Terrible Teeth! Let's Fix Them - Done with Braces! - Finland, FI

I had my laser whitening done two days ago. It wasn't painful at all, but afterwards I had a few "zingers". They stopped after about two hours or so, and now my teeth feel just fine. As for the results - see for youself! :D The photos are taken in the same place, using the same lighting and same camera settings.

I have now had a consultation with the cosmetic dentist. I am to have laser whitening in a month, followed shortly by dental bonding. The cost for veneers was way too high for me (both in terms of money and safety), so we decided to go just with the bonding for now. I am prepared to have the bonding fixed from time to time, since the material is known to change colour and chip eventually.

The dentist asked me to bring pictures to help describe my wishes. I think I will show him a picture of my teeth now and list all the things I dislike about them, and ask him to fix everything that is fixable with the bonding material.

It's been about two weeks noe since I got my braces taken out. I feel that the previously rotated canine has maybe moved a bit upwards and outwards - it is trying to rotate itself again, that is. I hope it won't move too much. I will try to wear my Hawley retainer as much as possible, even though it feels a bit bulky in my mouth. Good thing I have the fixed retainers too.

I'm also been having problems with my gums where the molar bands used to be. The space between my last molar and the molar next to it was widened because of the molar band, and it hasn't closed yet on neither side. Food gets stuffed there and even though I floss all the time, the gums are irritated. They often start hurting immediately when I bite down on chewy or hard food, I'm not exactly sure why. Hope this resolves soon.

My braces were finally taken off last thursday (lower teeth and upper molar bands) and yesterday (upper teeth). I now have fixed retainers behind my incisors on both jaws. Additionally, I received a Hawley retainer for my upper teeth. Debonding the brackets was unpleasant but not painful. The lower, metallic brackets came off easily, but the ceramic ones shattered and required more work. I still have plenty of glue remaining to my upper teeth, and one of my molars has a big chunk of the glue left. I guess I have to go back to get them cleaned better. Wonder why the ortho didn't do it properly in the first place...

The retainers (all of them) are somewhat annoying. The Hawley retainer makes me want to gag. The fixed retainers feel a bit bulky behind my teeth. I guess I'll get used to them.

I am still unhappy about the tilt and shape of my teeth, but I understand that this is as straight as they can get and I need some cosmetic dentistry to address the problem with the length and shape. I have an appointment scheduled for next wednesday.

Here are a few pictures without the Hawley retainer. You can clearly see the problems in these photos. You might also be able to see the residual glue on my teeth in some photos.