I recently had my braces removed after about ten months of having them on. In this article, I want to talk about my experience with them, the fees, and the results. Bear with me here. This is quite a lengthy entry, but I hope it will help you in some way.
A Brief History
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| Here I am, happily smiling with my diastema. |
First of all, I’d like to mention that the braces weren’t my first dental appliance. When I was a kid, I had this knack for inserting my fork and spoon between my two front teeth whenever I ate. This resulted to a pretty big diastema, or what is commonly called a tooth gap. For years, I had been living with that gap. It was my identifier. I didn’t mind it that much because I could pronounce my s’s very well due to that. However, when I was thirteen, my parents paid for retainers to correct my teeth. I don’t think the guy we went to was a dentist. We were at his house, and he kept his clients’ teeth casts on a table in their living room. I guess he was just someone who made retainers. Anyway, he made me my own retainer for my upper teeth. We had to go back to his house every week to have it tightened. What he actually really did was get some pliers and push the wires further inward. It was pretty unsanitary. I remember one time when we went there. He and his family were having dinner, and we were asked to wait outside, in the dark. He asked his nephew to tighten it because he was still eating. The nephew asked for my retainer, took it with his ungloved hands, washed it with a bit of water from a poso (pump), took the pliers and pushed back the wire, washed it again with water, and handed it back to me. Gross, I know.
That lasted for only a few months because one day, when we came back to have my retainer tightened again, his wife told us that he was gone. My father asked where he went. That’s when she clarified that by gone, she meant dead. That explained the big black ribbon on their door. After months of not being tightened, my retainers were getting really uncomfortable to wear, and I had no idea what to do with it anymore. Then the day came that it broke into two pieces because I was playing with it. That was Php5000 thrown in the trash. My diastema improved, but it quickly went back to what it once was after I stopped wearing the retainer. So I spent another two years in high school with my tooth gap still there.
In college, I stayed in a different city and had a year’s worth of allowance already in my bank account. When I saw a dentist’s house, I was willing to try the retainer thing again. His retainers were a lot cheaper at Php1500 each, so I got two for both my upper and lower teeth. It worked out for a while, but over time, I felt uncomfortable with the retainers on because I had this habit of pressing my lips against the retainers, which resulted to so many painful mouth ulcers. I had to stop wearing them. Months after that, the dentist actually migrated to another country, so that was the end of that chapter.
TMD
I was comfortable with my teeth situation back then. Fixing the diastema was merely aesthetic, so I didn’t care that much. On my last year in college, however, I experienced a lot of migraines, and I was vomiting almost daily. My wisdom tooth also came out that time, which added to my agony. I went to a dentist, and she advised me to have the tooth extracted. When I told my parents this, they told me to wait until they came. They traveled eight hours and stayed for a day with me just to support me during the extraction (my parents are very careful when it comes to health issues). The extraction cost Php5000 because it was a hard case.
The dentist started by injecting the anesthesia. After a while, she started to extract the tooth. This was when she discovered I had a condition. She told me to open my mouth a bit more so she could extract the tooth easier. I signaled to her that that was the biggest opening I could manage. She looked worried. She had her assistant hold my head and continued with the extraction. After that, she talked to my dad and told him I had to undergo therapy because I have temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). It’s a condition where your jaw has a hard time opening and closing. It could be dangerous because people who have this may have to undergo an operation if the jaws locked. I had noticed the symptoms before, but I didn’t know that such a condition existed, so I didn’t mind. I would often wake up and feel the pain every time I’d try to yawn. There’s this clicking sound that just wouldn’t go away.
I had my mouth X-rayed. That cost around Php3000 because it was not an ordinary X-ray. The machine occupied a whole room, and I had to stand and had to have my head propped during the process. After my dentist examined my X-rays, analyzed the angles, and decided which way my jaw should be, she called me in and made a cast of my teeth. I was fitted for a dental splint. It’s like a retainer without the wire that embraces your teeth, and it was quite thick so that my “jaw height” changed. During the first week, it was so painful because my jaws were still adjusting. I had to visit the dentist every two weeks for her to monitor the changes and to give me dental massages. It was a very awkward and painful massage. She inserted her finger into my mouth and asked me to bite. She would then press really hard against my temporomandibular joint. I had to gag the first time because it was excruciatingly painful. After about a month, however, I got used to the process, and I no longer had the pains. I could talk, eat, and yawn normally. I didn’t want to give up the splint. I was on therapy for around six months. It relieved me of my pain, but it cost my father Php40,000.
Getting My Braces
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| The cat obviously has better teeth. |
I had my TMD therapy at Iligan City, where my university was located. The therapy ended on the month of my graduation. The next phase was to get braces to correct the alignment of my teeth so I wouldn’t need the splint anymore. If you asked me, I would have gladly kept the splint because I was so comfortable with it on. But I had to get braces.
My father found a dentist in Dipolog City, and they agreed on Php65,000 for the service. But this is excluding the cost of other things such as my elastics. I had to pay for them separately. I was staying in Cebu City at the time I got my braces because I was reviewing for the board exam. So I had to go back to Dipolog once a month to have the braces adjusted.
The installation of the braces was actually very much faster than I expected. I watched videos online prior to meeting my dentist so that I’ll have an idea what the process would look like. My dentist worked fast. He retracted my lips, cleaned my teeth, and proceeded to glue the braces on. After about an hour, we were done. I still had my splint, and I thought having that many things in your mouth would be too much. However, it took me only about a day to get used to it. I didn’t get that many mouth ulcers then because I broke my habit of pressing my lips against my teeth. I actually really liked my braces because they made me smile wider.
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| This was taken a few months after the installation. I still had a gummy smile, but it wasn’t that obvious with the braces on. |
My dentist told me that in three months, I would have to undergo a small operation on frenulum, the tissue between my front teeth. He says it has to be removed because the diastema might come back after taking the braces off. I was so nervous. However, that didn’t happen because I had to look for a new dentist.
Switching to a New Dentist
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| For those who want a close-up, you’re welcome. |
Around three months after, I made the decision to just find another dentist in Cebu that would continue the treatment because I thought that I would be studying law in Cebu and it would be impractical to go home every month for the next three or four years. My father had already paid Php22,000 to my dentist in Dipolog, and we had to pay my new dentist for his services.
For my dentist in Cebu, we agreed on Php40,000 with Php1500 monthly fees during the course of the treatment. My dentist said he had to compromise and consider the fact that I had already paid a lot. He said his regular fee for braces is around Php80,000, but he cut it in half. That covered everything, and I didn’t have to pay extra for any extra services. That also included the retainers after the treatment.
I went to my dentist in Cebu every two weeks, sometimes even more than that. I think my favorite part during the process was the scaling. It hurt a bit, and it made me nervous, but I had really clean teeth afterward. The problem with having braces on is that you have to pay attention to your oral health more than you used to. Food gets stuck easily, and you need to use orthodontic toothbrushes to clean your teeth. You’re more vulnerable to plaque buildup, cavities, and carries. While having my braces on, I didn’t feel very comfortable not brushing my teeth immediately after every meal. You get this icky feeling every time you finish eating.
The most painful part of the process is the mouth ulcers. I mentioned before that I had broken my bad habit of pressing my lips against my teeth, but I couldn’t stretch my lips that much when my dentist cut off the wires in two places when I had to use my elastics again. Just imagine four pointy wires sticking out, and every time your lips get too close, they will stab your lips and not let them go unless you actually pull your lips out. It’s like having a torture device in your mouth. The most painful ones happen when I yawn. I would often forget to retract my lips, so it would get caught by the wires and rip. I had so many painful eating episodes because of this. I had to protect my lips from the wires by putting tissue or cotton between them. That did the trick, but it made me look like I had candy in my gums.
Then came the time when I could finally let go of my splint. It was hard at first, but I eventually got used to it. My diastema was gone. My dentist announced that I would have my braces removed soon. I had my braces on for only ten months in total, which is shorter than most cases. I guess my teeth responded fast to the treatment. My diastema was actually gone after only a day after my dentist replaced the bands with the stretchy kind (I don’t know what they’re called). The cases vary from person to person, but I’m lucky that the process was expedited because I’m going to law school soon, and having the braces adjusted is quite painful. I think by then I’ll have more than enough stress that I could handle. I’m getting my teeth bleached in the next appointment to complete the treatment.
Final Words and Tips
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| My braces were finally removed 🙂 |
I always wanted to have braces before because I saw it as a symbol of wealth. In fact, fashion braces exist because of this. It is expensive to get them, and I thank my parents very much for supporting me financially. Having braces on is quite fun for me (except when the wires were cut), but you have to remember that care should be taken while wearing them. When brackets get lost, they do cost extra. This is why it is important to stay away from hard food. It is also very hard to bite because you might dislocate the brackets in your front teeth. Once the brackets fall off, it will be harder to make them stay back on. What I did was every time I ate, I would avoid biting and instead cut my food into smaller pieces so I could eat them easily. For example, I would break off a piece of cracker first before putting it into my mouth. Also, always use the cute tiny brushes to get between the teeth. With braces on, ordinary toothbrush just won’t do anymore.
No matter what the reason for getting braces is, be it aesthetic or therapeutic, it carries with it a lot of responsibilities. In order to get the bang for your buck, follow what the dentist says and always complain of any discomfort so they can fix it right away. So here I am, four dentists and around Php127,000 after. I definitely value my oral health more now.
Did you find this article helpful? If you had braces on before, share your experiences in the comment section below.
It's a Ping Thing 