Anna from the UK

I am a 33 year old female who took the BIG plunge to have a brace less than 1 month ago!  You cannot imagine how nervous I was, it was not about the pain it was the vanity of these big ugly silver things stuck to my teeth but my goal was to have straight teeth and that was the price to pay!

Just before I had the braces put on I had nightmares that my teeth dropped out and then also wonderful dreams of me with a big beautiful smile! I have only had braces put on my bottom teeth, there was no way I was doing the top which could be improved but was not necessary.

I had to have a tooth removed at the front due to the over crowding, so not only the silver brackets but a gap too! Boy was I about to feel ugly!

Having the tooth removed was painless which was done by my local dentist, 2 hours later the orthodontist was fitting the brace, they told me that the movement would go very quickly been as I had not waited days/weeks after having the tooth removed. The gums were still soft due to the tooth extraction so they would move quicker, I thought they were just being nice!

After the brace was put on the pressure to my teeth was not half as bad as I had imagined, I think the worst part was the rubbing of the bracket on the inside of my cheeks but with the help of wax it's OK, in fact that is the only pain I suffer now and then almost 4 weeks on and it's really not that bad at all!

But the best I have yet to tell you, I am completely amazed by the movement of my teeth already I can see a huge difference and the gap is starting to close already, trust me I look at them all the time! I find it truly amazing, I never thought the movement would be so obvious and I am soooo happy I did it and wished I had done it years ago, in fact very quickly I learned to love my braces because everyday they are doing something good for me!

In 6 months time, I go back to have the top done and I NEVER thought I would say that!