Braces Update!! A Year And A Half Later!

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I know a lot of you must be wondering, what happened to her braces posts?!!

Well last year we moved from California to Montana. I'm sure many of you have moved before, so you know it's quite the ordeal. I got behind in taking pictures for my updates, so I just didn't write any posts. Finally over a year after my move I'm here to give you an update because soon the braces will be gone!!!

Top: Now. August 2016
Bottom: Before I got my first set of wires put on. June 2014
**There are some issues you can't see in the bottom picture. Please check out my first post for more info and pictures on what was wrong with my teeth.

I just had an appointment a few days ago. I have 3 appointments lined up fairly close to each other so we can begin the removal process! First I go back around the beginning of October to get fitted for my bottom retainer, then about 2 weeks later I return to get my braces removed, and probably will do some other stuff while I'm there. Then 1 week later I have a follow up appointment, and after that I'm pretty much done! I am just ecstatic! I've had braces since 2014!!

Top: Now
Left: Before
Right: Sometime in the middle of my treatment, not long after I first got them on.

Now for a little information on my new orthodontist and the changes we had to make because we switched orthodontists.

My orthodontist is a super nice guy. He definitely has a lot of experience. He worked with us to make a payment plan that would fit our needs. Another orthodontist we went to, recommended by the old orthodontist, wanted a lot of money up front, and still wanted large monthly payments. I don't think my old orthodontist knew he would ask for such an outrageous amount when he suggested him. How could he have possibly known when he works in California and this guy works in Montana? Anyways..

My orthodontist wanted to reposition my brackets. The plan was to just take them off and place them where they need to be. He says he has to do this even with his own patients sometimes. It's just hard to know where the teeth will need to be later on as they change. He also wanted to replace my clear brackets with metal ones, only on my lower teeth.

At my appointment for all of this, things didn't go as planned. The brackets just kind of fell apart. So he had to place all new ones on. He didn't charge us extra for this though! Super nice guy.

If you've seen my first braces post you'll see that I had this blue stuff on my bottom molars. It was to keep my top teeth from biting off my lower brackets. My new orthodontist took those off right away, thank goodness!!! So above are my teeth now, without those evil little blue things! Hahaha.

When I left to go to Denmark for 3 months they made sure I had lots of supplies! I also chose hot pink for my braces color. We decided that color would probably hold up the best. I think it did! It ended up being a pale pink by the time I got back, not brown or yellow which was my biggest concern. I really recommend that color if you have to be out of town for a long time!

I normally get clear on my upper teeth so that would have gotten yellow and nasty so quick! My appointments are about every 6 weeks and they're always gross by the time I go back. I look so forward to my next appointments because of this. It depends a lot what you eat though. So if you've got clear braces like me and get clear on top, just try to avoid food that stains them if you're worried about it.

I've been going to this guy for a year now. He first estimated I'd get them off around July-September. Now I'm getting them off in October, even though I skipped about 2 or 3 appointments with my vacation!

I've had to wear rubber bands almost the whole time, including while I was on my vacation. I wear them as often as I can! This may be why I'm getting them off a little bit earlier than his estimate. Of course it just really depends on how your teeth move and mine have always seemed to move very quickly. Either way I'm getting them off about 2 years later which was my estimate from the very start.

I'll probably be making my final braces post when I finally get them off, so stay tuned and look out for the final post sometime in late October or early November!! ❤