After working through the morning (lots of research for a freelance piece!), I was more than ready for a break.
My break came at 1 p.m., as I headed out the door to College Park Orthodontics to check in with my orthodontist to make sure everything was looking okay with my teeth following my treatment with Invisalign.
I wanted to have new retainers made before we move to Ocala, so I booked an appointment and was really looking forward to seeing my orthodontist again. I love her!
My orthodontist got married about a year before me, so I loved visiting her and chatting about everything wedding related during my Invisalign treatment. Then, a couple of months ago, she had a beautiful baby boy. She emailed me pictures and showed me more today and he is the cutest little guy!
My appointment went really well and I will have brand spankin’ new retainers in less than two weeks… in “passion pink.” Yes, I got to pick the color. And yes, I’m 26-years-old and picking the colors of my retainers and the flavors of the gooey stuff they put in your mouth to take the impressions for retainers still excites me.
If you happen to live in Orlando and are in need of a fantastic orthodontist, I highly recommend Dr. Williams. She has degrees from Boston College, Harvard and the University of Florida and is all-around awesome. She’s also offering a promo right now: If you sign up for Invisalign treatment with her before August 1, you get a $50 gift card to Whole Foods or Sports Authority. Sweet deal, huh?
She also offered to do a little giveaway on the blog!
Two readers will receive their choice of one $50 gift card to Whole Foods or Sports Authority, courtesy of College Park Orthodontics.
To enter this giveaway, simply comment on this post in one of two ways:
- Tell me about your experience with braces. How amazing it felt when you got your braces off, how you looked like a total toolbag in junior high because you picked neon rubber bands… Share!
or
- Tell me which celebrity you think has the best teeth. My vote is for Carrie Underwood.
I will randomly select two winners tomorrow afternoon.
Lunch
Lunch today was enjoyed en route to the orthodontist. I ate a quesadilla with apple slices and Canadian bacon in the car, so no photo was snapped.
I did snap a photo of dessert though!
After my orthodontist appointment, I stopped by a fro yo place and enjoyed a cup of white chocolate mousse, espresso, triple chocolate and Butterbeer frozen yogurt (can’t WAIT for Harry Potter tomorrow!!!) topped with peanut M&Ms, Golden Grahams, Butterfinger crumbles, yogurt pretzels, cookie dough, cheesecake and brownie bits.
The whole thing was resting in my belly within two minutes of me digging in.
And now I’m blogging away in Starbucks where I plan to spend the remainder of my afternoon.
A realtor has been showing our apartment to prospective tenants this whole week and I had to get out of there. The realtor doesn’t have a key, so I’ve had to be there for every showing and today I finally told her I’d hide her a key because I feel like I’m lying by omission as potential tenants come in and I don’t say anything about the mice. She understands how bad the situation is and I can’t believe they’re trying to rent it out when the problem is so immense.
You better believe I am asking EVERY homeowner about a history of mice before we move in somewhere in Ocala!
And I’m off!
Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! 
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Ugh braces. I totally forgot about having braces until I read this post. I had them from 5th grade through 8th grade…yep all the way through middle school. I don’t remember much about them truthfully (I guess because I was so used to them) but I do remember the day I got them off! My teeth felt so slimy!
I never had to have braces! I have great teeth!
(I don’t feel so bad rubbing this in since I was diagnosed with a heart problem at 13 and cancer at 23. My teeth are the one part of my body that hasn’t fallen apart!)
I always chose the silver rubber bands because well, I was self-conscious enough about my braces! I didn’t get them until later in high school so I was so ecstatic when I got them off before going off to college!
oh lets see, my experience with BRACES! i had them on my top teeth when i was in 3rd grade for a year. then i got them off and got a retainer, which i soon threw in the trash on vacation by accident. my ortho told me not to worry because i needed a mouthful soon after anyways. that’s round 2. i had them for a few years and then got a retainer again. fast forward to my first year out of college when i got them for a THIRD time at age 23 (this time not on mommy and daddy’s dime haha). it turns out my problem is permanent retention, so i now have invisalign retainers my ortho graciously gave me for free, and a permanent bottom retainer on the bottom. could have gotten that years ago…just saying haha
I feel really lucky that I never had to wear braces. I think Julia Roberts has the best teeth (or smile really).
my orthodontists were my grandfather and great uncle, so i have all positive memories of my braces experience! somehow none of the painful process stuck in my head, only the good parts, like being treated like a celebrity whenever i was there for an appointment 🙂
I never had braces, but Eva Longoria has a pretty awesome smile because of her teeth.
I HATED my braces. I needed to get some because one of my adult tooth was stuck in my gums:(
So for 3 years I had them to fix that ONE tooth. And I remember never wanting to smile with my teeth because I hated the look.
When I finally took them off, (right before university – thank gosh!). My teeth felt so slippery, it was weird! I still wouldn’t smile with my teeth! haha
I had braces for a total of around 3 years and it was TORTURE! My orthodontist expected ridiculous things of an 11 year old and was so mean to me that even my mom disliked her. It’s good to hear that there are kind orthodontists out there. It was all a happy ending though, my teeth came out great and i get complimented on them all the time 🙂
I just remember that I couldn’t eat popcorn the year and a half I had braces and I missed it so much!
I think Carrie Underwood has great teeth, too! Her teeth are always so white and clean 😀 She has a really beautiful and nice smile! 🙂
You asked, so I’m sharing.
7.5 years of braces. Yup, don’t adjust your retainers, folks – seven and a half years of braces. Apparently I had TMJ and a combination underbite/overbite that would require correction by jaw surgery.
Here’s the catch, it took 2.5 years of head gear and a new dentist to find this out. Thankfully the new dentist had a fantastic orthodontist that visited his office once a week and he referred my case to him. Once I switched orthodontists my experience was rather positive since he actively worked to correct my bite and referred me to an awesome maxiofacial surgeon for jaw surgery.
Jaw surgery happened when I was 15. At Christmas. Forcing me on a 6 week liquid diet over the holidays. Fast-forward to my 1.5 year check up where the x-rays revealed that I was the first relapse case in my surgeon’s practice history. We blame it on the fact that my family is made up of giants and I had a rather large growth spurt between 15 and 17 (I’m 6’2″). So the summer I graduated high school I had jaw surgery numero dos along with another 6 weeks of a liquid diet. At least that was in the summer and no one thought I was crazy sipping on Sonic milkshakes all day every day 🙂
Almost 10 years later, I get compliments on my smile all the time. I’m now crossing my fingers that my surgeon’s prediction of needing jaw joint replacement surgery in my 30s is wrong.
OMG you had braces even longer than I did! (6yrs for me) and at least my surgery wasn’t jaw surgery – how awful! but at least you have a great smile now 😀
When I had braces in middle school, I was totally bummed my orthodontist didn’t have colored rubber bands. Looking back, it probably saved me a lot of real bad photos.
I had braces for about 2 years in high school. I got them after all of my friends starting getting theirs off and I remember feeling so self conscious because I had just gotten mine!
I also rocked the rubber bands….but at least I didn’t have it as bad as my sister who had to wear head gear!
oh my gosh braces were soo awful! I got mine taken off on the 2nd to last day of 5th grade and I had never felt more free!! Not only did I have braces but I also had this crazy contraption stuck to the roof of my mouth that involved a key…worst ever. I can still remember the pain when I think about my mom having to reach into my mouth with a key to twist the darn retainer tighter every night! Yikes! Excited for the giveaway- love me some Whole Foods!
Definitely have to agree with you on Carrie Underwood…her teeth are perfectly straight and white!!
It seemed like I had braces FOREVER…but I think it was 5th grade until 9th; my teeth looked awful before I had them, so I guess it worked out well for me in the end 🙂
And I agree, I think Carrie Underwood has a great smile, she’s so pretty!
I’ve had a lot of orthodontist visits growing up! My teeth were very crooked from sucking my thumb as a baby…so I had tongue thrusters, retainers that extended the roof of my mouth and then braces with lots of elastics and changes of wires. It was so painful! I remember that day though when the braces came off after 3 years…my teeth felt fake! They were sooooo smooth and it felt like they weren’t even my teeth. I still wear my retainers a few nights a week because I’m terrified my teeth will go back to the way they were and I’d have to get braces again… NO thank you! 🙂 Great give away!!
With you on Carrie Underwood!
I used to change my bands every month! I so looked forward to choosing the colors. I’d go with the local colleges colors for football season..but my favorite was neon pink 🙂
I was a dork in middle school anyway because of my big glasses and TI-84 plus silver edition (damn straight!) traveling with me everywhere I went. I even had my Bat Mitzvah with braces on! I got them off soon after and have ever since been very diligent about brushing to keep my teeth white and clean – I appreciate the $3000 investment my parents made in my mouth 😉
I wore braces for 4 years from middle into high school AND now I have to get them again because I didn’t ware my retainers (booo!!!)!!! So now, I am 27 about to start this process all over again 🙁
AND for best teeth I vote Angela Jolie- even though you rarely ever see them 🙂
I had braces from 4th grade until the beginning of 8th grade, so thankfully didn’t have to deal with them in high school. I always did red and green during the holiday season, but other than that it was whatever I felt like! And it definitely felt SO great to get them off, my mouth felt a lot smaller!
I got my braces on freshman year of high school and didn’t get them off until right before senior year! The first few months were alright, I always vhose the super cool glow in the dark colors! After 3 years I was beyond thrilled to get ’em off and I embraced the sliminess of my teeth!
I cant wait until Harry Potter either!!
Growing up my dad told me that I was David Letterman’s child because my gap in the front of my teeth was so big. This led me to actually embracing braces. I didnt mind them at all. 🙂
I think Kate Middleton has a beautiful smile!
I was “lucky” to be one of the kids who got to have a plastic disc like piece permanently attatched to the roof of my mouth for a good 6 months. Needless to say, it gave me a terrible lisp. And of course, being in high school, I thought my life was ruined 🙂
First off, how awesome is your orthodontist!
I did braces in middle school. It was my awkward phase plus braces woohoo! My teeth moved a little throughout college so I did invisalign for a year and just recently completed treatment. LOVE invisalign!
I actually never had braces, but always wanted them! I so missed out on that passage to junior high.
I actually think Giada De Laurentiis has the best teeth! 🙂
I loved getting my braces off! I went from having a large gap to nice, straight teeth. I also bought Crest whitestrips as soon as they were taken off, so i could have a WHITE, straight smile! 🙂
Is it weird that I was always jealous that I didn’t need braces? I mean, seriously, HOW COOL was it that you could get whatever colors you wanted!
Reese Witherspoon!
I think Jennifer Aniston has great teeth…
I have never had braces.
Right there with ya for Carrie Underwood!
You’re orthodontis is gorgeous! I had braces from 5-7th grade. One year for Halloween I wanted the orange and black bands… well – there was no more orange. The orthodontis said that people were getting neon green instead and it was still really Halloweeny— I looked like I had spinach in my teeth for weeks. It was awful.
I had a horrible experience with braces. Like Lee above, I had braces from 8th grade all the way up until my senior year in high school – I got them off within 1-2 weeks before my senior prom.
But my orthodontist/receptionist were horrible. They were rude when pieces would fall off and they weren’t accomodating at all to my school schedule (they always wanted to do appointments in the AM).
And after all that, my teeth shifted about 1 year after the braces were taken off…so I foresee Invisalign in my future (once I can afford it).
PS – I’m jealous of the Butterbeer frozen yogurt…we don’t have that flavor where I live =(
I also did Invisalign – I think it’s great for people who are looking to fix slight problems with their teeth!
I’d agree with you that Carrie has amazing teeth but I also think Jessica Biel has a great smile/teeth too!!
PS. Wish your orthodontist was in Boston! Mine is so lame. haha..
I may have been the only 11 year-old to be excited about getting braces. I was always embarrassed by my very crooked two front teeth, so I was thrilled to start straightening them the summer before middle school began. I finally got them off a couple months before my 16th birthday, and I was ecstatic; not only to have the monthly oral poking and prodding over with, but to finally have a smile I wasn’t ashamed to show people.
I totally got neon and holiday-colored bands on my braces… nerd alert!
I had braces from 6th grade to 10th grade and got them off the week before the Homecoming Dance. I was so excited! Our school colors were orange and black so lots of times I would get rubberbands in those colors.
i did the whole metal teeth thing in middle school, but in the 90s orthodontists didn’t really stress how important it was to wear your retainer, so now a couple of my bottom teeth have shifted. i do NOT missing those tiny rubber bands i was supposed to hook onto my braces. they always used to spill everywhere and i’d have tiny rubber bands in the bottoms of all my purses and scattered around my room.
I’m in the middle of my Invisalign treatment and so cannot wait to be finito them…and not having to think whether each bite us worth removing the braces for!
I LOVED how it felt when my braces came off (in middle school! so sooo long ago). I used to get blue, silver, or maroon for band colors. Though I was a bad girl and never wore my retainer resulting in me wanting to get my teeth realigned. Maybe I should try invisilign. Yours look great!!
I had braces from 5th-8th grade and I was the weird kid who was excited to get them! Of course, the appeal went away pretty quickly when my parents followed the orthodontist’s rules pretty closely so no gum or sticky candy for me! Bummer! But I always wore black bands because I liked how they made me teeth look so spankin white!
Oh my gosh, I had baces twice! And you bet I rocked neon rubberbands.. Ugh, I still can’t believe I thought those were awesome. I’m horrible about the whole retainer thing now though.
Well I was one of the lucky few that didn’t have to go through the torture of braces…though I wish I had! One of my next steps is moving to invisilign land.
I think Reese Witherspoon has beautiful chompers! Not to mention her smile is totes gorg!
I had Invisalign, too! I never needed to have braces because my teeth were always very straight, but when my wisdom teeth came in my teeth crowded a bit. Very happy with the Invisalign experience!
As far as celeb teeth, I love Jessica Simpson’s teeth; they are perfect for her gorgeous smile. And I think George Clooney’s teeth are pretty sexy!
Cannot BELIEVE the realtor thinks she can get away with omitting the mouse problem…really asking for legal troubled there!
I had braces in 4th grade and then went for a round of invisalign in college! LOVE invisilign.
I like Carrie Underwood’s teeth too. She can basically do no wrong.
ugh! I remember when i got my braces on. I thought fine, they’ll be off in 2 years, they dont even hurt, everything is good! Then the NEXT day i bit into something and felt the searing pain of an adjustment!! ow! Dont miss them
So far I have had braces 2 times – the awesome neon rubberbanded kind in middle school and bottom only braces again in college. And I am still looking at invisilign right now because my teeth hate me!
I was lucky when I was younger and was able to forgo braces for a tongue depresser. My two front teeth were slanted inward and I was told to press on them a little every night with a tongue depresser and it straightened them out. I’m guessing it only worked because I was so young, 7yrs old.