The Brace Faced Kiwi

They're on! And not just the bottom set either, but both! So far so good - except that I was in a mad rush this morning putting my little kit together (spent about $50) and of course they gave me a pack when I left including everything I bought... Oh well, at least I have plenty of stuff now.

Between last night and this afternoon the gap where the spacer had fallen out had closed by about half, but they managed to get a molar band on any way, after much pushing and shoving. I have to say, the molar bands were by far the worst bit, and in a few months time I get another two. Yay.

I got a bit of a case of the giggles once they'd been put on - a combination of excitement and relief I guess - especially as I really think they're kind of cute - not at all ugly like I thought they would be! My only regret was letting the dental nurse talk me into white ligs instead of clear - because if it wasn't for the white ligs - I don't think you'd be able to notice them at all. I have an adjustment in 3 weeks so I'll ask for them to change the ligs then, if they don't anyway. For some reason they really seem to like the shape and colour of my teeth and are already planning on using me as a model case (!) and even went as far to show me where my blown up tooth shot is going to go! Actually, other than my chipped front tooth - the only thing I've ever liked is the shape and colour of my individual teeth - so I'm a little chuffed about their comments.

Already I can feel my bottom teeth are a bit wiggly / clicky, which is great! And maybe I'm being ultra hopeful, but part of the wire is already poking out a bit on my molar, when it was well inside the tube when he put the archwire on.

I'm not yet able to close my mouth properly, I feel like I've got a mouthgard in and have to stretch my lips around them - it's not uncomfortable, just totally different to what I'm used to. There's certainly pressure on my teeth, but no pain at all. In general, I'm just super excited!

For your enjoyment, here's a description of the whole process:

During the banding, they put a lip spreader in my mouth to keep my lips out of the way and a tongue protector to stop the glue getting on my tongue. I knew this so I put tonnes of lip gloss on to keep my lips moist!

Next, because I needed molar bands, they sized the bands by trying them on my teeth one by one till they found the right fit. This part is very uncomfortable and hurt but didn't not last long. Once they had the right size (this took many tries), they cemented the bands on, and while I expected the pain of putting the bands on again, this didn't hurt at all.

Once the molar bands were sorted, they lightly polished my teeth and put an etching solution on them to roughen up the surface a little. This took just a couple of minutes and they rinsed it off.

Next they cemented the brackets on with dental glue, one by one. After about 4 had been put on, they set the glue with a strong light (I think it was UV). They continued to do this until all the teeth were braced.

Finally, they inserted the archwire through the slots in the brackets and put tiny bands around the bracket to hold the archwire in place.

All in all once the molar bands were sorted, the process took about half an hour to an hour from start to finish and was super quick and painless (again, apart from the molar bands)!

Normal Smile:


Upper Arch:

Lower Arch: