Most of you know that I've had braces for the past six months and although many of you would say 'wow, that was fast' when seeing me get them off yesterday. I would beg to differ. It wasn't the braces as much as these buttons they put in so I could not close my teeth together. Yes, the braces were painful and scratchy, but these buttons were placed on my canines and kept me from closing my mouth. Basically, I couldn't chew for 6 months. How would I eat? Well, I'd cut all of my food up into small pieces and throw it back on the left side of my mouth. I'd savor the taste and take it down. Over time, I was able to figure out how to move things around and chew slightly, but if I ever bit down. My top teeth and bottom teeth would crunch this button that was between them. Have you ever had an old metal cavity fall out and you crunched down to an annoying and painful feeling of grit. Well, that is what it felt like. So for me, 6 months seemed like eternity. Every month when I'd get them tightened, yes it was painful for that first week and oh the wires that scratched my cheeks were even worse. So onto the good stuff though. This braces system is called Six Month Smile and I have to say that it is awesome. I needed braces for an overbite when I was young, but since my teeth looked straight and our finances were low, I never got them. Over time, stress caused me to grind my teeth and I started to slowly shift my bottom jaw backwards. In the meantime, I started wearing down the enamel on all of my back teeth. Then the spaces started to form between my front teeth. What was happening was my bottom teeth were starting to push my top teeth outward. It was so gradual over time that I didn't notice until these past few years. A space between my front two teeth that was not there a year ago, started to be big enough where I couldn't even floss because it wouldn't matter. During early college, I met a guy named Numpal Diejti. I dated his roommate and they were in Med school together. Ironic thing was that he was Thai. We hit it off from the moment we met. Like an instant brother sister bond. Even after the year dating his roommate, we remained friends. During his time in Dental school, he would tell me that I need to wear a mouth guard to protect my teeth from grinding. Of course, he made me some lovely hard plastic, annoying mouth guards and I'd wear them for a bit, but then forget about it. We lost touch after a while....just both onto serious relationships and different cities. I had dentists tell me through the years that I needed to wear mouth guards or I'd have dentures one day. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it was just that they were painful to wear. They put so much pressure on my teeth plus they were like gigantic mouth pieces so I couldn't close my mouth. If I can't close my mouth - I don't sleep. I'm sure I've spent at least $1,000 on mouth guards that I'd wear a few months and then 'lose' them. A few years ago, I was eating at Jimmy Johns when I hear 'OMG, Angie' and it was Numps. We hadn't seen each other in probably 7 or 8 years. He told me that he had a Dental practice just down the road and I told him I worked just down the road. He told me to come in and be his patient. Because I'm a creature of habit, I never called to make that first appointment until December 2010, almost 3 years later. But I'm glad I did. The spaces in my front teeth were getting worse and I knew it was time to get a mouth guard I'd actually wear or figure something out. Numps instantly told me I needed braces to fix my teeth and then he'd custom make a mouth guard that I'd wear every night. So goes the past six months of braces. Because of my overbite, my top teeth would push my bottom brackets off, so he put the annoying buttons in my mouth. I called them fangs because that is exactly what they looked like. I got my braces on February 7th and I got them off yesterday on August 8th...almost exactly 6 months. This system is for adults. It is an aggressive system with higher pain, but faster results. They use clear brackets and clear wires so they are hard to see. I will have to admit that even in pictures, you couldn't even tell I was wearing braces up until that final month when he put a metal wire on. Regardless, they were great and I'd recommend that Six Month Smile System, as well as Dr. Numpal Deijti (O'Fallon, MO) to anyone. He is the kind of doctor that takes the extra time to make sure your cavities look like teeth. Or the extra appointment to make sure you are comfortable. I'm not just saying this because we are friends. I've referred people and they said the same thing. He is a great doctor. His staff is great too. All of them always asked about Tia and baby #2. They were fun to talk to and be around. It is a great office. So check out Monticello Dental online and tell Numps I sent you his way!
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