is pretty good. They're fairly cheap, definitely worth getting them and keep one in your bag at all times! No matter what the occasion is because you might not plan to eat anything but how often does that plan flop over? Bring them so you won't regret it later! Sometimes I just get small things stuck in between my teeth and these little brushes helps get them out really easy. I think I'm either going to continue bringing one of these brushes with me everywhere, or start carrying dental floss. I'll figure it out and update you guys on that in another post! (Not an ad, I just honestly haven't seen any other brands in shops). The orthodontist actually gave me something similar, does the same job but I think I lost that one somewhere, that's why I bought these instead.

Overall, I would choose to get braces again if I could turn back time. Although it is annoying getting the pain, it's worth it in the end. However, don't get them if you've only got like one tooth that's slightly not aligned. That's just a waste of money. I'm not saying that people without super straight teeth aren't beautiful! I'm just saying that if you're already considering it, you should just do it as long as you have the money and time. (Time would somewhat be a factor to consider because you need to go in for appointments every so often. My appointments were every six weeks.)

Three years ago, I blogged about getting the braces on and you can find my before braces photo on the post too! Just click here. Such a big difference!

Here's photos of me just before the braces were taken off and just after it was! I probably doesn't seem like a huge change to you guys, but in my personal opinion, they seem and feel way bigger. Haha that's such a weird thing to point out but it's true! Considering the fact that braces were in the way before so it felt like way less teeth surface? I'm not even sure if that's the right words for it haha. 



Love,
Elaine