Hi guys! I’m here to share my bracing experience with you all, and write in down in permanent form before all memories of my bracing experience is lost. I did my bracing at year 2006 and finished it at 2007. Took me 1 and a 1/2 years for the whole duration of the treatment. The doctor used the Damon Bracing System on me and that is what I’ll talk about mainly. This guide is purely written based on personal experience so there might be room for error. Therefore, always check with your doctor and leave my guide as a secondary opinion. Now, let’s proceed!
The Beginning
This is it. The day you decide whether to have your teeth done or not. This is the point where you need to give up your good food, sacrifice your dad’s money and your precious time to fight for that winning smile that you’ve always wanted. Ever got laughed at because of your rabbit teeth? I did. Actually I wasn’t really bothered (at the point where I had my braces, I was 15 – 16 so I couldn’t be bothered about my looks) but my parents did. They say it was so bad, my lips look pursed all the time. -__-
Okay, first of all, you need to engage a doctor. For me, I engaged David Orthodontics to do it for me because I got influenced by my brother’s girlfriend. Actually my brother had already done bracing eons ago but I was too young to understand my parent’s good intention.
Now one thing to note about choosing a doctor: It’s very, very, very important. Before bracing, I’ve seen friends who went for government hospitals to ‘take a number’ and line up for their turn and end up getting their teeth fucked up. Sure, the gov hospital saved them from rabbit tooth-dom, but the teeth are still crooked. Why waste your time and go through that pain and end up with null results? It’s simply not worth it. Of course, if you have budget limitations, then that’s understandable.
When your doctor checks your teeth, bombard him with questions! Ask him everything you want to know. You’re the rice bowl for the doc and you have a right to leech the best services out of him. Get to know your teeth condition, how the whole procedure will go so you don’t open your mouth and wait for surprise buttshecks to happen.
I have a bracing buddy / classmate who just goes and opens his mouth for the doctor to do anything he wants without knowing his condition. How can? And I especially hate people like these because end up you kena bombarded with questions that are supposed to be directed to a doctor, not someone who has experience. Basically, everyone’s treatment is customized to suit your own needs so one will never know what you’re going through.
Settling Down with your Choice
So you’ve had a consultation with your doctor, he should be preparing what you need and what is suitable. In my guide, I’ll mainly talk about the Damon Bracing System, which is the one that I opted for (and the main choice of most patients). For your information, here are the available options. Again, this is strictly to my own knowledge, I’m not a pro, merely a girl sharing her experience.
The most conventional:
Damon Bracing System – In essence, uses metal brackets and pressure to align your teeth. Full information at the link. So clickie. 😀
The other (expensive) options:
- Invisalign – A state of the art alternative to braces that is virtually invisible to other people. Invisalign straightens your teeth utilising a series of clear, removable appliances called aligners. The aligners are customised for each patient by using 3-D computer technology to calibrate them and create between 12 and 48 aligners.
- Lingual Braces – The true invisible brace . These invisible braces are applied behind the teeth allowing you to smile with confidence. Patients who have worn both conventional and lingual braces will attest to the fact that invisible braces are more comfortable.
- Ceramic Braces – Like traditional braces these are worn on the front of the teeth, however unlike metal braces they blend with the color of the teeth. Ceramic braces are as effective as metal braces and will not stain.
Courtesy of Mona Lisa Smiles
Getting your Braces On
Aiyoh… It’s been a year plus since I did my bracing. So I’ll be vague. You can tell me things that I can add, miss out or point out mistakes by dropping me a comment. Here goes…
Firstly, your teeth will be cleaned. Then, they will stick the metal brackets on your teeth. Yes, stick it on. Of course, it’s glue. And it’s breakable, which is why people say it’s a pain to wear braces and eat food. You must take extra gentle bites when you have braces on. No apple biting and no cannibal style eating. (if you eat like an animal, ripping off meat from bones) 😛
After that, they will attach metal rings at four of your second backmost teeth. See the 4 pieces of metal in my picture? It was previously surrouding my teeth, collecting food, giving off foul smells, and when they took out, there was so much plaque stuck I grossed myself out… Ah, I better stop it. Yes, it’s unavoidable, so don’t complain. And you must take good care of your oral hygiene during your treatment.
- The ring is the ‘control centre’ of your braces. It is the fella that sustains the wire’s pressure. It is also the fella who have extra spaces to hook (optional) rubber bands should you need them in the progress of your treatment.
- After your metal brackets and the rings have been securely fastened, they’ll start you off with a very flimsy wire. Mind you, although it’s flimsy, it has great force that can make you in pain for several days. As your treatment progress, you will see that the doctor uses wires that are thicker and thicker by each treatment. You can hear the doc request different wires from the nurse before he finds the correct one to suit you, so no worries. ^^
- So what’s holding the wire and bracket together? It’s the infamous little coloured rubber that you see on a bracing patient. The rubbers are to be changed each time you visit the doctor so that you have sufficient elasticity to hold the thing back. It’s not as gruesome as this picture, but you get the picture hor?
For me, that’s where the fun was. Choosing which colour I’d like to have every month. The colour combos that I could remember were blue / pink, green / orange, pink / purple, black / white, and so on! So much fun aye? But of course, those who are working will opt for neutral coloours, hehe. Can’t afford to show off like a teenager who has nothing but her self image to lose. 😛
Along the whole course of treatment, the doctor will use several tools to correct your teeth according to your needs, so i won’t elaborate more on these. Here is a picture to show you one commonly used tool:
- This is the infamous rubber band, located at both sides of the teeth. For rabbit teeth fellas, to provide extra force to pull the teeth in. Where do they hook at? If you look at your Damon brackets closely, you’ll see some small little hooks. Those are there should there be any need for extra support. Sibeh gross hor? Looking back, I can’t imagine how I survived that duration of treatment, especially when speaking to my crush (who is now my current bf), he he he he… So girls, I told you you’re not alone, so don’t worry and let it be. 😉
The Progressive Treatment
Now that you’re kickstarted your treatment, you’ll need to visit the dentist monthly! No, you can’t afford to be lazy. If you’re lazy, you’ll only delay your treatment. So, be punctual and diligent. Have self-discipline! Since you know you’ll be spending 1 year or more for the treatment, make sure you won’t be involved in anything important like a wedding or a pageant that you wish to take part in.
The Pain
This is the main drawback that everyone who wishes to seek orthodontic treatment think about. Let you tell me how ‘painful’ it is. It’s not really ‘pain’ like you’re jabbed with a knife. The pain is due to slow and steady pressure that the braces put on you in order to push your teeth to the correct order. Personally, I call this sensation ‘pressure’ on my teeth. It feels sore in the first several months, and as you progress and when you upgrade to extra thick and tight rubbers, you’ll feel even worse. But the pain doesn’t stretch across the span of your whole orthodontic treatment, so don’t worry okay? It will last for several days nia, nothing geh. ^^
It’s not so bad that you need to put off the treatment. Patience, patience and patience.
The Process
Once you start your bracing treatment you are subjecting yourself to lifetime temporary imprisonment.
During the start of your treatment, the doctor will treat you very gently, giving you the mildest tools for you to get used to it. Then, he will wean you off by switching to the usage of thick wires which provide more pressure and thicker, longer rubbers which are pretty ‘tight’ to wear compared to the individual little coloured rubbers. This is essential because if you were to use the starting items, your treatment will take you forever to finish.
I wouldn’t elaborate more on this because everybody’s treatment ought to be different at this stage, and again, orthodontic treatments needs to be personalized to suit your needs. Any questions? Ask your doc. Doc poked a funny equipment into your mouth, making you scared about it? Ask him what is it. Probe him if you need to!
Possible Tooth Extractions
If you’re scared shit about tooth extractions and injections, you need to think twice before you do bracing. There is no backing out from this. I had 4 tooth extractions, as you can see from my picture, the 4 pieces of teeth lying on my desk. One of the teeth there is a bit crooked, stupid bugger had me in so much pain and anxiety when I took it off even under the effects of anesthetics.
Tooth extractions are done because the doctor needs room to push your teeth in to the correct order. Some people need some tooth to be extracted, some don’t. Good luck, commander.
The Results?
I’ll let pictures do the talking.
This is not a very obvious shot, but that’s the best I can find. 😦
Sorry, love this pic so much, dun wish to crop out my bf, sorry ya. 😛
Things you need to be aware of:
– Oral hygiene. Like teeth, braces can attract plaque and dirt. If you don’t take care of your braces, you will end up with very foul breath and extremely visible dirt on your teeth and braces, where the edges meet. For me, at the end of my treatment, which was 1 1/2 years later, there was yellow gunk stuck to my braces, it’s unavoidable but you must clean it well. Just try to do your best to prevent it.
– Eating habits. No chewing gum, no eating like a cannibal, no jagung, nothing. First few days after you change the rubber, it’ll be hell painful.
– No kissing. Unless you want to cut off your partner’s tongue, which I can assure you is not pleasant at al
l. (Dear, if you’re reading this, please thank God that I took off my bracing baru start pak toh with you. :P)
– Should any metal component poke you and cause you pain, relief yourself by using the dental wax provided and seek the doctor immediately. Usually for ’emergency’ cases like these, you don’t need to line up in the clinic. Usually the fixing procedure only takes more or less 15 minutes depending on how much damage you did.
– Weird occurrences in your mouth. See the big gap in my picture? That’s normal and will close as your braces does it’s job in putting your teeth in order. ^^
– ALWAYS communicate with your doctor with things that you aren’t sure. Don’t leave yourself doubtful then ask for second opinion from someone who isn’t professional enough to assure you.
Where to Do?!
I had my treatment done at David Orthodontics, a private specialist clinic located at Wisma Angkasa Raya, which can be seen right opposite KLCC. If you’re coming from Jalan Ampang, go further down without turning and you’ll see it.
A special thanks to Dr Muhammad, the doctor-in-charge of my case. I’ve always asked for him every time I visit the clinic, because he exudes confidence and is extremely friendly. 🙂
Jeez, I should ask them to pay me for this free advertising, but never mind lah, I’m here to share the experience, that’s all. 😛
Anyway, as I mentioned above, please try not to go to weird, unknown clinics or private hospitals unless you have financial problems. I have seen a couple of friends who suffer like shit to go through the treatment and end up losing their rabbit teeth, BUT ending up with crooked and uneven teeth. That’s not fair, isn’t it?! Which is why they say you pay for what you get.
How Much?
Typical Damon System Braces in my clinic costs RM4500++ in my clinic. It varies from place to place so you better do some survey before walking in into the clinic. It’s not a one-time visit, you’ll be visiting the doctor till you’re done with your treatment, so choose well!!!!!
Something that you need to note is you’ll be paying additional money for stuff like retainers and all those, so be sure to ask very clearly about the prices. Some fishy clinics may ask you to pay a fixed price and boast that they have no additional charges, and end up asking you to please pay for the retainers after you’re done with your treatment. So, please get to know what you’re going to pay.
Additional Options
There are also optional treatments which you may be interested. I opted for something called ‘Internal Retainers’ (or whatever it’s called) which is an alternative to the typical plastic retainer. With the internal retainer, I can choose not to wear the normal retainer at daytime and only wear the normal retainer at night.
Don’t want to wear this fugly normal retainer during daytime? Ask your doctor about ‘internal’ retainers instead.
The internal retainer is a piece of metal that is stuck with special glue on the back of your teeth. Pics? I don’t know how to show you, anyone got a good camera that I can stick into my mouth to shoot? 😛
So for those who are finishing their treatment, ask whether your clinic provides this if you’re interested.
Self Conscious?
I understand that some of you are already in the workforce and are very particular about looks. But let me just say this – the results that you get are simply fantastic. I’ve heard gals who complain they can’t kiss because of braces. Well, answer this: Would you like to approach your loved one looking like this?
For me, the latter wins hands down. Anyway, it’s not a death sentence, maybe it’d be fun to check out ways to kiss with braces on? Then you can brag about how you and your guy get tangled when you were kissing with braces and… (insert sentence here) 😛
In short, the results are simply worth going through the pains. So if you are able to afford treatment, go do it!
And also, bracing treatment can also improve overall oral health. No more weird gaps that your toothbrush can’t reach because your teeth is properly aligned. How cool is that?
I hope you enjoy reading my guide. 🙂 Do drop me a comment and tell me how you feel okay?!