My Journey to gaining straight teeth

 Okay so this is a bit of a different post today, and although i know most people have braces etc i thought id share my personal experience, with having braces not once but twice. For a long time before having braces my crooked teeth were a massive problem for me, knocking my self confidence aswell as affecting my eating due to the poor bite. I got teased tbh for my appalling teeth, some people moan about crooked teeth whereas in reality on or two teeth are a bit on the wonky side. my teeth were HORRENDOUS, infact all of my front teeth were completely twisted (hence why no photos cause i hated my photo being taken). For a while i was given a take out brace, which in all honesty spent most of its time in its box, however i persevered for a year and my front teeth began to move a little (top two photos are my teeth after a year of a take out brace). Then finally D Day arrived and i was told i could have a train track, finally a brace that would straighten my problem gnashers more than my silly take out one ever would. These were placed with a cost, being both a needle phobe aswell as a dental phobe, i had to face my fears and have 6 teeth out under anesthetic (im to scared to sit in a dentists chair and have it done). and finally in 2008 my train tracks were fitted. 

I had no problems with my train track, okay my teeth bloody hurt when the wires were tightened, but the massive noticeable difference in my teeth kept me going (two photos on middle row were taken during my time wearing train tracks), and excitedly in October 2009, i had my braces removed. I was given a retainer very similar to my take out brace, and every 6 weeks i had to go back to have the retainer tightened. However merely 6 months later my local orthodontics closed and i was left waiting to hear from orthodontics elsewhere, during that time my teeth began to move quite a bit, which i just thought was normal, which was until my normal dentist turned round and said my teeth had rapidly moved within two months and that i should pester the orthodontics to check my teeth. (bottom photos, first taken when brace was removed and second when they began to move) So in August last year i went to the new orthodontics, hoping that my retainer would be altered, to find the orthodontist and consultant saying that i had a problem with my bite which had never been addressed, which was the cause of my teeth moving back. So in September last year i found myself visiting the orthodontists chair once again to have train tracks fitted, this time i found the whole process of having them fitted slightly traumatic, with thick blocks of cement being placed on my lower back teeth to prevent myself from closing my teeth together whilst altering my bite. This time around i had problem after problem, with wires snapping and brackets breaking off, but i persevered once again, knowing that the end result would be worth it, and today, well i finally got to see the final result as my braces were finally removed (hopefully for the last time), and all i can say is that i cant stop smiling, this time around ive been given retainers that fit around my teeth (almost like a gum shield), so now hopefully the teeth ive waited so long for will finally stay that way :) 

For those who already have braces or are thinking about having them, all i have to say is its totally worth it, theres times when you want to rip them off, the brackets might snap, wires might dig, but each time the orthodontist tightens those wires and you watch those teeth move, just think of the end result and how worth it, it will be!! The photo on the right was taken this morning and all i can say is that im a very happy bunny!!

Have you had braces? how was your experience with them??