Finally.. nearly 6 months into consideration and savings, i’ve started on my braces treatment on 22th March 2017. About 2 weeks ago, i had my first appointment with the clinic, having my mould and x-rays done with the first payment of $500+GST.
I have prepared myself from reading a lot from bloggers, people’s experiences, youtube, and even friends who has put on braces before (i think i’m really a bugger >_<)

I’ve gotten my mould on my 2nd appointment. They look scary, like dinosaur teeth! Look how bad my teeth looks? It actually hinders with the chewing every time and causes my lower 2 teeth to chip badly.

My appointment with Dr Alfred Cheng was at 4pm, i went alone feeling excited and nervous, unsure of how bad it would hurt and all.. but the thought of getting a perfect bite and a sharper face is enough to bring my fears away for a moment =D

Dr Cheng was fast! Finishing the whole procedure within 20-30mins i suppose? Pretty sure he is really experienced and there was almost no pain. I chose blue rubber bands, but i think they don’t look very nice on me, so i’m going to try pink on my next trip)

2nd payment made: $1000+GST (Subsequent payment will be $100+GST every month you visit the clinic for tightening).

I took photos before braces, they look totally awful till i felt pretty much ashamed of them. Argh! They look horrible! 

And so… i made dinner appointments with my friends earlier, because i was so curious about what i could eat or not? Happily texting my other friends proudly claiming that there is no pain and it was fun! They replied with one question…”Have you try eating?”

Hahaha~ Yes they are right! I went around food stalls, deciding on what i think i could eat and settled down with “Ban Mian”, they look like the softest and mashy-est food i could find, but hell no! As i put these lovely soft noodles into my mouth, i realised i could not bite at all! The jaws felt tight, they are not strong enough to even chew on the softest food ever, feeling upset.. i had little dinner and as i try to eat, my gums starts hurting….

Over the days.. i could only eat soft mash food like mashed potatoes, watery porridge, lots of blended fruits. I felt upset because i love to eat! Looking at all the “real food” i could bite and chew daily has now become a luxury to me. New mouth ulcers were developing every day, and i just don’t wish to even talk. I laughed at myself for taking 2 long hours to finish a bowl of porridge. Every bite i try to bite, my gum hurts, however i do realised if i practice my chewing, the pain would get lesser and lesser each time, by 2 weeks i could almost eat like normal for soft food like fish and boiled potatoes..

Days later, i took photos again because i’m really excited to see if there are any changes, and there are movements! You can see the two lower front teeth are chipped off badly ya? Yup~ that’s due to the overbite and supposedly it will get worsen over the years.

I started eating prawns, crayfish meat, pork, vegetables by the 4th week, the front teeth that we use to tear food, is almost useless, so i always have a pair of scissors with me to cut food into smaller pieces in case i couldn’t sink my teeth into them. People tells me not to eat vegetables because it would be difficult and they get stuck in your braces, but i still eat them pretty much for a balanced diet. Other than scissors, a toothbrush is also a necessity whereever i go, because i love to eat and i wouldn’t want to smile or laugh with food stuck in my braces.

Baby toothbrushes!!! Awwwww… can’t they cute? These are of my 2 favourite characters, baby piglet and little mermaid-Ariel! When i was a child, my family wasn’t that rich and so i never had a chance to get these cute little brushes. 

Brushing is also a challenge, i’m supposed to brush my teeth part by part in a rubbing motion but my normal toothbrush seems to be a little hard to reach the end and they were too big to use for individual tooth, so i bought baby toothbrushes!! Hahaha!

~”~

1 month into my next appointment, it was a rainy friday morning. I had to woke up really early in the morning for the appointment in order to make it for work after that. I couldn’t think much as the whole procedure of changing the bands were so painful (i felt my teeth were forcefully pulled apart), that i teared unknowingly. I used pink bands this time, but realised they still don’t look nice enough because the color looks too pale.

Chewing is tough but not as bad as day 1, i was already trying to eat hotpot on day 2! People says when one is on braces, you could hardly eat that you would definitely slim down, but i think that’s not the case for me because i’m too much of a glutton! hahaha~ The only thing that bothers me are mouth ulcers. My face starts to get slimmer and sharper, which is really amazing:- the power of braces.

I spoke to quite a few people from Singapore who are younger and have gone/are going to such surgery to correct their jaw deformities. Many do not understands that as years goes by, this deformities could cause problems to your daily lifestyle, example unable to chew food properly thus causing indigestion, breathing problems and so on… not all deformities can be fixed by braces alone, and that’s how jaw surgeries comes into the picture.

I’m counting down to the date probably 5 more months to my jaw surgery where the jaws will be properly aligned. It’s already looking so good now that sometimes i wonder is there really a need for surgery? However, i still trust the professionals because i know of a lot of friends who went to him but not everyone was suggested the surgery.

Ok~ logging off now.. have not been updating much on recipes and shall do that soon!

Sign off,
Judy Bakez