The pursuit of having a bilateral, pearly set of teeth crept into my consciousness even before I knew my multiplication table. I had been a big fan of cute American girls beaming an expansive smile revealing a bracketed set of 20++ perfectly aligned teeth. I would’ve traded my Barbie dolls for braces laced with fluorescent pink elastics from end to end. Little did I know that it would be a very long wait before I could experience the sheer bliss of running my tongue over the sharp corners of cemented brackets.
one happy smile
So, I waited…
My panoramic jaw x-ray showed that the size of my jaws could not contain all the big chunks of second molars that were erupting into my mouth. I suppose the impacted molars were trapped somewhere inside my gums. I did not understand any of this. The next thing I knew was I was being swung down a dental chair and tada!–my initiation to the wonderful world of conscious sedation had begun.
panoramic jaw x-ray
I can still vividly recall the bitter-sweet aftermath of each of the 13 impacted teeth (of all sorts) that was extracted from my premature jaws—the tingly sensation on my gums that once held a healthy tooth, the blood blotted pillows, the oversized protrusion in my cheek that is a cotton ball cushion, and, best of all, an unbeatable diet of pure decadence: ice cream (of all sorts) that can be prolonged (with a bit of acting skills) for three days.
13 teeth less after… still, I waited…
I was appointed to go back to the clinic. After days of blissful anticipation, I readied myself and proceeded in my favorite floral dress. To my dismay, not a bracket was cemented on my teeth. I knew that the procedure usually takes two hours; mine was less than a fraction of a minute. My kind dentist simply handed me a tiny silver key and a plastic case of some sort. The content was a grave nightmare, a merciless modern-day torture item—an Expansion.
I cried every time my dad would pop the key in my expansion, expanding the mouthpiece a tenth of a millimeter each time. My suffering brought much hope to my kind dentist as she saw incremental improvement on my teeth that only a dentist could see. Soon, I got used to my slime green colored mouthpiece-companion. This lasted for almost a year, until it was accidentally thrown into a garbage chute.
I waited, still…
Five years later, my much-awaited desire was fulfilled. My teeth were lined with braces. Though a bit substandard, I thought they were dazzling.
Two years after, I severely dislocated my lower jaw. Good-bye braces, hello splint.
Again, I waited…
A special kind of braces was cemented on my teeth, not porcelain but state-of-the-art—better than those on the cute American girls.
Now that waiting is over and my braces are gone, looking back makes me think that maybe having a teeth phobia of some sort would have added sheer thrill to this article.
~FEARLESS IN PINK
hahahahaha. That was so funny! You know what? I wore braces for 4 long years, from 1st year – 4th year highschool. I still remember I can’t even smile when someone takes a picture of me and my classmates.
Thank God my teeth are now liberated from those oppressive braces. I remember the sensation of taking out my braces. My lips seemed flabby then. And look at my teeth now?
Braces have been part of the geek stereotype, and for geeks like us, it’s like a nerdy brand.
DECODE GEEKS RULE! haha.
Really?… resplend3nt, I never thought you had braces before. I also had my share of the 4 long years of braces. I was a delinquent patient back then that’s why it took me that long to get the dentist approval to remove it. I remember the time when it was removed… It was like brining down the Berlin wall… finally… all the food can come in without restrain!
Food glorious food… I used to restrain myself from eating foods that either destroy my braces or sticks on it. I bet you can still remember those painful times after the dentist tightens the braces… whew.. even brushing your teeth was a struggle since the teeth are so sensitive… Oh well.. Those memories belong to the past already and now we can enjoy the benefits brought by those braces. a perfect bite for chewing food.
I wonder why geeks are stereotyped with braces?
Yeah, that assumption prevailed for the longest time. But geeks nowadays have finally come to realize that a drizzle of style and taste is what it takes to be the perfect geek incognito. You’ll be surprised, geeks can disguise themselves to be just like anyone.
Haha. i always wanted to look like the stereotype geek. i tried my best to spoil my perfect vision so i would have a reason to wear lisa loeb glasses!
for a semester when i was in school i succeeded! but the success was short lived. my vision got corrected and i was back to my perfect 20-20 vision. sigh. good bye lisa loeb glasses.
Hi geeks! I wore braces, too. For 8 years! Yep, from 4th year high school until my third year in the labor force. Talk about being a delinquent patient. But I’m trying to make up for it now, I wear my retainers and have them adjusted soon when it becomes too loose. Now that I think about it, am I already obsessed with my teeth? Hahaha. About a month ago my dentist confirmed that all four of my third molars are impacted and will have to be surgically removed should I wish to keep my almost-perfectly straight teeth. My first reaction was, “Oh cool! I get to go on vacation, catch up on my reading and do some research.” Last week I had the upper and lower left molars taken out, and guess what, after the anesthesia wore off the only thing I could do about the pain was to sleep it off. That went on for about two days so I didn’t catch up much on the reading bit. FEARLESS IN PINK, I don’t know how you were able to deal with 13 extractions. Were they all taken out in one day?
I wore braces for eight years, too! Oh, goodness, no. The horrid operations were spread out over a span of 12 years. My first ortho (the kind one) started fiddling with my dentine when I was 8 yo. I was 16 when I had my last extraction. I should say that I gave her and my many other dentists severe predicament cause though I was wholly submitted to the procedure, my tooth and gums were inseparable like strawberries and cream. There’s even one time when one of my later dentists had to exert a forceful maneuvering in my mouth that she even had to elevate one leg on a stool beside my head just to pull that stubborn tooth out. HEHEHEHE. Such a cool moment is worth retelling, over and over.<: Cooler moments please?