Before and After Braces—Braces Off, Underbite Fixed and The Perfect Teeth

My braces are finally off! They've all come off, and I am completely done with the crooked metal-mouthed smile I once had.

Replaced with a spread of plastic goodness in the form of my Essix upper retainer...

Joy! But I'll deal. It has been almost 2 months wearing it full-time now, since I got my uppers off, and that means 1-2 more months of full-time wear, replaced by nighttime wear—for life!

So, it's a lazy Sunday morning, and as a lazy individual (read: busy), I've decided to finally bite the bullet and find some time in my hectic schedule (read: time meant for sleep) to update my (post-!) braces situation.

Artist's depiction:

I sincerely apologise for the delay in posting. I have been really busy and haven't really found a spare second for myself and my friends and my family, let alone my blog readers (you) out there. Thank you for being amazing! Alright, you can put away those sad sounding violins, and I'll get to the post.

Update, yay! My braces are finally off. I can't stop saying it, really. Almost 2 months later, may I add.

Sorry for the delay!

They came off on the 22 November, after 9 months and 22 days, and look how pretty my brace-less teeth look!

I didn't think that this post was too much of an update though, perhaps that's why I've been putting it off. For, you've already seen my uppers naked, mind you!

For me it was momentous as I had no more hardware in my mouth, but for you, well, I just got my bottom braces off. Seems like hardly a thing to share because everyone is more concerned about their uppers—as far as the fastidious nature of braces is concerned on a direct visual level...

Nevertheless, braces came off, I became happy. That's the story of happy teeth.

I'm seeing my orthodontist in (I think) about 3 months from my debanding date, for a check up and to see how things are going. I'm also planning to see my dentist soon for a dental health check up, and perhaps doing something about extreme whitening, but I'm not sure I want to do that with my general dentist. Something more professional perhaps, but that's another story...

I don't have to wear an Essix retainer on my lowers, as I had a fixed, bonded lingual retainer applied when I got my lower braces off. The fact I don't have to wear another Essix retainer is quite great, but my orthodontist did say a month before I got them off that I'd be getting a lower Essix retainer. I'm not sure why he changed his mind or neglected to let me know why it wouldn't be the case. As I've mentioned, great orthodontist (read: sarcasm).

So.

Keep the comments coming! I'm not too sure when, or if, I'll update anytime soon, but I'll always be here to respond to anything that comes through. I always get email notifications of all your comments, questions, queries, etc. so I'll be sure to respond whenever that happens. And please let it do! I love getting questions and comments, much obliged and happy to respond, all the while through smiling teeth!

Blatant plug and call for help: something that I ask all you lovely people to do to help me out would be to click on any of the banner the ads you see on my blog. They're not for me or my product or anything to do with me, but I do get a few cents for a click of each different ad, and even more for an email sign up or something like that, so you'd be helping me out a whole lot. Thanks in advance, wonderful people!

I've collected a rundown of my time in braces, as month-by-month breakdown of my journey from underbite to perfect teeth. Pretty much all photo captions except for the last are hyperlinked, so you can click on them to access the blog posts detailing my blog post for that period of time, which will also open in a new window. The following aren't absolutely all of my posts, just a select few which show the progress update breakdown of the movement of my teeth.

Before Bite

Before

After 3 Months Plate Wear

Day 1

1 Month

2 Months, 7 Days

2 Months, 28 Days

3 Months, 21 Days

4 Months, 26 Days

5 Months, 17 Days

6 Months, 14 Days

7 Months, 25 Days

8 Months, 21 Days

9 Months, 6 Days

9 Months, 11 Days—Uppers After

  After 9 Months, 22 Days

This seems like a goodbye, but it's more like a see you later. Here's to happy smiling! 

Salut!

And, I'll leave you with a parting quote I found—

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.

Underbite Fixed with Braces Only

I got ceramic braces—to fix an underbite class III malocussion—which has now been corrected after under three months. I thought I would make an update, and just outline that the main reason I am recording my progress in this braces blog is not only to document the changes of my teeth, but to allow others to see my experience of fixing an underbite with braces only. When I was searching for information prior to going ahead with—and during—treatment, I was surprised at the lack of resources about the orthodontic procedures available for those with an underbite, who of which are not willing or able to undergo orthodontic corrective jaw surgery.

I felt really lost in the dark, and admittedly, quite frankly confused. I thought braces fixed all types of problems with teeth, no sweat (just time), and not just overbites, as predominantly seen in the majority of cases. In so far as my understanding goes, the use of braces only, can and will fix an underbite if the malocclusion is not skeletal—or that of the jaw structure—and not to an extensive degree. It is understandable that those with quite severe jaw underbite malocclusions will inevitably require surgery to align the jaws, and this can be unavoidable for some.

My teeth and jaws however, were not of the extreme case—although still quite obviously misaligned—and I can't stress enough, that the use of braces only, as well as expander plate wear, were able to fix my teeth and move them into a correct bite.

Of course, all individual situations are obviously different, and a professional opinion is advised, but I thought I would document my case for those looking for information on such a niche and rarely detailed orthodontic situation. Bite problems are very common, and I was surprised at the apparent oversight and lack of information available to document such orthodontic treatment progress.

Because I love photos, and all sorts, below are two pictures of my teeth before, and two pictures 3 months and 5 days into braces, because my smile picture says a lot—with pretty glitter lip gloss to boot! My underbite was officially (me being the 'official'!) gone after 2 months and 7 days of wearing braces, and I couldn't be happier, and smilier!

Before Bite

Before

After 3 Months, 5 Days

After 3 Months, 5 Days

I obviously still have a bit of a way to go, but you'll have to admit that it's a good start to what is a perfect smile! Both my centrelines are a little bit off on the top and bottom, my front right incisor (on your left) is still little bit crooked and I have an unhappy, little gap forming between my front teeth, which I assume is moving the centreline.

I will continue to update my progress along the whole journey, and I will happily take any questions you may have or comments you would like to share. I hope my story helps at least one person decide that their underbite has got to go, and be replaced by a smile that they've always wanted.

Update: Since, I have updated this blog entry because I have had my braces removed, and here's a more definitive look at what I've achieved, and I think you'll agree that the results are beyond amazing. I couldn't be any much happier.

You can see how great the bite looks, and the underbite, well you can say a big bye-bye to that one! These are my teeth after 9 months and 11 days into wearing braces, when my upper bands were removed.

Underbite, be gone! I am so happy I can smile with my teeth now, it's smile-inducing in and of itself! Here's to happy teeth and happy smiles!

Update: 9 months, and 22 days later, I am completely done with braces. Underbite gone, braces off, The perfect smile. I can now smile a perfect smile with very happy teeth inside a very happy girl's mouth, practically beaming with perpetual smiles.

Before During After

Be sure to check out my last post, detailing my whole journey, with photos, found here: Before and After Braces—Braces Off, Underbite Fixed and The Perfect Teeth

Happy smiling!