A couple of years ago, I made an announcement on my LiveJournal that I got braces for my bottom teeth.

A few months after, I got clear braces for my top teeth, compared to heavy silver brackets for the bottom.

Today is a special day, because my braces came off!

Yes, after nearly two years, I'm no longer wearing brackets. That means I can eat foods that I couldn't during the last two years, like chicken wings, ribs, and hard vegetables. I can even foods without having them cut up with a fork and a knife, like an apple, a sandwich, hot dog, and (good quality) pizza.

Now comes the interesting part. For the next couple of months, I have to wear retainers at least 22 hours a day, only to take them off when eating. After eating, I quickly floss, brush, and put on the retainers. Then, the time decreases until I only wear them for eight hours per day at night for LIFE.

I'll be honest, at first, the braces felt very weird, as whenever I talked, I whistled, and my lips got caught in the metal. Then as time passed, I got more and comfortable wearing them. Part of me actually LIKED wearing them, and I'm grateful for having them on for the last two years. Wearing them made me think about my dental hygiene, as I rarely flossed. I had to keep my teeth clean then and have to now. Also, the teeth helped me in my craving for food. I was a very obese kid and ate many bad foods (soda, fast food, and eating humongous portions) growing up. With the braces on, I couldn't eat them because if I ate them, my braces could've been pulled off. As someone trying to get back into shape (and one who lost over 100 pounds, from 310 in early 2007 to 200-205 now), I'm glad I had the braces. I'm actually missing my braces and am wishing that I still wore them.

Now time to readjust into a life without braces. (Boy, will many of my friends be shocked about this. )