Well, this semester has been even crazier than last winter semester! So, I finally got around to taking pictures of my retainers and found time to write a post...
I have 2 sets of retainers: a clear set to wear during the day, and a hard plastic and wire set that also serves as a bite guard at night.
You can hardly see the clear ones, but they do create a little visible gap in my bite just because of the plastic. It's really tiny, I doubt anyone notices it but me!
(Sorry about my crazy eyes in all of these pictures! I pulled an all-nighter last night and didn't realize how tired and wacko I looked until I put these pictures on my computer...)
Here's a picture of my bite without the retainers for comparison.
My night retainer is much more cumbersome, since it is a night guard. I went to the orthodontist on the 4th to get those retainers. The bottom retainer was really really thick and they shaved it down a bit and did several bite paper things to mark where my teeth hit the plastic so they could shave grooves in it. This made it so that my teeth all hit it equally and it holds my jaw in a different position at night so it can relax. However, it gives me a pretty bad lisp and my lips don't close around it unless I force them to.
So, I also have a copy of my post braces x-ray to share with you all, but my printer is not cooperating and won't scan it to my computer or a memory card...so once I figure out my technical difficulties I will post that!
<3 Stefane
