Dr. Montano removed my braces Oct. 1. -- and it feels great. No more bulky mouth feeling. No more metal poking the inside of cheeks. No more food getting caught in between my wires. I'm free.
Well ... almost free.
I still have the issue with numbness. And as of today, certain parts of my gums -- the front parts mainly -- are still numb. And because of that, my mouth still feels a little awkward even with my braces being removed.
It's been just more than 28 weeks since my surgery. Dr. Relle mentioned that numbness could last for 6 months, and a slight chance it could last forever. Well, 28 weeks is more than 6 months. This could be something I may have to live with for the rest of my life.
If the numbness is forever, it's not a huge deal. I am still able to eat anything I want, and bite through food easily now. And my smile is nice, if I can say so myself.
So with all this, my oral adventure is officially complete. I must wear retainers when I go to bed to make sure my teeth don't shift. That's not a big deal for me, and the retainers don't bother me. Each retainer fits right in like a mouthpiece.
In all, it wasn't an easy road, but it also wasn't the bad. It was fairly quick, and not too disruptive. To sum it up, it was all worth it to fix my janky jaw.
So with all this, my oral adventure is officially complete. I must wear retainers when I go to bed to make sure my teeth don't shift. That's not a big deal for me, and the retainers don't bother me. Each retainer fits right in like a mouthpiece.
In all, it wasn't an easy road, but it also wasn't the bad. It was fairly quick, and not too disruptive. To sum it up, it was all worth it to fix my janky jaw.
Make sure you wear your retainer faithfully. I have a retainer... Got it after my braces were removed a few years back but didn't listen to my dentist about wearing them every night. So now there's been movement, and it's super tough to put them back on. I could get a new retainer based on the movement, but it's going to cost a couple hundred bucks. I should have listened to him in first place.
ReplyDeleteHello. I responded to a question this morning and realized I never saw or responded to your comment. Thank you for reading and writing.
DeleteI'm glad to say I have been diligent in wearing my retainer each night. One time, I forgot my retainers while I was out on vacation for a week, and even in that small of time frame, I could feel my teeth moved slightly. And when I got my retainers back, it was tight and uncomfortable. So I agree, it's important to "wear your retainer faithfully."