31. Talking
The next morning I wake up still on the couch. Tamara is next to me, we must have slept in while watching TV last night. She also wakes up and I say, "Good morning, sweetheart.” She looks at me and says, "Good morning.” She touches her left cheek with her right hand and says, "My whole mouth is sore and I don't know why.” Of course, I know the reason for her pain.

I tell her, "You are wearing braces and rubber bands. I think that is pretty normal.” She quickly takes off her rubber bands and says, "Oh shit, I shouldn't have worn them for so long. I don't need them and they are strong rubber bands. I hope they didn't move my teeth the wrong way. I just wanted to try them, but I didn't want to wear them this long.”

Since she wore my rubber bands, I now know that they prescribed strong rubber bands for me. That explains a lot of the pain I got from my braces. I ask her, "Do you think you damaged anything?" Again she touches her cheeks and replies, "I don't think so. It was just one night, but I should not do it again.”

I decide to kiss her gently and she doesn't mind. I even get to play tongue twister with her. This is a little complicated with my expanders, but still doable. Then we have breakfast together and get prepared in the bathroom.

After breakfast, I decide to ask her about her braces. She has been wearing them for over three days now without needing them and I am curious how she feels about them. I ask her, "Now that you have been wearing your braces for a while, what do you think of them?"

She looks at me and says, "To be honest, I am enjoying them right now. It is good to have a first hand experience. I will be putting a lot of people in fixed braces in my career and it is good to know what they are in for. It helps me a lot.” She pauses for a moment and then adds with a smile on her face, "And I now know how much rubber bands can hurt.”

I cannot understand why she is so eager to wear braces. If I could, I would take off my braces right now. Of course, that is not an option for me because I need them very much. It is just strange to see someone who is actually happy with braces. Okay, there is Peter who really likes to wear them, but I thought he was kind of an exception. Maybe Tamara has the same fetish as Peter.

Meanwhile, Tamara has booted up her laptop and says, "Let me show you something.” What she shows me is the 3D scan of her teeth that Bob made. Her teeth look really straight on this scan. I would love to have teeth like that. Then she points to the screen and says, "See, my right canine is a little bit behind my second incisor.” Then she points to another part of the screen and says, "And the same thing with my lower left canine. This is a slight imperfection in my teeth.”

I cannot see what she is trying to show me, to me her teeth look perfectly straight, "Sorry, I cannot see that. Your teeth look perfect to me.” She smiles at me and kisses my forehead, "Thank you for the compliment. I know my teeth are very straight, but I know they are not perfectly straight.”

Then she says something that really surprises me: "You know what, I am thinking about keeping them a little longer. I want perfect teeth and this is the way to get them.” Then she touches her braces with her right index finger and slowly runs it around her brackets.

I cannot believe what she is telling me. She has perfectly straight teeth and I really do not know what she wants to fix. I really do not understand why she wants to wear braces when she does not need them. I ask her, "Are you sure? I mean, your teeth are perfect now. I do not see anything that needs to be fixed. You do not have to wear braces to show solidarity with me."

She burst out laughing, "Don't worry, I am not doing this for you. It is I who wants perfect teeth." She pauses for a moment, "You know, I had removable braces as a child. My orthodontist wanted to stop after two years. I was the one who made him add another year to my treatment. Even then, I wanted perfect teeth."

I ask her, "Was that your motivation to become an orthodontist?" She says, "Good guess, it started very early in my treatment that I wanted to help people get straight teeth. I found it fascinating to see how the braces moved the teeth. And I liked the results even more. To me, straight teeth are something special and I love to see them."

She continues, "This is the perfect opportunity for me. I got these braces for free and Bob did an amazing job of placing my brackets. I think he also saw the little imperfections and wanted to place them as if he was treating me. And I really don't mind wearing them. I am still at the university and there are a lot of students who wear braces, especially in the orthodontic department.”

I am sure these tiny imperfections are some kind of excuse. She wants to keep her braces for reasons I do not understand. I am kind of curious if this was the same when she was a child. I ask her, "Can you tell me more about wearing braces as a child? What kind of removable braces did you have?"

She is a little surprised by my question, but tells me, "I had different kinds of braces. It all started with a device called an activator. This device is a block of plastic that forms the upper and lower jaw. I also had to wear a high pull headgear along with the activator. Luckily it was only for twelve hours a day so I could avoid wearing it at school."

I want to know more, "So, did your friends know you had to wear a headgear?" I can see that she hesitates for a moment, but tells me, "My friends saw me wearing the headgear. I was the only one who had orthodontic treatment at the time, so I guess I was a bit of an outsider. My friends were kind of supportive, but I could always tell that they thought they were lucky not to wear braces or headgear."

I am curious, "Did you wear the headgear for the entire treatment?" She replies, "No, I only had it for about a year and then I got different removable braces. One for the upper jaw and one for the lower jaw. They were removable expanders and they also straightened my teeth.”

Then she shows me pictures of her braces on her phone. She has a whole album of braces pictures. She shows me a picture of the activator and it is a huge block of plastic. I am not entirely sure how it even had fitted into her mouth. The next picture shows her wearing the high pull headgear. The headgear looks like every other headgear I have seen. And for me, it is absolutely clear that I wouldn't want to wear one.

The next picture shows her with the removable expanders. They look very similar to retainers, but I guess there must be some kind of screw to expand the jaw. The screw is visible in the next picture she shows me. So far, these are the ones that look like they are the most comfortable.

I have seen enough of her braces, so I ask her,  "So are you going to keep your fixed braces?" Her immediate response is, "Yes, I will keep them for a few months. And don't worry, I can do anything with them.” What happens then is that our bodies get really close. And she is absolutely right, she can do anything a man wants, even with that mouth full of braces. When we were done, we both needed a second shower that morning.

32. At the beach again
After lunch we go to the beach for swimming. We also hope to see Georgio and Lisa again. At first we do not see them and so we decide to swim for a while. When we return we see them sitting next to our chairs on the beach. It is good to see them again and I think they have been waiting for us.

We sit there for a while and make small talk. Georgio has brought some beer and is happy to share it with us. Then, in the middle of the conversation, one of my rubber bands snaps. This has never happened to me in public before, but I decide to fix it. I remove my second rubber band and add a new set of rubber bands to my braces. I see the curious look on Georgio's face.

He hesitates for a moment, then asks, "I saw that you both have braces. Do they hurt?" It is my turn to answer first, "They really hurt at first. I needed a lot of painkillers to get through the first few weeks. But now I feel almost no pain. Maybe a little soreness from time to time."

Lisa then asks, "Is there a reason why you didn't get them as a child?" To my surprise, Tamara answers first, "I had removable braces as a child. I recently found some minor problems with my teeth, so this is my second treatment.” I know this is not the whole truth, but it is not a complete lie either. I guess Tamara does not want the story of her accidental braces to get around. I decide to take this as a hint and not reveal the full story of her braces.

I reply, "When I was a kid, my parents moved around a lot. I think I never went to the same dentist. I guess that is why no one ever suggested braces to me. And then I discovered that I needed braces to fix my bite and prevent future problems. I would have been better off with braces as a child."

Georgio then points to his teeth, "My parents could afford them when I was a kid. I am thinking about getting one of those aligners to straighten my teeth.” I start to laugh, "That's how it started for me. I wanted those invisible aligners and I ended up with a mouth full of braces.”

Then I show them everything I have in my mouth. Georgio and Lisa look fascinated when they see my two expanders. I don't think they realized what else I have in addition to the brackets and rubber bands. Georgio also has a worried look on his face, I think he is afraid of having the same fate.

Tamara sees the worried look on his face and tells him, "I think I need to tell you something. Braces will be my future profession, I am studying orthodontics at the university and I am in my last year." She pauses and then says, "I can take a quick look at your mouth and see if aligners can fix your problems.”

Georgio says, "Yes, please, Tim's story really worried me.” He then opens his mouth and lets Tamara look at his teeth. As usual, Tamara mumbles some gibberish while inspecting his teeth. She makes him bite down several times and looks at his bite from different angles. I wouldn't be surprised if she took a 3D scanner out of her bag. But of course she doesn't.

Then she looks at Georgio and says, "I think you would definitely benefit from treatment. But don't worry, your treatment would be much easier than Tim's. I think your problems can be fixed with either aligners or some fixed braces like I have." She then proudly shows off her pink braces and I can see that Georgio and Lisa are watching them closely.

Lisa asks, "How long will it take him to get his teeth fixed?" Tamara replies, "That is a difficult question without X-rays and a proper scan of his teeth. I think it will take no more than two years.” Georgio then asks, "Would you recommend aligners for me?"

Tamara replies, "That really depends on your preferences. I think your problems can be solved with aligners or fixed braces. And if I were you, I would go with fixed braces. They usually give you better results than aligners. But you can also get good results with aligners. Compliance with fixed braces is much easier because you cannot remove them. With aligners, you have to remember to put them in after every meal. I can also tell you first hand that fixed braces are not a big deal."

I interrupt her, "Trust her, she knows what she is talking about.” Tamara smiles, "I was involved in Tim's treatment as I had an internship in his office when he got his braces. In fact, it was I who installed his braces under the supervision of my boss. And I taught him how to brush his teeth with braces.”

I tell them, "That's where I fell in love with her. She looked so good and I loved being treated by her. She also had a nice way of teasing me, she even teased me with wearing a face mask.” I realize that Lisa and Georgio know what a face mask is and that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. The word "face mask" just slipped out of my head without me even thinking about it. That was a big mistake, I didn't want some strangers to know that I might need a face mask.s

To my surprise, Tamara then adds, "Me and my former boss have a slight disagreement about his treatment. She thinks that heavy rubber bands are enough to move his upper jaw forward. I think it would help him a lot to wear a face mask while he sleeps. In my opinion, this will improve his treatment results.” I am shocked to hear this. She had never told me that she recommends a face mask for me.

I stumble for words, "You never told me that.” She says, "Sorry, she was my boss and I had to support her opinion. There was no way I could disagree with her." I reply rather angrily, "You could have given me a hint.” She says, "I thought I did exactly that.” I realize that she is right and that her teasing was just that, "Sorry, but you really surprised me.” Still, she could have told me this important fact in private. After all, I am her friend and I have a right to know.

Tamara's eyes become slightly watery as she realizes her mistake and says, "Sorry, I should have told you earlier and in a more private place.” I think about what she did for me this morning and I am more than willing to forgive her, "Apology accepted. So what exactly do you recommend?"

Georgio and Lisa look a little uncomfortable as they are part of our private conversation. I feel uncomfortable too, but I need to know the truth now. When Georgio and Lisa want to leave, I ask them to stay. Tamara has to tell me the truth now in front of them. She has started and now she has to finish. I need to know her opinion about my need to wear a face mask.

Tamara begins, "You will soon have your expanders removed and your TPA and LLA inserted. I would recommend adding face mask hooks to your TPA and then you would be able to wear a face mask at night. These hooks are a common addition to TPAs and they could easily be added to your TPA. And of course I only recommend night wear in addition to full time rubber bands.”

I want to know more, "So how would you proceed?" She says, "I think you can have your expanders removed at your next appointment. The TPA and LLA will then preserve the result of your expansion and the face mask will move your upper jaw forward. I think it is better to have your expanders removed as soon as possible. You will feel much better with a smaller appliance in your mouth and wearing a mask is not a big deal. You should ask Lynn to make this change in your treatment.”

I disagree with the face mask being no big deal, but I think she is right about having my expanders removed. It would definitely be more comfortable to have less stuff in my mouth. But the price of wearing a face mask instead is not low, in my opinion. I tell her, "I'll think about it. And please do not be angry with me if I decide against a face mask.” Tamara hugs me and says, "I promise, I won't."

I want to move the discussion away from my need for a face mask, so I ask, "Lisa, did you have braces or are you thinking about getting braces?" Lisa is a little surprised by this sudden change of subject, but I think she knows why I am asking.

Her long answer is, "I think my teeth are just fine. I am happy with the way they look and I do not think there is much that needs to be fixed. But I want to support Georgio if he gets braces. I will at least get an orthodontist's opinion if he decides to get braces. Then I will know if I can benefit from braces, and I think most orthodontists give free consultations." I suggest that Tamara have a look at her teeth.

Tamara does as she is told and checks Lisa's teeth. Soon she says, "Lisa, you are right. Your teeth are almost perfect. There is no medical need for braces. Of course, an orthodontist can help you get a Hollywood smile, but that would only be for cosmetic reasons."

Georgio then hugs Lisa, "You would do that for me. You make me so proud. And I promise, I will definitely have my teeth checked by an orthodontist. And I will opt for fixed braces. Tamara, they look so good on you, and if you recommend them, I trust you." Then he offers us another beer and the discussion moves on to lighter topics.

Really good story! With several of us writing about the same subject, it is fun to see where each of us goes. You are very realistic, while I focus more on fantasy/fetish treatments, Sparky tells a story where braces take a smaller but important role, and mr_90proof goes all out.

I would say more realistic;-)
There are some more chartern  for this Story so stay tuned. I hope you like those next parts, too.

34. Locked door
I am working on the project for the rest of the week and will not be able to see Tamara. But we had agreed to meet on Friday at the sauna place where I work. So I look forward to seeing her again on Friday. I hope she likes sauna, because she told me that she hasn't been in a sauna for a long time and never got the hang of it.

Work on the project went on as usual. We made some progress and then we discovered some new problems. Sarah and I had found our working mode and so we were able to handle these problems with ease. Working with Sarah is fantastic and I like her as a person.

Of course, Sarah immediately noticed that my mouth was now free of expanders. I show her the inside of my mouth and she looks at it in detail. She tells me that my mouth looks so much bigger without the expanders. To my surprise, she also reveals that my lisp has improved and is only slightly noticeable. This is quite surprising as I thought I had overcome my lisp and was able to speak without a lisp even with the expanders.

I also tell her what the hooks on my upper braces are for. She is really surprised when I tell her that I now have to wear a face mask at night. Of course she wants to see the mask and I am prepared for this request. I took the mask and rubber bands to the office. I was secretly hoping that she wouldn't ask me to show her the mask, but of course I was wrong. So far we have shared all of our experiences with braces.

We lock the door to our office and I take the mask out of my pocket. I hand it to her and she inspects it carefully. She then puts it on her face as if she were wearing a face mask. I have to admit that she looks kind of cool wearing it. I tell her that and she smiles at me and gives me a good look at the rubber bands attached to her aligners.

Seeing her wearing rubber bands is always confusing to me. Her aligners are almost invisible, but her rubber bands are easy to spot. I still find it fascinating that she can wear rubber bands with her aligners.

Then she asks me to put the mask on because she wants to see me wearing it. This is a big favor she is asking of me. I am really afraid to wear my face mask in front of anyone. She is my friend, so it might be a little easier for her, but it is still hard for me. I finally agree to put on the mask.

I hesitate a little and then I start to put on the dreaded mask. First, I attach a rubber band to each of the hooks on my braces. Sarah watches me closely as I do this. Then I place the mask on my face as Petra has instructed me. The last step is to attach the rubber bands to the crossbar. Now I am wearing the mask in front of Sarah, I never expected this to happen.

Sarah hugs me and tells me that I am a very brave man. She tells me that she admires my determination to get my teeth fixed. She then gives me a friendly kiss on my forehead, which is partially covered by the pad of the mask. Sarah looks at me for a long time. I can tell that she is fascinated by the mask and that she feels sorry for me. I stand in the room, unable to speak, and she still inspects me and my mask. Out of a sudden she allows me to take the mask off, which is a great relief.s

While putting the mask back in the bag, something unexpected happens. I am suddenly overwhelmed by my emotions and begin to cry. I don't know why, but suddenly the burden of wearing a face mask as an adult is too much for me. Until that moment, I hadn't realized how stressful it was for me to wear such an embarrassing device, but now I'm crying.

At first Sarah does not know what is happening to me, but she soon realizes. She hugs me again and my tears are still flowing. Then she says, "Don't worry Tim, I will help you with this." She massages my back with her right hand to calm me down. It feels good to be hugged by her and it helps me slowly get over this moment of panic.

It is good that we have locked the office door, so at least no stranger can see me in this state. I am glad that Tamara has not seen me like this and that only Sarah has seen me panic. Or would it have been better if Tamara had seen it? I don't know what to think about all this.

Back in a more normal state, I say to Sarah, "I'm sorry. My reaction was childish. It just overwhelmed me that I have to wear this stupid mask as an adult. I should have been able to control myself." She says, "Tim, don't be so hard on yourself. It is okay to have feelings."

She continues, "I'm sure you can handle it. You only need to wear this mask in private, so no one will see you wearing it. I think your expanders were a tougher job. I mean, you had to wear them in public all day, and they always gave you that little lisp." I nod and say, "Yes, you are right. Those emotions just came out of nowhere and I didn't know what was happening to me."

Then she surprises me with a passionate kiss on my lips. I can feel her tongue trying to play in my mouth. At first I enjoy her kiss, but then reason returns and I end the kiss. I tell her, "Sorry Sarah, I have a girlfriend. We cannot do this anymore."

She looks at me, obviously embarrassed, but not at me, it looks like she is ashamed of herself. In a whiny voice she says, "Sorry Tim, I shouldn't have done that. I respect you and your girl. Can you forgive me?" Sure I can, "Apology accepted, but please don't do it again. You know I like to kiss you, but it is not appropriate now that I have a girlfriend."

Our conversation is interrupted by a knock at the door. It is Per, a member of the test team, and he has some bad news. We do not discuss the locked door with him and instead focus on this new problem. So we spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how to fix this problem. There is no time to discuss personal matters.

Back in my rented apartment, I prepare something to eat. Eating has become so much easier without my expanders. With them, it was really hard not to have them pick up a huge amount of food. Now with the TPA and LLA it is so much easier. It almost feels like eating without braces. Of course, that is not true because I still have to eat carefully, but it is just so much easier now.

In the bathroom I brush my teeth and I notice the same thing. It is so much easier without those bulky expanders. Life without expanders is definitely an improvement. As I add my rubber bands, I take a closer look at my teeth. The gap from the expansion is still there, but it is slowly getting smaller. But there is still a lot of work to be done. My teeth do not look straight at all. The wire is almost zigzagging through the brackets. And when I compare the wire with Tamara's, mine looks so tiny and fragile. I need a thicker wire and I am sure I will get it soon.

When I look at my crooked teeth, I have a question in my mind. Why did I not realize that I had crooked teeth before? I mean, they are not slightly crooked, they are very crooked. Is it the braces that exaggerate the crookedness? Or was I somehow blindsided? I don't know, but my need for treatment is so obvious to me now.

I decide to put on my face mask now. A little more wearing time is certainly beneficial. I watch myself put on this embarrassing device and remember my panic attack at the office with Sarah. Now, in my private room, it feels somehow okay to wear this device. I do not have the same feelings I had this morning.

Before going to bed I decide to watch a movie on the TV. It is an action movie and there is a lot of shooting and trash talking going on. Through the movie I can feel the pull of the mask. I decide to take a painkiller and go to bed early. Maybe I will be asleep before the real pain starts.

There is another problem I haven't thought about. I usually sleep on my side or on my stomach. But the face mask prevents me from sleeping that way. I must learn to sleep on my back. After seeing the crookedness of my teeth in the mirror, I know that my treatment is unavoidable, but couldn't it be a little less of a burden for me?

The next morning my whole mouth feels sore. This is my second night wearing the mask and it is definitely worse than the first. The first night I had the advantage of being with Tamara and she knew how to distract me from the pain.

36. Surprise
It is quite late when we arrive at my apartment. We brush our teeth and put rubber bands on our braces. Tamara sometimes wears rubber bands with her braces now, but she has the softest ones so they do not move her teeth in the wrong direction. Then she helps me with my face mask, but not before she kisses me on the mouth one last time before the face mask makes kissing impossible.

What happens in the bedroom is wonderful as always. And it gets better every time we do it. I fall asleep with Tamara in my arms. It is the first night that I do not wake up because of the pain from my face mask.

We stand together in my bathroom the next morning and Tamara says to me, "Thank you for this wonderful night. And I need to show you something." She opens her mouth very wide and I can see everything in her mouth. And actually her braces look different. Then she asks me, "Did you see it?"

I ask her, "When did you get the bands and the TPA? That was not there when I saw you last week." She smiles at me and gives me another good look at her pink braces.

Then she tells me, "I got them yesterday at the study group. And I think the TPA is amazing. It adds so much to my braces experience. And the best part is, I get to keep it. Professor Frey thinks it will keep my molars from rotating, which is always a good thing for orthodontic treatment. I am so happy."

I know her love for braces, so I am happy when she is happy. I then pull her closer and touch her braces with my index finger. I let the finger run slowly over her brackets. I know she likes it and I like being close to her.

She then plays with the rubber bands on my braces and I can tell she is enjoying every moment of it. After her finger has inspected every part of my braces, it is time for a kiss. Because of my face mask, she can only kiss me on the cheek, but it is still a very passionate kiss. I decide to take off the mask and get a real kiss from her and she does not disappoint me.

Then she looks at me and says, "You haven't seen the best part yet." She opens her bag and takes something out. I immediately recognize it as a Headgear. She shows it to me and smiles all over her face. Wow, this is a surprise.

She then says, "They had to practice fitting headgear on a patient and I got to keep this one. I am so lucky to be part of this study group. It helps me experience so many aspects of orthodontic treatment.” I take a good look at the headgear and tell her, "Put it in. I want to see how you look with it on."

She immediately starts putting the headgear on, still with a big smile on her face. First she puts the facebow in her mouth. Considering the speed with which she does this, she must have practiced a lot. Then she attaches the neck strap to the facebow and soon she is wearing the headgear.

She looks kind of cute wearing it and I tell her, "You look cute. Can we still kiss with this on?" She does not answer, instead she starts kissing me. It feels a little strange when my lips meet her lips plus the facebow. But we can still kiss each other. Looks like the headgear is better than the face mask.

What a stunning look she has with her pink braces and the pink neck strap that matches the color of her braces. And she looks so happy when she wears it. Then she asks me, "What do you think? The headgear is not part of my treatment, but I can still wear it sometime without risking any damage to my bite."

With a smile on my face, I tell her, "I think you look good. Shall I put on my face mask so we can match?" She laughs and says, "Wait, I have something better for you. Without further ado she pulls another headgear out of her bag, "I was able to secure another one, you have to try it. It is already adjusted to your braces."

I wonder how she made this adjustment and decide to give it a try. After all, it makes her happy and I am sure she will reward me later. She hands me the facebow and the blue neck strap and I turn my face to the bathroom mirror.

I have never worn a facebow before, so it takes me a while to find the headgear tubes and fiddle the end of the facebow into them. Tamara is watching me, still wearing her headgear. Finally the facebow is in and I attach the neck strap to it. Now I am wearing a headgear for the first time in my life.

I ask her, "Can we kiss with this on?" She does not answer, but initiates a kiss. At first our facebows collide and we both burst out laughing. On the third attempt, our lips meet and we finally kiss. The facebows make it hard to move our heads, but our lips still touch. I explore her facebow and the brackets on her front teeth with my tongue. When I finish, she does the same.

Wearing headgear is a very strange feeling. I can feel the force it exerts on my back molars. It also feels strange to have a strap around my neck. When I wear my face mask, I can see the bar of the mask all the time. It is a little different with the headgear, I can only see parts of the facebow out of the corners of my eyes.

I wonder if I can wear the headgear with my face mask. Without asking Tamara, I take my face mask and begin to put it on. Tamara watches me with a very surprised look on her face. It is not easy to put the mask on, but in the end I am wearing it with the headgear.

Tamara is still speechless, but has a look of admiration on her face. Looking in the mirror, I realize that I look ridiculous with these two extra oral devices. Tamara has found her words and stumbles, "Wow, this is so cute. And you look fabulous in them." She kisses me on the cheek and rubs my back as the face mask blocks access to my lips.

We never leave my apartment today. And I get multiple rewards for wearing my headgear or face mask. Tamara especially likes it when I wear the headgear. I also prefer the headgear because I can kiss her while wearing it. This is a fantastic day and all parts of our bodies are involved in the experience.

That evening we lie in bed together, very exhausted. Tamara turns to me and says, "You know, I have always wondered how it feels to wear these devices in public. I stumble, "Well, I think it feels pretty humiliating. No one wears them in public anymore. I saw some kids wearing them when I was young, but I haven't seen one in ages."

She gets a sweaty look on her face and asks me, "Would you like to wear it with me? Of course, in a foreign city.” Wow, I never thought about that. Wearing my face mask in front of Sarah had been humiliating enough. I actually had a panic attack. Wearing it in front of strangers is another level of humiliation.

She rubs my back and says, "Please!” I don't know why, but I tell her, "Okay, if you want to try this, I'll join you.” I can tell she is pleased with my response. In fact, I have never seen her so happy. She tells me, "Thank you, this is really going to help me understand my patients. I want to fix their smiles, but I also want to be a supportive and understanding orthodontist. Let's try it tomorrow."

Hope you like this two new chapters. I have also started to write a new story with Peter and Lynn. I will release the new story, if I like it.

Thank you for your excellent work. Looking forward to more of this story and to possibly hear about Peter and Lynn again.

39. Next appointment
Today is my next orthodontist appointment. It is the first appointment after I received my face mask. The appointment also had to be changed to Friday afternoon because Lynn was sick on Monday morning. I am not expecting any major changes from this appointment. Maybe I will get a stronger wire or a different pattern of rubber bands.

I walk into Lynn's office with my face mask on. I have read her office policy and it is very clear that patients must wear all of their appliances in her office. I am really happy that I am the last patient on this Friday and no other patient is there. As always, Ann greets me warmly and when she smiles, she reveals her retainer.

I can go straight into the treatment room where Lynn is waiting for me. It is still funny to see that my orthodontist also wears braces. But it also makes me feel connected to her. I know she knows what I am going through. And this time she looks happier than ever. I do not know the reason for her happiness and I am afraid to ask.

She tells me to sit down in the chair. With the face mask still on, she begins to examine my teeth. After a while she removes the mask and lets me bite down. It takes her a while to examine my teeth. She does her usual mumbling as she inspects my teeth, but she seems happy with them as far as I can tell.

Then she removes the archwires from my braces. As usual, I am allowed to brush my teeth properly without the wire. I really like this part because it helps me to have very clean teeth. Since I am very afraid of cavities, having clean teeth is one of my top priorities.

So far Lynn has not said much, but now she begins to explain, "Tim, you are doing very well with your treatment. You are doing a great job with your oral hygiene and I can see that you are wearing your mask as instructed. Today we are going to make some adjustments to your treatment."

I am curious to see what adjustments she is talking about. I wasn't expecting a change in my treatment today. She continues, "You will get a stronger wire again. The wire will help to further straighten your teeth. And I think you have noticed that the gaps between your teeth are closing. We are going to add a device that will help close those gaps even more."

I want to know what device she is talking about. After all, I am happy to only have brackets with TPA and LLA. And no expanders or anything like that. She explains, "Today you will receive a power chain. It will help close the gaps between your teeth."

She shows me the power chain and to me it basically looks like a long rubber band with a lot of holes in it. And it is quite obvious, how this will help to close my gaps. Then she tells me, "You didn't have any color for your braces with your self-ligating brackets. Now you can choose a color for your power chain. Which color do you want?".

She shows me different colors of power chain and I quickly choose dark blue. I know Tamara would prefer pink, but I am a guy and I like blue. Lynn tells me that dark blue is a good choice for men and that she always recommends this color to patients who are unsure.

Then she starts adding my new wire. For the first time that I get a new wire, I can see that it is actually thicker than the last wire. I wonder if this wire will cause me some serious pain. Lynn quickly inserts the wire into my upper and lower braces. She is really good at this.

Then she starts with the power chains. She attaches it to my back upper molar first and then pulls the chain over all the brackets on my upper jaw. Her pulling on my jaw feels really strange and I can tell right away that this is going to cause me some pain.

Lynn repeats the process on my lower jaw. Once again, the pulling of the power chain on my braces is not comfortable at all. She then hands me a mirror to look at my braces. The colors make my braces look different. They look more like Tamara's braces, which require elastics to hold the wire in the brackets.

The last change that follows is my rubber band pattern. She now wants me to wear them in a triangle pattern. The rubber band has to go from my upper second molars to my lower second molars and then forward to my lower first premolars. She then hands me three new packs of rubber bands. As far as I can tell, they are even stronger than my previous bands.

I am curious to see what Tamara thinks about the change in my treatment. I am sure she will enjoy exploring every change in my mouth. However, I am concerned about the pain these changes will cause. I can already feel the pull of the power chains. And with the even stronger rubber bands, more pain is to be expected. If that is not enough, the new wire is a serious concern too. The wire clearly looks much stronger than my last wire and I know what stronger wire means in terms of pain.

Lynn seems happy with my braces and tells me, "Please make your next appointment in four weeks. I am sure Ann can give you your usual Monday morning appointment. And be sure to wear your mask at least eight hours a day. The more, the better."

I tell her, "Thank you Lynn, I will make the appointment and thank you for fixing my bite. I can already see a big difference in my teeth." What I leave out is my concern about the pain her changes may cause. And she made more than one change today. I really hope it is not as bad as I expect it to be.

I already know one person who is very interested in the progress of my treatment. I am sure she will like the addition of the power chains and my new rubber band pattern. Her reaction to the changes in my treatment will be overwhelming, I am sure. And she has the whole weekend to explore my braces.

Tamara and I have arranged to meet at her place this evening. I walk into her apartment and proudly show her my braces. To my surprise, she is sitting in the corner of her living room crying. I don't know why she's crying, but I know it must be something serious.

She is in a state of not being able to speak. I just go to her and try to hug her. At first she refuses my attempts to hug her. I still don't know why she is so upset. Has she found out about me and Sarah? But I didn't do anything wrong with Sarah, of course we were a couple, but that was before my relationship with Tamara.

After a while she lets me hug her. I want to find out what is wrong with her, but I think she needs some time to calm down. I don't think it's my relationship with Sarah, I'm pretty sure it must be something else. Or would she let me hug her if she is jealous of Sarah?