My Journey to Straight teeth!

I haven't always had straight teeth. I wore braces when I was 15 (Aug 2005) and removed it when I was 17 (Mar 2007). I was hesitant to put on braces initially as I heard horrible and painful experiences from friends which turned out to be lies. Ok, maybe part of it was true but overall it was ok and I love my teeth now. It costed my mom about 4K in total as I did not "queue-up" for the government one when I was in Primary School. 

 Look at me when I was still 3 or 4, the right one is me. The cute big eyed little girl is my sissy. So cute right! The main thing is I had crooked teeth even when I had my milk teeth! wts :(

This was when I was 13. Look at those "vampire' teeth and super crooked front 4 teeth. At that time, I really didn't care. I thought it was very "me" to have crooked teeth. After awhile, all my friends started to get braces and I got brave enough to do it. Since everyone can withstand the pain, I guess I can as well. 

This was taken during one of Prefects' Chalet in 2004. Proud of my ugly teeth. HAHA!

This probably marks the changes in me before I put on braces. The very first one was taken when I was Primary 6. Then, subsequently should be Sec 1, Sec 2, Sec 2, Sec 3 and when I was making IC. Oh my, I think I look quite different now.

There I am with my braces and my sister who has straight teeth. Tsk!

I was really tan back then from all the marching under the hot sun during NPCC and netball I guess. Such an outdoorsy person I was. What happened? hahahaha

Anyway, I had to remove two teeth from the top and I thought it was going to be painful but it turned out fine. 

This one I look horribly chao-tah (after NPCC's ATC I think) and I was going through the phase when I hated to smile with my teeth showing as I looked like I had rabbit's teeth. Yucks! 

I was a really disciplined person when I had my braces. My orthodontist told me that I should refrain from drinking coloured drinks like Coke and so, I did not even take a sip of any colored drink when I had braces. The most was fruit juices or liang-teh once in awhile. I try to brush my teeth as often as I can and I even bought those little brushes to brush in between the braces after I eat. I was really afraid my teeth will decay because of the food stuck in between the teeth and braces.

So, hurray to healthy teeth and I removed my braces when I entered JC. I didn't really take many photos when I was in JC (mugger-mode ON). This is my class photo:)

And, this is how my teeth looks like now. For the first 2 years, I really wear my retainers every single night and sometimes even in the day. Only after I met Mr Yang that I got lazy as he told me it was ok to not wear for 1 night. 1 night became 2 then 3 then 4......

So, why this sudden post? It was because I recently had my retainers re-made at NUS Dentistry! The total cost was only a mere $134.80. I checked the prices outside before and I was quoted at least $500. Thanks to Yushan who is doing his braces at NUS Dentistry, he helped me get this good deal! My retainers followed me for almost 4 years and as you can see from the photos below, it broke. (because I accidentally sat on it, HAHAHAHA) I guess I grind my teeth in my sleep, otherwise why would there be holes. LOL

This is my new pair of retainers which was moulded according to my teeth now (rather straight, not completely). My teeth actually still shift very often. I still feel a bit of pain when I put on the retainers. Good thing is that this set of retainers came with a proper box, unlike the previous one. I hope I don't sit on this new set again.

Some friends were asking if the quality is good and stuff since it's so cheap. In my opinion, I think it is actually equally good. But the thing is I can't remember how my 1st set of retainers felt like when it was new. But, this new set fits my teeth nicely and it's new! Heh! Though my dentist at NUS dentistry is not a full-fledge dentist yet but I think he was equally good. He still needed some guidance but I felt that I was in good hands since there are so many other experienced dentists helping around. Jared, my dentist, told me that my top right wisdom tooth is fully grown out already and I should remove it. It's only going to cost me $8 :D HAPPY MAX! 

That's all to my journey to straight teeth:) If you're having thoughts about putting on braces, just do it. You won't regret it though I could only eat porridge when I tightened it back then. :X Also, if you're really tight on budget, visit NUS Dentistry to see if you can do it at a cheaper cost but of course, they're not full-fledge orthodontist if you don't mind. 

Remember to always brush your teeth! Very important! Bye!