A set of straight teeth always makes a smile look brighter and much pleasant. But what if you were born without such luck? Crooked, overlapping, tooth gaps—these are the words that best describe misaligned teeth. Not to mention, ugly?
If your teeth can very much related to the description above, I’m pretty sure you found your way to this blog in search for a solution to your problem. You have come to the right place as you will find a summary of four reviews from Singapore bloggers who used to have the same teeth dilemma, but not anymore!
What is the answer to teeth misalignment? Braces!
1. My braces journey by Xinlin K.
Xinlin’s blog review starts with a joyful announcement that her metal braces were finally removed after two and a half years of use! She then recalls that, at first, she was cynical about having braces as she found them expensive and her teeth alignment of her teeth was not that bad at all. Though she mentions her teeth did pose some problems: they were overcrowded and she had an overbite.
Prior to getting her metal braces, Xinlin shares that she had check-ups and x-rays done. After which, followed the step that she found terrifying: teeth extraction! Four teeth were extracted from her mouth. Despite the anaesthetics, Xinlin felt excruciating pain as her doctor had to shake her mouth just to successfully pull out her teeth because her jaw muscles were very strong. She says that her gums bled continuously after the procedure. She was asked to bite on a cotton pad. Her gums and lips felt numb from the anaesthetics used, so there was a lot of drooling that went on. When she went home, she says she applied ice to her mouth because it felt very sore.
The next stage is what Xinlin called the “inserting rubber band in between your molars” stage. Xinlin shares that her mouth felt so sore during this time. She was not able to bite and chew well and only had liquids for food for two weeks.
After overcoming these agonizing stages, Xinlin recalls that her braces were finally set in place. The kind of braces that Xinlin chose to be used on her teeth is the Damon braces. She explains that Damon braces looked similar to the metal-wire braces (brackets and rubber bands), but they cause minor painand quicker time to get the teeth straighter. The Damon braces also allows the teeth to interchange freely. Xinlin notes, however, that the cost of this set of braces is much expensive than traditional metal ones. At the same time, she had problems with mouth ulcers.
One day, two and a half years later, Xinlin shares that she visited her dentist to have her braces removed. The removal did not go over 5 minutes! During this time, the dentist also did some scaling and polishing on her teeth. She was issued a set of retainers after.
Xinlin highly endorses getting braces for all the benefits that it can bring. To know what these are and to read her entire braces journey, head on to her blog.
2. Braces journey by Kristal
This summary of Kristal’s post about her journey with braces is the second installment where the dentist fixes her front braces in place. At the start of her blog, Kristal mentions that the separators that were initially placed in between her molars to create space to accommodate the braces were finally removed.After the removal of the separators, Kristal shares that the doctor gave her teeth a thorough cleansing.
Next, the back braces were attached. Kristal mentions that the doctor used a tool to push open a gap in between to fit the metal part of the braces. As this is set in place, the doctor makes sure that there is no gap in the middle of each for the rubber band to effectively tighten the teeth and correct the misalignment. Kristal does not leave out the fact that she felt a bit of pain during this stage, however the discomfort felt was tolerable.
Some extra treatment was made on Kristal’s teeth before the front braces were attached. In attaching the front braces, she says that a mouthguard was inserted in her mouth to keep the opening wide enough for the doctor to work on the procedure. Kristal recalls that she did not have trouble with keeping her mouth wide (thanks to the mouthguard) but had a bit of problem with her lips that were extremely dry and was about to give and bleed. Her doctor came to her rescue and spread Vaseline on her lips.
Following this procedure, Kristal shares that the doctor attached the ceramic on her front teeth (hot pink!). The metal braces were then pressed onto the ceramics to keep them in place. Kristal recalls not feeling anything at all during this stage. Rating the process, Kristal gave it a 1/10. It took a quick 15 minutes to finish this part of the braces’ installation.
Moving on, Kristal tells about the part where she found kind of scary—the attachment of metal wire and rubber bands. This was the part that she found hard to overcome as the doctor had to use a scissor to cut the wire inside of her mouth. Yes, you read that right—inside of her mouth! But, since her doctor was highly skilled, there was no injury at all. This was followed by the final step, which was the placing of the band.
Kristal concludes her blog by sharing what food she ate after getting her braces, most of which were porridge!
Here is the link to Kristal’s braces journey.
3. Braces journey by Felicia Alexiz
Felicia’s fate with braces began just after she graduated from Secondary School. In her blog, she narrates that she went to a polyclinic to have her teeth cleaned. Prior to the session, the dentist that attended to Felicia asked if she ever considered getting braces. She confesses that this is the third or fourth time that she got a recommendation for braces. So, the rest was history.
Before proceeding to her blog, do note that the different steps shared by Felicia is done on separate times. Her blog review on braces is broken down into several installments and is very extensive.
The very first step that Felicia shares in her review is her consultation. She went to an orthodontist specialist to have her teeth assessed. Upon assessment, it was found out that her teeth were overcrowded. Four of her teeth had to be removed in order to create extra space for movement when the braces are set in place.
After this step, Felicia mentions that she had gotten x-rays, photographs, and a mould of her teeth taken. The cost for this step alone is $232.10.
On her next visit to her orthodontist, Felicia recounts a shocking news that her dentist told her: she had to remove 8 teeth from her mouth. Later, it was decided that only 5 would be extracted out.
Felicia then records the step that came after this: the placing of separators or spacers. These are tiny rubber bands placed in between the molars to create space for the molar bands that will be set in place. She shares that she did not feel any major pain during the time when the separators were placed in between her teeth—it came 6 hours after the procedure!
The next procedure that followed was the installation of the Transpalatal Arch (TPA) and Lingual Arch (LLA). Before that, Felicia recalls that the separators were removed from in between her teeth. Bands were set around her molars and cemented in place. A new set of mould of her teeth was again made for her dentist to be able “to place an order for the nance appliance.” She says that the appliance is similar to the TPA.
Felicia reveals that her orthodontist changed her mind about the timeline of attaching her braces, so on her next visit she was surprised that her doctor proceeded to attach the nance appliance and braces in one go! She also explains how the nance appliance works. Felicia mentions that when the elastic bands were attached onto her braces she did not feel any pain. However, just one day after her braces got installed she reveals that her front teeth hurt so badly, to the point that she could not chew anything up front. In addition to this inconvenience, she says that the Nance appliance did not make eating any easier for her. Food got trapped into the appliance and she had a hard time dislodging the food from it.
Fast forward to the day that Felicia has been waiting for so long—the day when her braces were removed! Just like any other patient who has experienced (and agonized with) the use of metal braces, Felicia expresses her excitement in the opening of this last blog installment. Her teeth have come a long way from being tremendously crooked to being perfectly aligned. Felicia says that an added benefit to getting visually pleasing straight teeth is being able to clean them with ease. As the braces were removed, Felicia got a set of retainers for her to use and prevent her teeth from relapsing back to misalignment. She ends her journey with thanks to all her readers who patiently read each of her entries and hoped that her extensive chronicling of her braces journey could be of help to those who are thinking of getting one.
To read her monthly diary about her braces journey, Felicia makes it easier to access all through this entry.
