2 months 24 days
So my third appointment came. I was armed with my toothbrush, paste , mirror, etc. It turned out, they were not needed. My orthodontist took one look at my teeth and said: “This is good, they are moving.”
My pink elastics were taken out. I was eager to have blue ones since my pals wedding is tomorrow and her theme colours are aqua (well, a type of blue), but there was no blue!!
They only had:
Only yellow —eeuu!!!
Green — people would think I have vegetable stuck in my teeth
Pink — I already had them last month
Colourless — that will work.
I made a note *not* to have a colour in mind when going for the adjustments coz sometimes they are not available.
When that relatively painless exercise was over…(save for the bottom left canine which hurts because it’s the one that has the most distance to move on the bottom jaw) My orthodontist took another look at my teeth.
“Hebu bite, ” he said. (Yes, he’s young like that, he mixes Swahili and English all the time. Sometimes it’s Ngoja I check, kumbe you came, kwani what happened…? I find that quite cool actually, and quite unexpected of a dental surgeon.)
So I took a bite.
His next words broke my heart. “You have a long way to go.”
I felt tears well up in my eyes and I swallowed hard. Whatever happened to: This is good they are moving!!!!!!!!
“You see we have to align the bottom teeth first, before closing the gap. Your gap is now more conspicuous because your bottom teeth are now aligning.”
Bottom teeth!!! I thought maddeningly. I didn’t even care about the bottom teeth! I hardly remember I have them before braces!! And now they are the source of much of my bracey misery.
“Can’t it be done simultaneously, closing the gap and aligning?” I blinked back tears.
“These things, you can’t rush them. It will probably take another 18 months."
“Over and above the 3 months I have done?” I was devastated.
“Yes.” He was firm.
“So it might even take two years?” I was hoping my tears don’t fall.
“Yes, it’s likely.”
I felt what is known as a waru (potato read lump) in my throat!
He left me there at the mirror, digesting the magnitude of his words…
So now I don’t even know how many days to go…
