Lourdes Leon

Wearing braces but still look beautiful!

For motivation, I like to look at the celebrities who wore braces whilst being famous... It shows that braces are no longer an ugly thing but it is a temporary treatment leading to that 1 million dollar smile! They proved that braces do not affect their career or popularity! This helps to motivate people to go through the tough period during the treatment!

Beauty Tips - Apply Lips Moisturizer

Wearing braces could cause dry lips. Dry lips are a BIG NO NO! They make you LOOK and FEEL UNATTRACTIVE!

So to look healthier and sexier in braces, apply lips moisturizer / lip gloss / lip balm!

Delta Goodrem

Delta Goodrem also wore braces as an adult!

Delta Goodrem (Australian Singer/Songwritter) wore braces in 2004, to prevent her teeth from moving during treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Tips: Foods to avoid (Western vs. Eastern context)

Delicious Malaysian Nyonya nasi lemak that I had!

Food to stay away from (in Mat Salleh / Ang Mo / Gwai Lo / Western culture context):

1. Chewy foods: hard rolls, bagels
2. Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice, chips
3. Sticky foods: caramels, gum
4. Hard foods: nuts, candy
5. Foods you have to bite into: corn on the cob, apples, carrots
6. Chewing on hard things (e.g, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. Damaged braces will cause treatment to take longer.

Food to stay away from (in Malaysian / Asian / Eastern culture context):

1. Chewy foods: sotong, karipap, pisang goreng, keropok leko
2. Crunchy foods: fried ikan bilis (anchovies), biscuit raya, french fries
3. Sticky foods: pulut, bak-chang, bubble gum (chewing gum), chinese nian gao （年糕）
4. Hard foods: kacang (nuts) unless the steamed one,
5. Foods you have to bite into: jagung, apples, carrots
6. Chewing on hard things (for example, pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces. (this applies to the entire universe)

** In case you might be asking, the tips are for people who are wearing braces...

Alyssa Milano

She has too been there done that!

Gwen Stefani

It is amazing how she can wear braces like that whilst being a celebrity!

Month 3: 1 month after 2 upper teeth extraction

- Archwire Changed.
- 1 month after 2 upper teeth extraction

Nicolas Cage

Before and after pictures of Nicolas Cage

Taking Passport Photo

Today I had my passport photo taken. It is not easy to smile when there's metal in your mouth. I tried several smile in front of a mirror in their dressing room before the photographer was ready.

Finally, when the photographer was ready, I decided not to show any teeth and smile with my mouth closed. The outcome was not as good as I wanted it to be. It is hard to smile when you have braces on.. Maybe I will learn how to smile better next time when I have my passport photo taken...