Christy from Indiana

My story is similar to many others that I read on your "First Day Stories". I have needed braces since I was a child, but it never worked out for my parent to do that for me. I have been self-conscious all my life, and never liked looking at my mouth, or my smile.

Recently, at the age of 34, I decided to look into what it would entail, how much it would cost, and how long I would have to wear them. I was unpleasantly surprised at all of the above. It was going to be much more expensive, and much longer than I had guessed. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I agreed to give it a go. I actually left the consultation appointment in tears because of the emotion of finally doing something I had wanted to do for so long. The day of getting the braces was not too bad. I had a procedure done in which they apply all of the brackets in 4 steps. I even went back to work (teaching) that afternoon. I had no pain or anything.

I thought it was going to be a piece of cake! I could not have been more wrong. The next day my mouth started feeling the aftermath of the braces. I had cuts all over the inside of my mouth. I couldn't eat much of anything but mashed potatoes and milkshakes. I wanted to go back in to have them all removed. I didn't think I could make it for 33 months of this. Well, fortunately things felt a little better each day after about a week. I was actually starting to think that I could deal with these things, when I had a new appliance installed. I had to get an expander in the roof of my mouth to make room for the crowding.