Braces

Braces: The End

March 28, 2010 By Kim Ong 10 Comments

I can’t believe just how ugly my teeth were!

Without realising, I had worn braces for a year and a half and two months of wearing my retainers. Indeed time flies and my teeth do move really quickly. Whoever invented braces during those early days – Aristotle, Hippocrates or whoever (article here) really did an amazing job. Having straight teeth really does make a difference. Lessens health problems and also improves eating, talking, smiling and laughing. *grins*

Not like I have the best looking teeth right now, but at least they are properly alligned and to think I spent a whopping approx RM9.5k is just crazy (slightly more expensive due to Australian orthodontic monthly consultations) but worth it. This amount includes the extractions of teeth.

My last consultation was with the Australian orthodontist and he did not charge me after looking at my teeth, returned me my teeth mould made by my Malaysian orthodontist and wished me well.

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Braces: The Finale After 1.5 yrs

February 11, 2010 By Kim Ong 9 Comments

My first time having braces on my teeth was in May 2008. I just got my braces removed end of January 2010 as promised by my orthodontist that it would take one and a half years for the entire procedure based on the condition of my teeth.

This is the last photo of me wearing braces.

I’m about to show some rather gross photos of me. Not gross as in dirty kind of gross, but my manner in posing for the purpose of showing you my teeth. I don’t know how to show them in a more artistic manner.

The feeling of having braces taken out is absolutely weird. My teeth felt really light and smooth, I kept wanting to lick my teeth to feel its smoothness.

I can now smile properly. That’s one of the reasons as to why I put on braces, besides the fact that I was constantly having a mouth ulcer because of one protruding tooth and the fact that I will have less health problems (I hope!) because of my orderly teeth and can eat properly without having food and cavities in hidden spaces in my teeth. Plus, my mouth isn’t “senget” anymore when I talk or smile. It was not really obvious but close friends and family members could tell.

After the ortho took my set of braces out, I was to bite into some “plasticin” so she can make me a set of retainers.

This is a set of retainers (left: top set, right: bottom set). I am to brush it when I brush my teeth, with alot of toothpaste and I cannot bend the front wire. I have a container I keep them in and have to remove the retainers before I eat and put them on again afterwards. The ortho said that alot of people put them on McDonald’s tray and walk off without their retainers or accidentally throw away tissue papers where the retainers are kept in.

I was not used to having the retainers on, especially at night. It feels like having chewing gum in my mouth the whole time. I kept biting on my tongue and woke up with sore tongue for the first few nights. I’m used to it already and of course, speech is affected while having the retainers on, even worse than when I had braces on! Oh well, 24/7 for the next 6 months and every night afterwards. For Josiah, he wore it for 2.5 years. No wonder he has such perfect teeth!

There are more things I can do to my teeth like make them even, but the ortho advised against it as my uneven / jagged teeth ends are natural and I can bite into food better. But one thing for sure, I’ll whiten my teeth later.

Anyway, without realising, I’ve worn braces for 1.5 years now and I am glad to have shared my experience with my blog readers. I’ve recommended my orthodontist and dentist to many people now who have e-mailed to enquire. I think if there is any cosmetic surgery to be carried out, teeth should come first.

Scroll back for my old entries here for “before” photos: http://www.kimong.com/?cat=24

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Braces: Wisdom In The Way

May 13, 2009 By Kim Ong 14 Comments

Notice how I’ve been smiling without opening my mouth to reveal my teeth? My teeth with braces are not looking very cute at the moment. It is at its ugliest stage.

It’s been exactly a year now since I first fixed my braces in the name of vanity. It seems as if I’m doing a major revamp of my facial jaw (teeth) just in time for my wedding. Well, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that my bottom set of teeth is pretty much straightened. I will also have four top braces brackets taken out for the wedding.

One of the bad news is that my top set of teeth still have two gaps from the top two extracted teeth from last year. It seems to take longer to get them straight compared to the bottom set. Another hindrance is that I have a nagging pain from my left wisdom tooth that is growing horizontally, pushing my entire set of straightened braces. That stupid tooth just decided to show itself early this year. So now that it has emerged out of my gums, it causes pain. The solution? To extract it via surgery, tear the gums to cut the teeth and take the remaining half out. Ouch. I can foresee much pain. Plus, my left cheek would swell up. Apparently, it takes a few days of real pain with my maxilo-facial surgeon’s effort. A few years back, it took me three weeks to recover from my right extracted wisdom tooth.

This was exactly how I felt.

Feeling down, seeing all things in black and white.

I would feel isolated when I cannot eat what most others eat. It is going to make me much skinnier. As it is I’m already trying to put on weight, but my appetite is never the same.

I could be more selective and eat food like marpoh toufu with rice at Esquire Kitchen. Oh speaking of which, I took this picture to ask you if you ever feel claustrophobic sometimes when someone’s standing next to you at a restaurant. In my case, I was with Supermom at Sungei Wang’s Esquire Kitchen and there was this vendor leaning against the glass window just right next to us. It would be rude to knock the glass and get him to stand elsewhere so I thought I might just share this photo with you. It’s just a rather uncomfortable feeling that someone’s standing so close, blocking your “fengshui” or something. Or, was it just Supermom and I? Is this common?

So anyway right, I became paranoid of when my next dental appointment was going to be in case I was going to extract my wisdom tooth very soon.

I ate heartily all the way, my favourite food to include a bowl of chendol.

On top of that, the following day, I had my favourite fish head at a family dinner gathering for mother’s day with my sister’s in-laws.

Many would say it’s gross, but seriously, you should really try it!

Early today, I had the consultation with the maxilo-facial surgeon. Before I entered the dental room, I bought myself a pack of Mamee I so craved for. It was quite little tough to bite, but I persisted because it is my all-time favourite junk food, probaby the first pack I’m taking this year.

I entered the room, explained my condition, the dentist checked my x-ray and advised me to have my left bottom wisdom tooth extracted next Tuesday. The top two wisdom teeth could be extracted much later on.

So, I have exactly one more week to eat to my heart’s content! Whee!

Check out more on my journey wearing braces, here.

Anyway, my teeth is just something I can whine about, but the pain is definitely not worse than other beings.

PULAU KETAM’S STRAY AND ABANDONED DOGS CANNIBALISING EACH OTHER

I received an e-mail from Maggie this morning:

Dear Kim,

I just thought you might be interested in having a look at the link I sent you. As I heard you are a pet lover and nevertheless you always find a way into people’s heart so maybe we can try helping out in some ways? I am just trying everyway I can to let people know about this issue.

Kim: True, I’m a pet lover although I may not have a pet!

I mean some humans are just sooooo selfish about themselves that they have forgotten other living creatures with feelings around us. Why punish all these innocent dogs when they have not done anything wrong?

I know helping out the environment and also orphanage is great, but as the 400 dogs were to die on that island, it would be a pollution to the earth too. And think of it! Without love, the dogs are orphanage too. They are all inter-link to US and they really need our (humans) help.

Furthermore, this will affect how other countries look at us being uneducated and how selfish our country is. By the way, it already DID. Cause it affected the tourism and people visiting out country.

Thank you for your time. If there is nothing we can do, at least pray for those helpless dogs.

Yours Sincerely,
Maggie

This is the reality.

I’d like to urge you, my readers to check out www.spca.org.my and please help to spread the word if not donate or volunteer.

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Filed Under: Braces, Charity

Braces: Ortho in Melbourne

February 13, 2009 By Kim Ong 11 Comments

Wow, that was a real interesting episode there on my last blog entry. Didn’t know it would create such a stir with regards to seeking sponsorship for my wedding. I have just secured one more sponsor from writing that entry. I wish I could reveal more of my wedding plans right now, but doing that might set expectations too high, or might kill the fun for those who attend my wedding.

Anyhow, I managed to tighten my braces with an orthodontist here in Melb, recommended by my ortho in KL. As I entered, I was told to fill up my contact details. The nurse then invites me to meet the ortho and I tell him about my condition, how I was introduced and my braces plan. I pass him my teeth mould, an X-ray and referral letter from my ortho in KL stating details pertaining to the condition of my teeth. Then, the nurse passes a pair of sunglasses for me to wear so I don’t hurt my eyes under the strong lights. The ortho checks my teeth and I could feel him taking off my elastic ligatures very quickly. Before I knew it, he had already put on new elastic ligatures for me. He placed white ones for me. I hope it doesn’t discolour after some time. As I leave, I ask for the bill and they said they “don’t know what to charge me yet and will send the bill to my house.” How unusual. I hope I don’t get a surprise.

For the next days, I will skip these meals below, as my teeth seem to be abit numb for now.

Above: Lamb Chop with Rice and Eggs.

Above: Chicken with Minced Pork with Cucumbers

Above: Honey Soy Chicken

But…. I can still drink Max Brenner’s yummy banana choc shake. How do you like the glass below?

Watch out for Muhammad Nabil Shahwan (nama glamour / rock name = BIEL). Upcoming Malaysian superstar. You see him here first. *grins*

Ray, Liz, Henry, myjojo and I had dinner at Cookies, a fusion-Asian restaurant. Lovely food although I lacked the appetite from the filling banana-choc milkshake from Max Brenner’s.

So, guess who’s the scooter girl and the biker chick?

Hey, not bad…I don’t look like I have braces on from afar.

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Braces: Nobody Wants To Tighten

February 1, 2009 By Kim Ong 10 Comments

New Updates: I have an appointment in the city with an orthodontist next Thursday. Yay! Luckily I called up several others.

It’s been a while since I last gave you an update on the progress of my braces. It’s been 8 months now since I first put on braces and my bottom set of teeth looks pretty neat with all the gaps (from two teeth extraction) nearly closed, leaving a gap of about 2 mm. I cannot say the same for the top set as my ortho in KL had kept my four front teeth together leaving a larger gap where my teeth were extracted earlier, to allow the front teeth to be pushed slightly backwards. My teeth (as you can see from the photo below) still protrudes a little.

Now that I am in Melbourne for a few months, my next ortho appointment is due (right now). I called up two orthodontists but they refused to see me. I brought my referral letter from my Malaysian orthodontist, mould and x-rays with me but none of the two I requested from, wanted to give me a consultation. No orthos here would want to tighten my teeth once and let me go back to Malaysia to continue the procedure. This makes it really tough on my part. The two that I called up were recommended by my ortho in KL based on a book of orthodontists’ contacts all around the world matching my type of orthodontics (European vs American and so on).

What is my contingency plan?

1. I will watch what I eat for the next month in case I go without consultation.
2. I will keep calling other orthodontists to schedule for an appointment even if it is slightly out of the way.

Above: Me singing Selena’s “Dreaming Of You” with a huge gap in my teeth. I am n ot liking the gaps.

Diana’s Birthday BBQ

Above: Me, Diana, Josiah.

Happy Birthday Diana!

Lots of food for everyone. More than 20 people showed up.

One of the highlights – fresh prawns.

Analyse The Desserts

Come, tell me which one of these desserts look most unappealing to you?

Above: Jam Puffs

Above: Lychee Agar-Agar

Above: Pavlova

Above: Strawberry Cheesecake

Above: Cake roll

The most unappealing cake has to be my self-made lychee agar-agar which attracted all the adults but not the kids because of its lack of colour. The adults preferred it because it was the one dish that had least sugar, tasted almost like jelly but of a different texture. Agar-agar seems to be more popular in Asia. None of them at the party had tried this dessert before. Even the grocer had a hard time pointing out to me where he placed his agar-agar powder in his Oriental store.