The Removal of the Grill

So I heard of a waitress referring to braces as a "Grill" - and that's just what has stuck with me since I've heard it! I do feel a little fried and grilled in the teeth area!

And the good news is that they are OFF!!! Here is a portion of what I wrote to a fellow Griller in my Glorious news of having them removed & the retainer epilogue!

Did I tell you about how the actually break off the porcelain brackets?? They said they were made to break apart. The glue is left on the tooth and then they sand it off! They molded my upper teeth right after that, then worked on fitting and applying the lower permanent retainer before popping of the metal brackets. The pressure of the removal was definetly not any worse than the tightening of the wires - I was quite relieved! By the time they finished the lower portion of my face, they had the upper retainer made! It looks almost just like those teeth whitening trays! But it's a harder plastic and Boy! is it a tight fit!! Holy Cow, Bat Man! That thing will surely stop my teeth from falling out, let alone moving a fraction of a millimeter! That things is TIGHT! To get it off I have to reach back with both fingers and start prying them off from the back and work my way forward pulling it down...and then it pops off the front. I feel kind of like a jam jar where the lid struggles to get popped off! But I really really that style compared with the pallete-wire format! The only thing difficult talking with the tray is the "sh" sound! (No, I haven't practiced any potty words yet with it in! Just shushing for practice....necessary to keep kids quiet in church (even though it really doesn't work!). My "s"s are a little llithpy, but not bad enough to be really noticeable. And you can hardly see them when they're on, so it's great for work! I have to wear them 1/2 the day and all night for the next 6 weeks at least. Permission granted to not wear it at work. However, I realize that the more time they're off, the more the teeth relax and don't want it back on! I'd prefer to wear them longer stretches of a time than to go through that awful discomort of having to force it on again!

And I gotta say I do love my orthodontist! He is a perfectionist and takes pride in his patients smiles - good walking advertisments for sure!! So he actually furthered the process and put a composite on my right front tooth and a few of my lower teeth to cover up the chips. (almost like lumineers!). WOW!! I really felt like I was getting special treatment! So that's why I got the purple light again!!!

It was so funny - I'm sure I looked like a dork with a grin on my face while they were chipping the brackets off! Couldn't help the excitement! I didn't even have that level of excitement for getting my driver's license or for any my birthdays!!!


And I do keep getting excited every time I see I have naked teeth!! Yesterday as I washed my hands in the bathroom I caught a glimpse of them and it hit me again! WOW! They actually feel BIG to me now! And I actually did feel nostalgic about the way my two front teeth crossed a little bit.... I never did mind that. It was kind of part of who I was! And now that's gone! A little weird to miss imperfection - but hey! I'm not complaining about straight white pearls!!!

WaHoo!!!!!!!!

And to back track and make sure things are completely out of order? My first moments with them off were great. But it wasn't really weird until I ate! And then I had carrots! It was incredible! And I don't have to scrub and pick after each eating! YEA!!!! And then! It hit me again as I got the opportunity to BRUSH them without having any hindrance! More dancing!!!! Lisa was a happy girl! Lisa is STILL a happy girl! Huge grins keep comin out!!! Life is good!