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Introducing 6 Month Smiles – my adult braces…
When I was a teenager my teeth were all over the place – I had a hereditary ‘Madonna Gap’ in the middle, crossed teeth on the bottom and two canines growing over the top pushing others backwards. I had my train tracks fitted and 18 months of pulling, pain and coloured bands later I had a set of nashers to be proud of. They were perfect and with the help of two plastic retainers they would stay perfect…until I stood on my bottom retainer and broke it – oops!
I had a small wire put between my top two teeth to stop my gap from resurfacing and I was cocky thinking that none of my other teeth would move back but sadly over the last ten years they did and I developed a little snaggletooth (as I affectionately named it!) on the bottom which stuck out like a sore thumb next to the rest of my smile.
Sticking out above my lip when I smiled naturally and being all I saw when I watched myself talking in my youtube videos I started to look into ways to fix it and came across 6 Month Smiles – a clear fixed brace system that works in 6 months or less. We found The Beaufort Dental Health Centre that were trained on the 6 month smiles treatment and before I knew it I was in for my consultation and impressions.
I think this might be the most attractive photo of me I’ve ever put on the internet. Ever.
The impressions were really easy – nothing like they used to be! I remember them making me gag and tasting vile the first time round but it looks like technology has improved over the past ten years and it was absolutely fine…and tasted like blueberry! Once set your impressions are sent over to America for the 6 Month Smiles team to create your braces which can take up to four weeks before they send them back and you’re ready to get fitted!
The whole fitting process took less than an hour and again I was amazed at just how easy it all was. First my teeth were cleaned and filed a little to create some space for the teeth moving forward again – it wasn’t painful and it was just like filing your nails! Next my teeth were prepped with a blue gel to help the adhesive for the brackets stick better and my braces were stuck on. A UV light is used to set them and then your wire is threaded through. It’s held in place by tiny clear rings on each bracket and that’s it – you’re good to go!
I’m so impressed with just how invisible my 6 Month Smiles Braces are – you can’t see them at all when I smile normally or even when I talk, it’s amazing! They also don’t hurt at all which is something I was fully prepared to have to deal with. I assume as they move or when I go to get them tightened the pain will follow but right now I’m pain-free with just a dull ache sometimes in the morning.
A little souvenir – The plastic casing my braces arrived in!
Brushing now includes a special ridged toothbrush, fancy thread-able floss and miniature kits for handbags to clean up after eating out. I also have some wax to pop over any of the brackets which rub against my cheeks which I’ve used a little in my first week as my mouth adjusts.
I can eat (almost) normally with them in just by being very careful not to catch my brackets with my upper teeth. It took me about two days to get used to eating again and just chewing a little differently but since then there’s nothing I’ve really had to avoid – apart from things like toffee and curry that can pull brackets out and stain your braces. As long as I cut things like apples and burgers up instead of just chomping down they’re no problem at all and being a big foodie i’m so happy about that!
I have a clear retainer that goes over my top teeth to help protect the bottom brackets and to stop my top row from moving around when my bottom teeth do. It’s really comfortable and completely invisible – I wear it all the time apart from when eating – and I just make sure to brush before popping it back in! I’ve stolen the case from my kickboxing gum shield to keep it in just in case I need to take it out when I’m not at home, it was a little tight at first but after a few days it started to click easily into place and now it’s a perfect fit.
I’m so excited for my 6 Month Smiles journey and I’m hoping they might not take the full 6 months as I’ve seen some incredible transformations in around the 5 month mark but we’ll see – everyone’s teeth are different. I’ll be checking in again halfway through and of course again at the end to show you my results with a video alongside too! Please do leave a comment down below if you’ve had 6 Month Smiles braces and you’ve got any tips!
BYE BYE SNAGGLETOOTH!
For those wondering, I had my teeth professionally whitened about three years ago and I also swear by these for top ups!
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