The Cost of a Perfect Smile

Last Wednesday was a day of true celebration for me; it was the day I finally got my braces off. Some of you may recall seeing me, during our visit to Canada over the summer, or just during everyday life in Chiang Mai, with braces. In a thankfully short ordeal just last week I was free, and pleased to hear the news that I had gotten off four months early, only twenty months as opposed to the two years that had been planned. All in all, the monthly visits had cost us about 1,200 baht/month, or 24,000 baht all in all. Along with the braces themselves (20,000 baht), the x-rays (2,000 baht), the teeth impressions (1,600 baht), the consultation (200 baht), and the retainer which I received last Friday (6,000 baht), the entire total came to around 53,800 baht, or about $1,630 Canadian. This is much cheaper than had the orthodontic work been done in Canada, and we are all very thankful for this.

Eric on the other hand received his braces just last Friday, the day when I received my retainer. He had earlier had 4 teeth extracted (500 baht each) to make room due to overcrowding. Much to his relief, his teeth are not as sore as mine were when I had my braces (I stayed up at night over the pain). Just so you know, we both needed braces as our teeth were growing the wrong way and were causing problems with our other teeth.

Our orthodontist is Dr. Warasiri Pitakanonda, or Dr. Dtom (pronounced "Tom", but with a slight 'd' sound to the 't'). She has quite a resume, with a C.A.G.S. in Pedodontics from Boston University, and a M.S. of Orthodontics from the University of Pacific, in San Francisco. We are both very thankful to her, and pray that she gets blessed.

I am enjoying life with a straight smile, and Eric awaits his turn for when he will be able to smile with teeth all aligned neatly in perfect rows.

Below are three pictures, the first with Eric and I, he without braces, and I with, and the second and third with the both of us again, with our places reversed.