Hanging in there!

Through the use of ibuprofen and aleve I have made it through the past couple days. My retainer finally slipped into place and the air gap is gone, so it's formed around all my teeth. And the mid-back teeth on the right side can surely feel it. They were sort of forced sideways so I believe they are being kind of lifted upright right now. Which is quite painful. But it seems like the pain is gone for the most part. (thankfully!) I kind of wish all the pain would have been in the first 8-9 months of treatment so by this point I can just do some fine tuning. But it seems the majority of the stubborn teeth are the ones moving now. So it will probably be Pain City for awhile.

I have gotten even more impatient because I'm so eager to do some whitening! Which I can't do until my attachments are off, which will likely be when treatment is fully done. Since my good report at the dentist, I am- however- more conscious of brushing after I eat because I want to maintain my good habits.

Something that has really gotten me through the last few days (besides medicine) is my tooth role model: Bree Essrig. She is a youtuber who I love watching. She's funny, creative, and very real. If you don't know who she is, totally check her out on youtube. She even made a video on her tips to teeth whitening! Anyway, she has the most beautiful smile. It's straight and super white. I idolize her smile. So when things were painful and I didn't feel like wearing my retainers and dealing with the pain, I thought of her teeth and how mine can look like that if I keep up my treatment. And it totally motivated me. Weird, but it worked! Since I couldn't find a good picture, I just snipped one from one of her youtube videos. She's acting in it (playing her hilariously dumb character Scout) so her mouth in kind of at an usual position, but you can see how pretty and white they are.

People losing weight have thinspiration. This is my teethspiration! So I will keep on keeping on until my teeth are where my orthodontist thinks they should be. Then I will take over on the whitening department (since they charge $500 for whitening at my orthodontist!!)