Wife's braces journey

Just a quick update. We've been traveling a lot this month, with trips to Prescott and Flagstaff (Arizona) and Las Vegas. Had a little braces hitch in Flagstaff. We were having dinner with some friends Saturday night after a beer festival and Carrie's rearmost right-side lower bracket popped off. This is the one she uses for her Class II elastic. She had to wait until Tuesday to get it fixed as a walk-in, which took about 90 minutes (most of which was waiting).

That's her third popped bracket, but luckily her ortho gives three "freebies" before charging to replace them!

We're now very close to her removal date, which is Thursday the 31st. I've ordered her both Essix and Hawley retainers. I'll do a video of the removal process, teeth shaping that her ortho has promised, and retainer delivery. She's also doing a whitening immediately, at home with a dental hygienist friend (also in braces!) who will just bring the supplies home from her office.

I think I'll also do a video where she can reflect on her whole braces experience and give the good and bad -- at least for normies.
 
sounds like she'll have a busy mouth for a few days!
what are your thoughts/feelings about finally having her braces removed?
 
My feelings are mixed. On the one hand, I'm sad that the active-treatment part of the "journey" is ending. On the other hand, I'm excited to explore the Hawley retainer aspect. I'm glad that Carrie can breathe a sigh of relief that the braces are finally coming off and she can feel she looks her best again. But mostly I'm profoundly grateful that I was able to experience this, and that I have a giant record of photos and videos documenting it all.
 
And the journey is complete! Carrie got her braces off yesterday after 22 months. A few details:

- She got both Hawley and Essix retainers.
- We kept her braces, which I may use to make a new set of fakes for her.
- They didn't even charge us for the second set of retainers!
- Her new Hollywood smile looks FANTASTIC! (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeinreallife/32008703987/in/dateposted/)

Video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGAXLo4842E

And now we go forth with lots and lots of retainer fun!
 
Wow Mike, such beautiful perfect teeth! I think I would have kept the braces too, but I bet she's pretty happy to have her mouth back. Thanks to both of you for letting the rest of us ride along with you on her journey.
 
Thank you for asking. She's doing fairly well with them. She was required to wear them 22/7 for about six weeks, then the ortho moved her to nighttime-only wear. She does forget occasionally, so I remind her and sometimes even have to wake her and put them in for her, haha.

She prefers the Essix for comfort, but wears the Hawleys a lot just because I prefer them. The Hawleys still induce a lisp, which I find charming.

I really need to have her make a video comparing the two retainer types.
 
So Carrie had her very final visit to Dr. Prince on Saturday. It was a pretty quick checkup on her retainers (both sets) and teeth positioning. She of course thanked Dr. Prince for his excellent work -- she's still thrilled with her smile -- and said goodbye.

The end of an era!
 
Thank you! Yes, Dr. Prince did fine work. Though Carrie didn't really "need" braces, she's thrilled with the improvement in her smile.
 
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