I was thinking just earlier today, whilst enjoying some nice food.... I remember, when the braces were first fitted, I thought I might never be able to eat properly or quickly with them - I was having tiny bites to eat and was really self-conscious of people seeing me, and hyper-aware of the uncomfortable movement of my teeth.
More than a year later, they really do feel part of me, they're not poking into the side of my mouth at all (unless i've not been drinking enough water during the day), I'm much more confident about eating (as my waistline shows
![wink :wink:](./images/smilies/wink.gif)
). I don't know *when* this really started to not be an issue for me, but it wasn't too long after I first got them (about a month after they were fitted, I was back at a friend's house and I remember them saying, "are you still not feeling as if you can eat properly?" and smiling that I was doing much better now!), and, as time goes by, I hope you start to feel much more relaxed and, above all, really positive about the end result - oh, and i find that looking at all the fantastic smiles from the success stories here when I feel a bit down always works for me
![DancingBanana :banana:](./images/smilies/Dancing_Purple_Banana.gif)