Getting closer to my debracing (hopefully in January 2013), I must state the hard truth: braces ARE painful. To me, WAY more painful than an extraction post-op. While the month following initial installation, to me, was only a hair shy of cruel, each subsequent adjustment is also annoyingly painful and sore for many days with almost no relief from Advil. Not sure how I managed to cope with this for almost 15 months already. But the "no pain - no gain" saying definitely holds true with braces.
The goal of my message in no way is to stop people from getting braces. What I wanted to stress is, getting braces IS a huge commitment and yes, a great inconvenience (and not only financial, I wish it was so!) Be prepared for a rough journey that will be worth the hassle - but this may not be evident until closer to the end. And remember: no pain - no gain.
Thankfully, I am getting towards the end of my braces journey. But, I have another journey starting - two dental implants. Which is quite a story in itself, and will take about a year from now until I finally get everything finished (if something goes wrong, the time may be longer). While it seems frustrating now, thankfully after braces I know that "no pain - no gain" and stick with that. I may have to write this all over my house to remember
NO PAIN - NO GAIN.
Best of luck in everybody's braces journey!
