"Sophie Elvis."

I stand up from my seat in the waiting room. The orthodontist who called my name leads me into another room.

"Hi! I'm going to be taking your braces off today," she tells me. "First we will take one last examination of your teeth and then we'll take off the braces. Finally we'll clean your teeth and take a mould for your retainer."

I take a seat and wait while the orthodontist looks over my mouth to make sure that there are no problems that could stop me having my braces removed.

"Everything looks fine," the orthodontist decides, much to my relief.

She starts by removing all the bands holding the braces together. Then she takes a pair of pliers, grabs hold of one of the four metal rings around my back teeth and pulls. I let out a small gasp of surprise as the ring slides off my tooth.

I brace myself for the next three rings. It doesn't hurt to have them pulled off, but it is a bit uncomfortable. I survive without making another noise.

The orthodontist works quickly and soon she's smiling down at me. "The braces are all gone. You can rinse your mouth. Then we'll clean all the glue off your teeth."

I peer into the mirror above the sink. My teeth don't look like mine; they look far too straight!

Cleaning my teeth takes a long time. A lot of glue got stuck in my gums when the braces were put on. The orthodontist works slowly, making sure she cleans it all out.

Finally, she's finished. There is only one last thing she has to do.

"I'm going to take a mould of your teeth so that we can make your night retainer," the orthodontist tells me as she hunts around for a mould the right size.

She fills the mould with some sort of clay and asks me to bite down into it. When the clay has dried, she takes it out of my mouth, and I get to rinse again.

"Congratulations! You survived braces," the orthodontist tells me.

I can't stop grinning as I walk out into the waiting room.

"Can I take a photo?" Mum asks, pulling out her camera.

"Is it time to celebrate?" Imogen looks hopeful. We've planned to visit the Lindt cafe as a treat. None of us have been there before.

"It sure is," Mum agrees.

To be continued...

Have you ever had braces? How long did you have them for?