Friday, October 9, 2009

Blurg

I got my braces off today, which was not fun. I waited for like five minutes before the lady next to me asked what color I wanted. Instinctively I answered teal even though I knew I would be getting my braces off. After that the lady left. After what felt like forever the actual orthodontist came over and said "Sorry I'm late" and told me I'd be getting my braces off, and then left. The first lady came back after what felt like forever and said "Sorry I'm late" and then told me all the stuff she was going to be doing. She seemed surprised that I wasn't really excited to get them off. First she had to get the brackets off, which she said was a painless process, but it wasn't. After that they had to put this stuff on that either protected my teeth or whatever that tasted like water, smelled like sunscreen, and felt like sand. The lady out floss in between what seemed random teeth for whatever reason she said. Then they had to put this big red thing in my mouth to stretch it so she could put the bond on my teeth for my permanent retainer. It felt like forever, it tasted awful, and my lips were cracked and numb. Meanwhile the whole time my mouth is dry and uncomfortable since they put a thing in my mouth that was running through the whole thing to suck up my saliva. After another eternity went by I heard someone comment that they couldn't believe it was 10:30 already. My appointment was at 9, so think that over a bit. Then they had to use like a laser gun to dry the bond, so the lady put on special glasses and she told me to close my eyes. The warmth was much appreciated since the room was so cold. Then they actually put on the permanent retainer. When they took out the big red thing that was forcing my mouth open and the thing that was sucking up the saliva, I was close to tears. My lips hurt, my mouth was dry and terrible tasting, and I was missing the math quiz in second block. The lady told the orthodontist that she might have messed up the top permanent retainer, so they had to do it all over again. The lady then had to get the dental floss out of my teeth, but one of them was stuck to the bond of the permanent retainer, so she cut it short, thinking that would help it, but it just made it harder to get out. She had to call over another lady which took forever because she had to pull, and scrap, and floss and until finally she got all the little pieces out. Then they had to get the glue from the brackets off of the front of my teeth, so I had to have a cotton ball stuffed under my upper lip and had to put on safety glasses on as they scraped off the glue with like a drill. I was so grateful when they said I could rinse out my mouth and brush. I still couldn't get the glue taste out of my mouth, and the way I looked in the mirror made me want to cry more. The glasses left a mark that made it look like I had a unibrow, I had glue all over my lips which looked like someone punched me in the face, and no matter how hard I brushed behind my teeth, the taste of the bond wouldn't go away. The ladies waited patiently for me while I stared in the mirror and willed myself not to cry. If I'm uncomfortable, like if I'm sick or I'm cold, then I'm miserable. I hated the permanent retainer. Why would I get my braces off just to have more metal in my mouth? My throat burned with unshed tears. The last thing we had to do was make a mold for my retainers, the clear ones I would get later today. When I sat in the chair, I remember the first time I sat in it, when they did the first mold for my teeth. I had my greek fisherman's cap, the one I called my Billy Shears hat when I had to get my first molds, one and a half years ago. I finally cried when I realized that getting braces wasn't worth the whole process of getting them off. During the whole thing the lady kept asking me if I was excited about getting my braces taken off. I kept on giving her the "so-so" hand signal since her hands were always in my mouth. The lady said we could do the molds later, but I said no, do them now. And I wiped off my eyes before the other lady came in to do my molds. Its hard to breathe only through your nose when it's running. When she did the mold for my top teeth I almost felt like gagging since it was oozing so much almost down my throat. When I finally got out of there my dad told me I was in there for 2 hours. When the secretary gave me a school note, I saw she put 9, since that was when my appointment was scheduled for. Before I went to the office at school, I checked the mirror in his car to see if my eyes were red from crying. My dad laughed thinking I was checking my teeth, which I resent. When I handed the note to the school secretary, she asked if I came directly from the orthodontist. I said yes, and I can understand why she said that. The pass she gave back said the time was 11:36.
I passed my theatre arts teacher to go to my locker, and he asked what's wrong. In French my hands were shaking. Definitely not worth it.

3 comments:

Piri said...

I remember when I got my braces off I had the thing that forced my mouth open for a really long time and how badly I wished I had some chapstick while I lay there for what seemed like hours. I also remember how badly I looked in the mirror with my lips all stretched out like a cartoon, plus dry and cracked. I hated the permanent retainer too. I had them take it out after about 5 years, I wish I had done it sooner.

Innes said...

yes--you'd think that dentist would know to offer some vaseline or chapstick before they begin these long involved procedures!

you did survive, though!

Hallie Jo said...

My orthodontist gave me chapstick when I got my braces on...I remember that was much appreciated. I think I started bringing chapstick to my orthodontist appointments.