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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. :D

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) :P

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. :P

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. :P

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 all. (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. :P

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? :P

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?

Or… 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) :P

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?!

I’d hit this! Will you?! :P

Okay, back to topic. Never mind what the hell Forever 21 is trying to imply with this mannequin’s ass. Why am I not seeing any religious leaders get gaga all over this mannequin and demand the fashion store to cover up the sexy mannequin. But surprisingly instead, they’re fretting about women being overly seductive when they wear lipstick (scroll to 9th November for relevant post)? So, does this uber sexy plastic butt distract anyone’s sleep? I certainly hope not. Gosh, I’m so sorry if it did. >.< style="font-style: italic;">(yeah yeah, I know it’s a bit old, but still… Lolz…)

Nang me only if you really enjoy the humour, dang me if you think this random parody sucks. Kthxbai. ^^

Haha, nice pun hor? Read further to get to know what I actually mean. :) But first, let me tell you about the happy happy day I had.

Today I’ve just finished a gruelling exam which had me writing nonchalantly over my answer sheet. My answers were spanned across 3 answer booklets, imagine the intense writing.

Everything that I’ve memorized… Everything that my buddies have chanted in my ears when we’re having our study sessions… Good, it got stuck in me head. So I answered pretty fluently EXCEPT FOR THAT DAMN QUESTION NUMBER 11(C) THAT KO’D ME AND CHRISTINE DAMNIT!

T.T

Just one question away from my possible grade A, I certainly hope not. T.T

- exam rant ends here -

Sorry for the emo-ness, my bro kick started my morning with scolding me about my ‘priorities’ when I emerged from my room with my eye makeup on. Like, come on, I’m a girl, I’m gonna have fun after exam, what’s wrong with being dressed up? And there you were complaining which girl looks like crap. What you want from us?!

And how can you EVER judge how I put my priorities simply by seeing me putting on makeup before I go for my exam? Didn’t you know I’ve been putting in effort to study? So, a little effort to dress myself up after my hard work to get over the exam is wrong, huh?

I think you’ll stumble across this sentence when you browse through my blog. I know you do, I wanna let you know i’m super pissed off at your morning greeting but never mind, which elder sibling (especially one who is way older than you) doesn’t have their younger sibling’s best interests at heart? You’re forgiven. Just don’t scream at me right in the morning like that, damnit. I do NOT appreciate that.

- elder sibling rant ends here -

This semester is a total joke. To accomodate TARC’s intake timing, which is the middle of the year, we have a ridiculously short semester which is my current one which just officially ended today. For this semester, we only had 2 papers to take. Damn you lah TARC, can’t you have some fucking sense and stuff those high pressure subjects for us when we’ve got more time and not put all the shit together in an extremely jam-packed timetable?! DAMN YOU! I HOPE YOU’RE READING THIS, anyone of you from TARC. And put me into TARISA (Tunku Abdul Rahman Inter-College Security Act). Like I care, or as if you dare. Give me a god damn good explanation and I’ll give you a public apology over the things I said here. Wait a min, should I even say sorry? It’s my blog. Try me. And I’m pretty sick of the lack of lecturer / lack of venue thingie. I simply do not believe that crap.

- TARC rant stops here -

My after exam entertainment for today consists of going to Chilli’s KLCC for a tantalizing (read: tantalizingly expensive) meal. It cost RM312 for 8 persons. Albeit the price, it was good fun passing food all around the cramped table and feeding each other. ^^

Honestly, after having such a hearty western style meal, I feel like a balloon about to explode. I have no idea how the angmoh’s do it. How do you guys eat so much calories and not utter a single complain that your stomach is not bloated?

(Actually this is my friend’s question and I replied her: maybe they’re too bedridden with diabetes, that’s why we can’t hear them complain. LOL!)

I’d love to fill this blog up with pictures, but due to the limitations of a camera phone, I’ll have to say sorry for the time being. :( :( :( *am so sad that I feel like crying, sure gonna drive readership away if i continue post text and no pictures*

We didn’t do much after lunch as they were half dead after the intense studying for the exam so me and Viv went and raid Topshop and Zara for some bargain grabs. We flipped over the Tong Sampah lot of the discount rack, and got ourselves the same clothing. I bought the blue one while she nabbed two of them in different colours. Girl, you damn geng leh. :P Anyway, looking at Viv side by side with the same shirt on only emphasizes what my darling has been trying to tell me. My shoulders are too narrow, and I don’t hold clothes with sleeves / or without nicely because of not much shoulder space. The shirt fit her perfectly but it was a tad loose for me on the shoulders. Bleh. Whatever, my wonder-mom will make sure it fits me like a glove after the shirt is done through her magical hands and skills. ^^\

Oh ya btw, this Vivian girl is beautiful, attractive and single (one of the things I’m not :P). Send in your resume if you please. :P

- this is turning into a commentary of Ya Hui’s Day in KLCC, shoot. -

Okay, my pun. Well, when Viv was busying herself in the changing room, I was fiddling around with the accessories, looking at the girl who looks damn familiar. Then I stole a glance at her name tag. It stated Ann (names changed to protect privacy). Curiosity got the better of me. I went up to her, and said: ‘Hi, you look familiar. May I know your surname?’. She said Wong. OMGWTFBBQSAUCE! Seems like I have a penchant for bumping into old friends at the most unexpected places. And those old friends mainly consist of those that I got to know through my ballet classes (stopped years ago due to the sudden change of teachers and my admittance into Chinese ‘hell’ school life - weekend classes OMG!)

Btw, I bumped into dear Beve when I was fooling around in Kokorobox. Can’t forget that thrill of bumping into a friend that I haven’t met for many years through the Internet. Can’t forget I met my bf through the Internet either. Internet, full of wonders. (/b/rothers, no internet haet machine k :P)

So the main reason that I didn’t approach her earlier was because she had a serious case of slouching. She, Ann Wong, the tall and beautiful ballet dancer with the nice slender body with the ballerina stature, admired by our teachers, standing before me, with a slouch?

My goodness. Is admittance to TARC (she had her A Levels there) so much hell that she slouched over her books in agony during her duration there? I was really amazed at the difference. It was a bit overwhelming. My friend, the nice ballet dancer who was educated in ballet school to suck in her tummy, stand straight, shoulders back, buttocks sucked in, slouching? That certainly had me wondering. *looks at my body* I slouch when I’m lazy, but usually when I’m outside I maintain my posture*

Time really can change a person. But from our awkward little conversation, I couldn’t tell further how much it has changed Ann. She was very very friendly to us before I introduced myself. She even gave me a hug. Sweet, sweet gal. Love you~

I certainly hope everything changes and becomes a better person over time. And, don’t slouch.

*Some of you might not be able to understand my shock of seeing a friend ’slouching’, but I guess it’s sort of a significant little random event to me. Particularly the way of meeting her, damn coincidental. This also makes me know that humans can change over time, and sometimes Miss Fate is just soooooo unpredictable, makes you meet people at the most unexpected places*

I think I have made literacy legend by writing something so damn ‘random’ leh. You’ve gotta forgive me. :P

And lastly, thanks for being with me. :)

Sometimes, eating out simply grosses me out.

Now, let’s not start talking about high-end restaurants. Let us start from the basics - the typical Malaysian hawker centers.

I believe Malaysians went through Pendidikan Moral at a very young age, no? Or is it just an education ministry gimmick to ‘prove’ that they’ve actually done something to educate our children well? For me, it’s about memorizing some crap, then filling up the paper, getting good grades, and get rewarded with sweets or whatever that counts at my age.

Oh, wait a min. New age kids, get bribed with sweets? No way man. Try offending the fella and he’ll immediately show you THE finger. Give him a sweet? Probably he’ll request that you replace the sweet with a RM10 prepaid card to load up their little fancy gadgets.

Okay I’ve strayed a bit too far, let’s get back to topic.

Do people have the common courtesy at all to NOT DIG THEIR TEETH FOR FOOD SCRAPS RIGHT BEHIND YOU?! A fella did that right behind my mom, as I see the scrap flutter down I could feel the flutter of air near my skin.

That is soooooooooo EEEEEEEW! No common courtesy at all, I was giving the fella the lolidoracat stare but he continued doing so. Thinking back, I should have snapped pictures of him and when he asks me why, I’d say: You look amazingly gorgeous doing that, I MUST put you up in teh Interwebs!

Right after this happened, as I diverted my attention towards other (un)Godly places, I saw (and heard) an ah pek coughing his heart out. Now, I don’t think he was in any life-endangering situation. But WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO COUGH LIKE THAT? Can’t you be polite? Worse thing is, he wiped his coughing residue on the hard plastic chairs. See what I mean when I said about my hygiene mania in my previous post? I have my sources, I am not kidding when I said there are 1908438565687 germs just waiting for you when you sit down on any chair other than those at home. So pleaseeeeeeeeeee don’t have the habit of getting home and immediately dropping dead on bed no matter how tired you are. Shower, to the very least, and change your clothes! You never know what surprise buttshecks you can get when you sit down on any random chair in coffee shops.

So tell me, is the chee cheong fun that you eat good? Nice hor, remember to pay the uncle. *As you pay him, he took the money graciously, gave you a toothy grin, then returned to using his hands to chop up the chee cheong fun*

Okay, I don’t want to go THAT far, you should get what I mean by now. But just the mere fact that these situations are unavoidable, has got me to succumb to the dangers of eating out.

So to the very least, I can safely declare home as a clean zone. :P

Now how about those big restaurants with a roof on top, protecting you from the dangers of germs? Think again man, think again. Behind the nice glass door separating you from the kitchen, lies a dark, gloomy area of unhygienic preparation of your food.

Of course, you can never avoid all of these situations, I know. So to the very least, take care of your hygiene when you’re back home, won’t you? AND, have common courtesy when you’re outside. To the very least, refrain yourself from doing gross stuff in the public. Once you do it, someone is bound to notice leh.

Anyhoo, it’s these bacteria that makes the food good sometimes, ain’t it? :P Imagine mamak food without the dirty plates and dirty surrounding, without pigeons and crows flocking by for scraps. Without all these, hawker food won’t be good, ain’t it? So, bear with it, meanwhile, enjoy yourself. And keep the only territory - your home, clean, won’t you? =)

Baah… I am contradicting myself yet again. -.-

Disclaimer: *The owner of this blog shall not be responsible for any loss of appetite after the reading of this entry*

Funny how a year seems so measly if compared to our long-run friendship of 6 years (and still running). That’s right, today is the first annual benchmark of our relationship.

Am I yet another ditsy girl who goes gaga and spend all her bf’s money on so-called ‘important’ dates? Well, I dunno. For me, as long as I can live everyday, knowing that there is someone loving me very deeply, and always there for me - this is much more sufficient than things that money could buy. Sentimental things, to be exact. Materialistic stuff? Nah. Once in a blue moon maybe, I don’t fancy spending people’s dad’s money. :P

Of course, I wouldn’t mind occasional gifts here and there, which girl wouldn’t right?! LOL. :P

In this eventful year, we:

• Broke the ice that has been growing as time flies by.
• Scoured each other’s hearts for the feeling that we have been hiding from each other for the past 6 years.
• Realised that we weren’t just friends - we were more than friends.
• Discovered our love for each other.
• Held hands and declared our love to each other.
• Shared things that we couldn’t when we were just friends.
• Kissed.
• Pouring our hearts out to each other the way we couldn’t previously.
• Shared wonderful moments together.
• Discovered things that we didn’t know about each other. (I didn’t know you were this cute darling. :P)
• And so on.

The list could go on and on, but I’ll probably bore your ass off so I’ll save the details.

I find every single moment loving him a great pleasure. I find that being angry with him hurts like physical pain. And I always believe, there is so much more to learn about your other half. It’s a lifelong process, isn’t it?

Just as how I’m gonna love you with all my heart.

Happy 1st Anniversary my dearest~ I love you~

Holding on to you and never letting go (even if it means suffocating you :P)…

… Taking pictures with you resting on my head lovingly…

… And kissing like Spidey and MJ.

Photography by Freaky. Thank you so much, I love the series! More pictars of chicks, bugs, landscapes, and much more creative photography from ShutterAsia Forums. Whole set of my pics are there, go see if you are interested. :)