Chapter 3
Marcos surprised me when he told me that one of the things he would like me to do is get braces on my teeth. I readily agreed, because I had never thought about seeing a dentist and I had never had braces, in fact, I thought it was a great opportunity to have a better smile.
“My love, I have an orthodontist cousin named Brian and I already talked to him about your case and what I would like. You just have to go to the appointment and everything will be okay. You're going to be so perfect, honey, you just have to trust me. It will be tomorrow, everything will be fixed, including your new driver who will take you wherever you need to go.”
As one of his conditions, the next day I went to the dentist with the driver, because now it would be like this, I would always be accompanied.
I arrived at the office at the time of my appointment.
The secretary, as soon as she saw me, said to me, "Doctor Medina has only your procedure scheduled for this morning. But before entering the procedure, I need you to sign a consent form, in which you agree with everything that will happen and undertake to follow the treatment indicated.”
I immediately signed without reading it as proof of my trust in Marcos, so I was soon called and entered. He was young and soon showed me where to sit. It was a common dentist's chair, but with many straps, I lay down and soon he was fastening each strap individually and very tightly, which made my eyes widen. He started at the ankles, then my thighs, abdomen and also one over my forehead.
“Good morning, Marcos has already told me that you are aware of what is going to happen and you agree with it, and you must have already signed the consent form. With everything in order, I will start the procedure, but as I was told that it would be a surprise, I will put you to sleep and when you wake up, everything will be finished.
I didn't even have time to answer, he already put a mask on my face and I soon fell asleep.
Slowly I came back to consciousness trying to remember where I was.
“Sleeping Beauty has returned to the world of the living, stay calm and don't try to speak. Not that you were going to be able to anyway.”
I was scared and tried to move, which was not possible due to the numerous straps holding me, but I saw Marcos approaching me which reassured me.
“I know it's a surprise that I'm here, but I couldn't miss such an important moment for us and our relationship. This step you took was very important and I am proud of you, now I know that we will spend our entire lives together. Now calm down and the Dr. will explain everything.”
“First I equipped you with bands complete with hooks for future adaptations, along with a complete upper expander that covers your entire upper palate equipped with extra acrylic, which will be rotated 2 times a day so that we can increase your dental arch. Marcos told me about a habit you have of biting your lips, which will be a habit that we are going to cure with a palatal grid that has spikes that won't pierce your tongue, but that if you try to move your tongue past your teeth, it will hurt. Try to move your tongue.”
The moment I tried to move my tongue, I felt like it was stuck on something, but I still tried to move it, which caused a sharp pain that I knew I would try to avoid as much as possible. What I didn't know at the time was how I was going to be able to talk with it.
“For the treatment, we put on an active lip plate that will keep your lips as far away from your teeth as possible, so you don't get in the way of the work of the braces. I put bands on all your teeth and they cover the entire length. If you look in that mirror, the only thing you can see is metal everywhere, it doesn't even look like you have white teeth.”
That moment was rock bottom for me, I didn't know how I could have a normal life.
“Now to finish, rubber bands. They go on both sides of the back teeth to the front teeth forming a cross, which will prevent you from opening your mouth too much, but the good thing is that you won't have to use them all the time, just at least 12 hours every day. Now I will leave you alone.”
He left and closed the door, and I began to cry. I had no idea what I was agreeing to. Marcos got closer to me and unfastened each strip without any hurry, and took me in his arms.
“I know this moment must be very difficult for you, but I'm very proud and you've never looked so beautiful. I'll take care of every one of your needs, you don't have to worry that pretty little head, my love. Now let's go home, it's been a very tiring day for you.”
