The Pain, the Misery, the Braces!

Two years ago, my mouth looked like this.

Pretty good, right? Sure! I was pretty, my teeth are white, and after all, teeth and smiles are more about expressing than simply just being beacons of perfection. In fact, I've seen tons of beautiful, amazing smiles that have absolutely nothing to do with perfect teeth.

Nonetheless, I got braces.

Twenty years old, I began my trek with braces. Sure, I would have liked to have gotten them as a child. Sure, I did have to answer this question indeed to the many people who didn't even dream of the possibility of not having money as children. But we didn't. My family absolutely did not. So, here I am, paying for these braces, and kind of falling in love with them.

My 21st birthday came and went. Still, the braces. I consider myself more of a woman, and still, I see a funky girl looking at me in the mirror. SO MUCH BRACES.

Progressively, my teeth start straightening out, and my jaw expands. I wear a mouthpiece called an "FR," and I stuck up with having rubber bands tying my mouth into pieces all over the place. No big deal, right?

Right.

That is, until, this past orthodontist appointment where I was given TWICE the amount of bands in my mouth. Dr. Diers, the most brilliant man on the planet as far as Orthodontics is concerned, has made teeth his passion. He looks at my mouth, prescribes a triple, Stage 3 band alignment with wrap-arounds, and I lay, passively, quivering to discover what he means. Rubber bands are used to pull the bite together. Specifically, moving the teeth around repositions the entire bite of a mouth, and the bite is something that we absolutely want to have aligned correctly. I have three triangles, on each side of my mouth, PULLING my mouth shut. Tightly. I have two bands running crosswise across the length of my mouth, pushing my teeth together, and I have a connector band on every. single. bracket. forcing my teeth to move and look prettier.

My dear friends, I may be about to collapse! Let's get this straight: I love these braces! I love them so much! If you have never had the opportunity to flash a mouthful of hardware at people, you should certainly do everything in your power to go out immediately and sign up for the next dishing out of braces. It's wonderful! Everyone loves talking to a Braces Girl and Braces Girl loves talking to them!

Truthfully, I did think Adult Braces was going to cut down on my romantic prospects, but Lordy, did it ever not. I was even told by one suitor that my braces made me seem kinda serious. (Sure, anyone who has their mouth practically stitched shut 24/7 is going to give off a serious air, aka, the just-not-talking vibe.) Not only that, by I never cut, sliced, or nipped any of said suitors that turned into said kissers. :D

Here's to braces, my friends! Soon, soon, they will be gone, and I shall be beautiful. In the meantime, let us enjoy the pain while it lasts so that we may remember it, and be better because of it, when it is gone.