My Quest for a Perfect Smile

On the 28th of March 2015, I became a metal mouth convert.

I kinda regretted that impulsive decision I made in the first few days. But I feel much much better about it now (I am saying this before any tightening, confirm will regret it again).

My teeth was never at its best behavior growing up - resulting in crooked and overcrowding of teeth as each tooth wished to bid the world a huge hello. 

The thought of braces scared the shit outta me. Okay, probably not so much on the braces but the idea behind having to extract not one but possibly FOUR teeth. Teeth! Y u no behave! *shakes fists*

It was relatively easy to look past my crooked teeth as it is only the bottom row that is jutting in and out whilst the top is straight, albeit not perfectly straight. I only began learning how to smile with my teeth at 23/24 years old. Till that age, I smiled like as though I was guarding a golden ball in my mouth =\

So with GST coming up and what not (plus the fact that I recently attended a friend's wedding and pictures of me showing off my unglam teeth popping up) I decided that probably it is high time that I fix it.

I was tempted to try Invisalign but my bank account wasn't prepared for it. So I began my research for that beautiful teethy smile.

What caught my attention initially was a dental cosmetic procedure called the Six Months Smiles program - it is a clear set of braces and promises to fix your teeth in roughly 6 months and get this; the magical sentence: No Extraction Required. 

There are only a couple of dentists here that provide this service and I decided to schedule an appointment with the one I felt at ease talking to (the one that patiently answered my endless barrage of questions)

The dentist that I made an appointment with was pretty honest with me and raised his concerns on the end results of how Six Months Smile will fix my teeth. To him, my teeth was fixable, but due to my jaw structure that slightly sticks out, he was concerned that I may not able to achieve that sought after Hollywood smile without any extraction (it is crowded in there after all).

But seeing that I was more particular with fixing my crooked teeth than my jaw structure, the dentist suggested that I take the traditional route of wiring my teeth. I appreciated his patience and detailed explanation (and the heaps of reassurance that I won't have to extract any tooth if I don't want to - my face gave it away. All he needed to say was EXTRACTION and I will recoil immediately) that I fixed a second appointment with the Orthodontist for a second opinion.

So this was what I have gathered in my research and consultations:

1. Price and Aesthetics works hand in hand. 

2. Sit your bank account down and talk to it over coffee and hope that it truly understands your justification on how important time factor is in achieving your Hollywood Smile and why you'd rather opt to hurt your bank account than to walk around with metal in your mouth.

3. Pain and Sufferings shall be a constant factor no matter which option you decide on.

Aesthetic wise, Invisalign is probably your best bet but of course, be prepared to fork out approximately RM15,000-RM20,000++ for the entire procedure. My Bank Account was quick to disagree with this option.

This is followed by the Six Months Smile - RM9,000 - RM 12,000 

Then you have the Damon Braces - RM 7,000 - RM 9,000

Followed by the Ceramic Braces - Unsure about the range as I never gave it a thought

Then you have the Traditional Metal Braces - RM 5,000 - RM 6,500

The above prices are just rough estimations from calling several dentists around KL/Selangor area.

In all honesty, I was hugely tempted with the Six Months Smile despite the hefty price tag as I held Pain-Free (read: No Extraction Required) really close to my heart. 

But well, thank you to both the very kind and friendly Mr. Orthodontist and Mr. Dentist for giving me the option of not extracting if I were to get braces. I can, however, choose to extract later on if I wish to correct my jaw structure. Maybe next time. 

The Orthodontist gave me 2 options: Traditional Braces or Damon Braces.

General Comparison:

	Traditional Braces	Damon Braces
What is it?	The name speaks for itself. You have the option of getting the basic metal kind or upgrade to a ceramic kind. Basically, you will have 3 foreign objects in your mouth – Brackets, Wires and the Elastic O-Rings. Brackets are the tiny things that get glued to each tooth. Wires link them all up. Elastic O-Rings secures the wire to each bracket. The three makes a pretty good family that promises to hurt you. Expect to feel pain with every tightening session.	A newer form of braces that can either be metal or clear. Only two foreign objects in your mouth – Brackets and Wires. Unlike Traditional Braces, Damon Brackets are able to secure the wires in place without the need for the Elastic O-Rings. The up side of it? Lesser visits to the dentists as tightening of the braces are not required.
Price	$$	$$$
Duration	For my case, I was informed that it would take me about 1 year 2 months or 1.5 years to compete the procedure.	For my case, about 9 months.

I have to highlight that with the Traditional Metal Braces, do expect the brackets to dislodge from your teeth while your teeth tries its very best to defy the straightening procedure. This happens occasionally and especially so if you eat hard foods (yes, no more apples for you and me). 

Do expect to be on a soft diet for a while and a liquid diet during each tightening session (Milo and mashed bananas are my best friends now).

I also have to highlight that no matter what procedure you decide on, please make sure that you are clear on what you will be paying for and what the entire procedure will be like. You are, after all, the one forking out thousands and the one that will be suffering. So make sure you know what you will be getting yourself into.

General Idea is that, aside from the braces itself, you will need to get an X-Ray, a Dental Impression (the mold of your teeth), Cleaning and Scaling of your teeth, Extraction and Retainers. These are all costs that you will incur should you choose to straighten your teeth. The dentist you select may or may not include any of the above in the price quoted to you, so make sure you ask.

I hold level of service with utmost importance. No point in finding cheap prices but the dentist is a nightmare. Friendly and gentle dentists is more to my liking. I mean c'mon, the equipment is scary enough, the procedure is daunting, I need a good factor to balance them all out. If you can't control the machine and Mother Nature, control the Human factor.

So without further ado (and a 10 minute on-the-spot decision making with my mum), I present, my metal mouth:

My Super Unglam Teeth

Dearest Straight Teeth, see you, hopefully with multiple fingers crossed, in 1.5 years!