Ezinne Ojo bin get one problem, wen she be small pikin she get one accident wey make her front teeth no straight.
She carry dat mata for years and e bin even make am no dey smile outside wella.
Mrs Ojo bin don sabi di concept of braces bifor but no be until 2022, wit di encouragement of two doctors wey tell am say she dey good to go, she start di project to get her smile back.
She tell BBC News Pidgin about wen she first learn about wetin she call di solution to her dentition. She say, “I no remember wen I first hear of braces. E be like somtin wey I just sabi becos na wetin public knowledge tok say fit solve your problem. Like if pesin get fever for example, dem go tell you say make you take paracetamol, dat kain tin.
“So wen I bin don ready I go two doctors wey examine me and gree say, I bin need braces, and say di braces go solve di issue.”
But for kontri wey di Nigerian Association of Orthodontists reveal say e get only about 70 specialists wey fit run dis kain procedure, to correct di result of her childhood accident bin no come cheap.
She say, “I bin get di metal braces becos e bin dey cheaper for me. To put am in cost me around 750,000 naira ($494). I bin also need to comot four teeth so dat one sef add money. Togeda evrtin cost me around 900,000 ($508) naira to install am.”
Mrs Ojo tok say di reason why e cost like dat be say, “I go private hospital to do am. I choose to do am for private so I go fit arrange wit di hospital wen I fit come to get my braces to dey retightened.”
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For Nigeria, nowadays, braces don turn somtin of pride sotay, e mata from wia you do your braces and na ‘steeze’ if you do am for private hospital as opposed to public ones, even though di price no too different.
But no be di only tin pipo dey reason wen dem tok say dem wan do braces.
Mrs Ojo explain say, “Wit public hospital dem be specific dates wey you gatz come in if you wan fix one or two for your braces mata. So I bin want some flexibility becos of my work na why I go private hospital to go do am.”
Di craze for braces like many oda tins wey pipo like come from media.
Mary wey be businesswoman and bin also do her braces tell BBC News Pidgin say di first time wey she hear about braces na for TV.
She say, “Di tin be say di first place wey I fit don hear about braces na for TV. Dis na sake of say, I bin dey watch plenti Disney Channel as I dey grow so e possible say na from one of di shows I follow hear about am.”
Mary tok about how her own teeth journey bin start. She say she find out as she dey grow, her teeth just dey scata dey go. She reveal say, “I bin get braces becos I get scattered teeth and year afta year, e just dey divide more and more. So I decide say I go put am in order.”
“I bin feel a little bit insecure. I bin no wan smile most of di time. I bin dey very, very weird about my teeth.”
Mary break down di cost process, wey she still dey pay till now weneva she wan run do check-up on top her teeth mata.
She say, “I bin spend plenti money on dis my teeth. I bin first pay for consultation sessions wit orthodontists, dat na even bifor I fit start treatment oh. And e bin cost about 980,000 naira to do am. Even thought I still dey pay money every six weeks, wen I go do check-ups and rewiring and oda kain tins.”
But Mary believe say na braces be di best choice for am to do her teeth well sake of say wetin she hear about di oda options no be hear at all.
“Braces na di only natural solution wey I fit to get for wetin do my teeth. Di oda solutions bin go more technical, like to do surgery to get wetin pipo dey call veneers. I bin no dey interested in veneers at all becos of di way e fit comot, look fake. But di most natural means to get your teeth togeda na wit braces”, na wetin she tok.
But e no mean say di procedures no get some comma in di way wey e dey affect lives.
From food restriction to pain, di two women wey BBC News Pidgin follow tok bin document all di tins wey do dem, sotay one of dem bin wan tap out and give up.
Mary reveal say, “Mostly na di pain do me pass. Like I bin don prepare financially and mentally, I bin no just physically prepare for di amount of pain wey I face bifor dem put in di set sef. Just to put separators to create space for bands. Di pain wey last for weeks, di discomfort.
“Ah I bin no ready at all. I go tok say pain na di hardest tin becos for a while I bin no even fit chop. I bin almost drop everything sef, say make dem just comot am. But wit time di pain go just master you cos e no dey eva stop.”
But Mrs Ojo reveal say: “Di obvious ones na di tins wey you fit chop. You no fit chop anytin wey dey hard like shaki or coconut becos you no wan break di bracket wey dey hold di wires, wey fit affect how di teeth dey move and how long you fit wear di bracket for.
“Sometimes, di wires go chook you for inside your mouth, drag am and na wetin I don face. I also bin like to bite my partner up and down, and now I no fit bite am again”, na so she tok as she dey laugh.
“Becos of one accident wey bin happun to me wen I be pikin, my incisors bin dey crooked and I bin carry am like dat throughout primary, secondary to university and I bin always get am for mind say I go fix dem.”
“I bin dey very self conscious, I bin no fit smile wit open mouth. So, I go always smile wit closed lip smile or avoid pictures totally.”
Between fashion and medical braces
Doctor Keye wey be dentist for Khings Dental Clinic tok say some pipo dey get braces just for fashion.
“We dey recommend braces for teeth correction. Wen dem call say dem want braces, we dey ask dem if dem wan use am for fashion becos na only doctors fit recommend di braces for teeth correction. Some pipo dey buy di fashion one use,” e tok.
Im tok say dem dey look at different conditions bifor dem recommend am for patients make dem use am correct minor teeth irregularities.
Dr Keye tok say doctors dey recommend ceramic or metal braces based on di teeth obstruction on di jaw or teeth, and patients dey come for regular check-up bifor di teeth go align.
E tok say during consultation dem go check if di pesin teeth dey aligned and di movement between di teeth, mouth, jaws and gum to consider weda di pesin need teeth correction.
“We dey look at jaw, teeth and oda parts of di mouth relationship to see if dem align. If di pesin fit bite correctly witout biting dia tongue and if e no dey affect how di pesin dey tok and chop,” Dr Keye tell BBC News Pidgin.
Di doctor explain say di price range from 700,000 naira ($460) to 1m naira for any public and private medical centre across Nigeria.
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