Braces
Just before Thanksgiving 2005, I got braces installed on my teeth. I was expecting to have them off by Summer 2007. Yesterday, I finally had them removed, and I've moved on to the retainer phase. I'm finding that I have to relearn how to speak with this thing in my mouth. I sometimes sound a bit like Shelley Marsh, from South Park. The hardest sound to produce is Q ("cue"). I'm getting better at producing clean S and SH sounds.
People who have had braces had some comments to make about the experience over the years. Two things that I was told turned out to be true. One is that after the braces come off, your teeth feel slimy. That's because your lips are used to rubbing against a bumpy appliance, and teeth are quite smooth. The other is that your teeth feel large. That's because your previous sensation against your lips was with small protrusions on the teeth, and now there's full contact for the whole face of the tooth.
Other thoughts, I haven't noticed a reduction in lip volume with the removal of the braces - it had felt as if my lips were sticking out more when I first had them placed. I haven't noticed any significant recession of my gum line.
The best thing of all, of course, is being able to take out the retainer before eating. The first thing I chewed happened to be a quarter of a pickle, sliced lengthwise. It was so easy to cut into with my incisors. I also no longer need to worry about all the food that would get stuck in the appliance. So, I'm pretty excited about being able to eat properly once again. And I don't really mind the idea of wearing the retainer every night for the rest of my life. I'll be happy when I don't have to wear it all the time during the day, though.