I didn’t had the sleep I want because I had to wake up earlier today to get to work because I need to get off work early too…to get to the dentist.

I was really sleepy at work, words cannot describe and then I walked to the dentist once I got home. The one hour wait at the dentist didn’t help at all. I was losing my patience already. When I was finally called into the room, the dentist said very good when he saw the progress of my teeth.

I didn’t know exactly what he did except for he’s telling me he’s going to make the retainer and then the braces can be removed. In my head, I was still thinking, the braces will still be there until the retainer is ready…which definitely is not today because it takes time to make the retainer.

He sprayed something on my teeth then placed a short wire across the inner part of my lower front teeth…the nurse glued it or cemented it with a tool that emits light. It was followed by the top row of teeth. With this going on, I still wasn’t sure what the dentist was doing with my teeth.

After that, he removed the arch wire of my braces. Then, he scraped away the brackets with something. It just felt like a tool was crunching away the brackets. It felt a little like my teeth was going to be crunched away too.

Next, he placed two moulds on my teeth, one above, one below…to make a mould for the retainers. I was ready to go by then and still couldn’t believe my braces are gone for good. Then, I realised those wires he just installed for me are fixed retainers which I can’t remove until when it’s ready to be removed. They are not visible as they are hidden behind my teeth. In some way, it feels like I’m without braces but in someway, not entirely yet….but it doesn’t matter because having the braces removed is like 100 years old of burden  evaporating away.

I had to come back in a few days to collect my clear retainer which is to be wore only at night.

When I came home, I looked in the mirror and stared at my teeth. Smiled. Laughed. Grinned.

Truth be told, I’m not used to it.

I deliberately didn’t want to reveal or announce the removal of my braces at work because I wanted to see if anyone noticed it. But I guess I couldn’t help contain the excitement, the colleague sitting next to me asked me the golden question, “How was the visit to the dentist?” I had to answer.

Brushing is so much easier now, as well as flossing. And because I’ve been brushing after lunch at work for the past 3 years…the habit is stuck with me that even after now that I don’t have braces anymore, I’m still brushing my teeth after lunch. I think I’m going to do just that.

*say cheese, say kimchi!*

I went for another dental appointment today. I was expecting the dentist to fix the retainer for me but there’s still a little gap so this is the final visit before I get my retainers done. I can’t believe it has been 2 years and 11 months…so this braces journey is definitely going to take me 3 years. That’s double the duration my dentist had expected when I first wore braces.

It is so fixed to me that it has become part of my life. Really..if it has been with me for almost 3 years…I think I’m going to feel a bit not used to it without the braces. I was thinking I could show my beautiful set of teeth during the upcoming annual dinner….but it looks like I’m going to just bear with it for a little while more.

My next dental appointment is in 17 days..doctor said this is the last already. He said sorry for taking so long…but I’m so immuned to it, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’d rather wait a little longer than to have my teeth not ready.

It’s going to be a milestone…and I’ll tell you more about it…what it’s like to be brace-less after so long, when I’m there.