And So It Begins
I have made the commitment to get braces. They go on next Thursday. I feel like such a teenager. I had the option to get the white/clear ones but to do that adds about $40 a month to the total, and since it’s really just cosmetic, I couldn’t justify it. I’ll try to wear my metal mouth with pride.
Yesterday was my appointment to get spacers in. God, that sucked, even if it only took 30 seconds. It’s sort of an ongoing suckage because my mouth has been in pain ever since, which is causing me headaches. And I have to fight the urge to run upstairs to floss because it feels like I have, well, like I have little blue bits of plastic between my two upper molars on both sides. Which I do.
I am sort of unsure how I feel about my orthodontist. It’s like a salon in there with multiple chairs lined up next to each other - so you really don’t have any privacy when they torturing you. And you can tell they just aren’t used to that many adult patients because they don’t ever want to tell me what’s going on. They just want to get started, but I hold them up with pesky questions about what and why and how long. I guess most 12 year olds don’t give a shit about what they are doing and why, but this is MY money (ok, well it’s Jake’s money but still…..) and I want to understand the point behind everything they do. I can tell it annoys them. I’d consider going to another orthodontist, but a) this is the one my dentist highly recommends, and b) I already shelled out money for impressions and x-rays and I honestly don’t want to have to do that again. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. I think I just need to win them over with my sunny personality. Then they’ll stop being annoyed at all my questions.
So here we go. I know I’ll be happy that I did this when it’s all over, and even happier when I’m old and my jaw isn’t killing me from years of being out of whack. But for now, I envision a lot of pain meds. Thank god I barely took any of the ones I got after having the baby - I have plenty of leftovers. And now I’m going upstairs to practice a closed-mouth smile. I’ll be needing it for the next two years.
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Dang woman! :)My orthodontist was the same way - 5 (I think) brightly colored chairs all lined up in a row. I wouldn’t be able to deal with that now (I don’t think?) but then it didn’t bother me (high school). I had the clear braces (my excuse? I was in a lot of plays/shows and the metal look just wouldn’t cut it). I wore those things until college (eek) and after I got them off some people didn’t even know I had them on! Weird. It’s not *that* painful (I didn’t think) but it definitely takes some getting used to. Of course I didn’t wear my retainers for life so now my teeth are slighly out of whack again. *sigh* Oh well, so it goes…. GOOD LUCK!
What an odd experience this must all be. I know you’ll be glad in the end. Think you could convince them to modify the chairs to include the tubs of whirling water for your feets?
The spacers are the worst part of it, trust me. I remember getting my metal (jealous of the plastic!!) ones in during some Olympics…I now associate snowboarding with unbearable pain. Which may explain why I stick to skiing.It’s worth it. I had braces for 5 years, I think, and while I too forgot to wear my retainer (my bottom ones got all crooked again) when I got my root canal/fake tooth put in last year? The guy sanded the fake tooth down to look flush with my other teeth. SCORE!
i’m about to undergo this as well. except, i had the metal braces for 5 years as a teen, and don’t want to suffer through that again, so i’m getting the invisalign… dammit… should have worn my frickin’ retainer the first time around!!! good luck. it’s not so bad once you get used to it. and then when you get them off you cannot stop licking your smooooooth teeth
Good for you- embracing adult dental care choices! I had braces in middle school… I remember the annoyance of getting them on and the joy of getting them off… and how extremely SLIMY my teeth felt those first weeks WITHOUT the metal
I dug that slimy feeling and you will too!
Ah, honey. I feel your pain! Be glad you didn’t get the clear ones. My hygienist had them and they stain very easily with foods (spaghetti sauce, food with curry powder, etc) and then they look awful. My ortho’s office was set up the same way, too. No privacy and lots of kids looking at me as if I were a dinosaur. The whole process will suck, I won’t lie, but the results will totally be worth it!!
Ouch! I never had to have braces as a kid (my sister did), but now my bottom teeth have begun to push forward like an old horse, lol! I’ve been wondering about braces, but now that you’ve mentioned pain I think I’ll pass!
I did braces on my bottom teeth in my mid 20’s and GOD that sucked. I went back two days letter and begged my ortho to take them off, but he refused. It did get easier, and by the end, I kind of missed them.
I feel your pain over here too! Spacers are the worst part. I promise! I didn’t wear my retainer either - top ones are okay but the bottom ones . . . not so much.Brush brush brush and use that floride stuff (prescription) that they give you religously! It will be worth it and I promise the 2 years will go by fast. Good luck!Best part for me getting them off was getting to eat corn on the cob. That’s all I had for dinner that night. God bless my mom. LOL
My mother in law and brother in law both just went through having braces. Hers won’t come off until this year. He’s in his early 30’s, she’s in her late 40’s. They are both so glad they did it, and you will be, too. :o)
Congratulations, Lady! Can’t wait to see those pretty teeth.
I am excited for you and I love the new look here. Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Good luck with the braces. That is very exciting. A former coworker of mine got braces when she was around 30, and was very happy with the results. I think people might appreciate it more when they’re older than a teenager and having to pay for it out of their own pocket.