Unbraced

Yesterday the braces came off my upper teeth, after about 17-1/2 months. This felt a lot more significant than when I had the lowers removed a few weeks back, probably because the uppers went on first, and because the major phase of the process is now over.

My palate did not open up quite as much as I'd hoped, so I don't think I'll be experiencing any remarkable end to my snoring, but the alignment problems that plagued my teeth my whole life are gone, which was really the more important goal, and most of my cross-bite has been eradicated.

Now come several months of fine-tuning, starting with wearing clear, molded plastic temporary retainers. I'll go back in a month and the dentist will look at how the teeth are settling in, and what sort of adjustments he might want to make.

Eating is now much easier than it's been in quite some time, since I don't have wires trapping bits of food. I also have a new appreciation for proper brushing technique, and I've acquired a Sonicare gadget, which is supposed to be the cat's pajamas for keeping your teeth ultra-clean--we'll see.