Some time later

After spending all that money having my teeth straightened, I spent a little bit more and got a teeth whitening kit from my dentist.

This comprised a new mould and a set of much softer 'trays' in which I put a fairly strong gel bleach. This only needed doing for a couple of hours - not overnight, so it doesn't interfere with needing to wear the rigid, nighttime retainers - and only every three days or so.

I was warned to avoid anything that might colour the teeth such as coffee, wine, curry, tomato, etc as the bleaching apparently opens up the surface of the teeth. I wasn't too strict about this but I did avoid curry!

The bleach can make your teeth quite tingly and sensitive for about 12 hours after using them so, as I was doing my bleaching in the afternoon (I work from home) I found that by supper time eating any chewy was quite uncomfortable so I either had to cook easy-to-eat food or take an ibuprofen tablet first. Or both.

After a few weeks, I was happy with the result so I've kept half a tube of gel for top-ups, perhaps for a special event.

So here's a final pair of pictures showing the before:

23rd August 2013

 and after:

April 2016, six months after the appliances came off

Not perfect, but job well done, I think.

Week 111: Two years, six weeks later

At last! Two years, six weeks and a couple of days after the appliances went on it was finally time to take them off. What a relief! There was ten minutes of rather alarming sounding noises as the brackets were clipped off, followed by some polishing off of the remaining cement.

Next, some permanent retainers were added. These are made of thin gold chain and were cemented very discreetly onto the inside on the upper and lower front six teeth. Virtually invisible.

This was followed by a new mould taken so that a removeable nighttime plastic retainer could be made. This will have to be worn for about a year so ensure that no untoward movement of the teeth happens, as the bone in the jaw won't be fully settled just yet.

Amazingly, the plastic retainers were ready the next afternoon. They're quite comfortable and almost invisible, being quite clear. It was a bit difficult talking with them in but, like the brackets and wires, you get used to them and adapt.

Weeks 101 to 110: the final stretch

The final tweaks just seemed to go on for ever and ever. I began to wonder if it would ever finish.

I now had to deal with minute elastic bands - about 7mm in diameter - which hooked across from brackets on my top teeth to those on my lower teeth at the sides. I only wore these at nighttime, thank goodness.

Weeks 70 to 100: are we nearly there, yet?

By week 85 the actual straightening was finished but it wasn't all over yet.

The next job was to close up the gaps left by the removal of two pre-molars in the lower jaw and the two gaps left by childhood orthodontic work by 'the school dentist' back in the 1960s. (No retainers in those days, so much of the work carried out then reversed itself over the years.)

Until now, it hadn't been explained to me what the little bits sticking out the top of the last brackets (out of the bottom on the lower jaw) were for. Now I found out: The front teeth were held together as a unit, with wires twisted in figures of eight across the bracket, then pieces of elastic 'chain' were strapped to the back bracket and stretched until it was hooked over the side bracket. One each side, top and bottom. Quite uncomfortable each time for a few days as the two sets of six front teeth were being pulled backwards.

Weeks 11 to 70

For this long period the rate of change slowed down somewhat and my visits to the orthodontist moved from weekly to roughly every five to six weeks.

By week 70 (February 2015) I was thinking... perhaps it will be finished by our holiday, (early June), by my birthday (late June) or by our next break (mid-July). But it wasn't to be.

With this work you have to be very, very patient and I must admit that by now I was getting rather despondent, thinking it would never finish.

Week 10 - what a difference

I'm pleased to say that this week I had new, stronger wires and these are held with little twists of coated wire, rather than elastic. So curry is no longer such an issue.

And I can't believe how much my lower teeth have moved in just 70 days:

Week 7: no more sore cheeks

Hello, I'm conscious that it's a very long time since I updated this blog. My appliances came off last year and I now have discreet fixed retainers. More on that later.

In the meantime... I sorted out the problem of the wires and brackets cutting into my cheeks. It sounds strange, but believe me, it works!

1. Get some cotton cosmetic cleansing pads. NB: they must be cotton and not poly-cotton; I discovered these don't work. If you can get the larger, oval ones, they are more economical.
2. Cut the pads into strips about 5-7mm wide and about 15-20mm long. You'll get to know the best size.
3. Place a strip on your right forefinger if placing the strip in the left side of your mouth, or left forefinger for the right side of your mouth.
4. Carefully hold it under a gently running the cold tap and wet the strip.
5. Next, suck the water out of the strip (best not to be wearing lipstick when you're doing this!)
6. Move your tongue around your mouth to get some saliva produced and press the strip onto your tongue to absorb some of the saliva on both sides.
7. Carefully press your finger over the wire and brackets then lift your finger away - hopefully leaving the strip in place.
8. Close your mouth and suck hard which should pull the strip tighter over wire and brackets.

It takes a bit of getting used to but I can promise that I never swallowed one once, even at night, but do remember to remove them before eating food and replace them after your meal.