Really scared to start this!

[genxsis]

Well, thank you everyone for your encouragement. I had already gotten the x-rays and everything done and was really having second thoughts. Lately, I decided to forget the whole thing, but now I might reconsider and go through with it. It sounds like it's not quite as bad as I had expected.

My biggest fear is just being in agony all the time and getting depressed as a result, not being able to eat most of what I like, not being able to go to a resteraunt because I'll have food stuck in my braces all day, not being able to chew and having to go on a liquid diet, and maybe even skipping meals to avoid pain and avoid the big cleaning process afterwards. It sounds like SUCH a hassle! But if you guys say it's not that big a deal, well, you would know better than me!

My chances of going ahead with this just went up!

[Evelyn]

My biggest fear is just being in agony all the time and getting depressed as a result, not being able to eat most of what I like, not being able to go to a resteraunt because I'll have food stuck in my braces all day, not being able to chew and having to go on a liquid diet, and maybe even skipping meals to avoid pain and avoid the big cleaning process afterwards. It sounds like SUCH a hassle! But if you guys say it's not that big a deal, well, you would know better than me!

My chances of going ahead with this just went up!

being in agony all the time and getting depressed as a result: I promis you you will not be in agony all the time. In fact, there is very little time that you will be in agony. For me, there was no 'agony' at all. Some uncomfort, the most uncomfortable thing was when I got surgery but even that was faaaaar from agony.

Not being able to eat most of what I like: If you get metal brackets, you can. I'm not trying to encourage other people to break the rules, I'm just sharing my story. I eat everything, and I've only broken a bracket once in the 37 months that I've had braces. Just eat a little more carefully than usual, and you'll be fine. Heck, I even bite into apples . I do it all-caramel, all gummy candy, popcorn, fruit, pizza, soda, gum, I eat anything and everything I want to. Just brush carefully after. You try saying no to all this for 41 months...it just aint gonna happen. There really is no food handicap. you just learn to eat more carefully and not chomp down really hard on hard/sticky food.

Not being able to go to a restaurant because I'll have food stuck in my braces everyday: Another reason to get metals, I personally think that people make this way too big of an issue. It's actually very easy, you learn a sucking technique fairly early on and heck, eat out whereever and whenever you want. I don't get things stuck in my teeth when I eat-you just get used to sucking out the food and cleaning off your brackets with your tongue discretely. Anyways, just cover your mouth if you're talking and feel self-conscious. People understand, most have had braces themselves. Braces are definatley no reason to be stuck at home all day without any fun.

Not being able to chew and having to go on a liquid diet: Phooey. Chew whatever you want. The longest I've had to go on a liquid diet for was half a day after I got my surgery. Other than that, I eat whatever I want. The first day I got braces, I ate pizza. Is it a little uncomfortable? Yes, but will it kill you? No. Anyway, there are many soft foods you can eat. Also, tearing apart your food instead of biting it off helps a lot. Generally I find that my back molars don't hurt as much as the front teeth. Anyway, generally your whole mouth doesn't hurt at the same time, it goes in cycles and I can always find someplace that it doesn't hurt that much to chew. Liquid diets....phooey-not for me thanks.

Skipping meals to avoid pain. See above. I've gotta run now, but I hope you take osme of these into consideration. If you don't make it a big deal, then trust me it won't seem like that big of a deal.

xoxo Eve

[genxsis]

Evelyn:

Thank you for your words of encouragement! I really need it right now! But you said you've been in braces for 37 months! My dentist said 24 for me. This kind of goes back to what I said in my original post about the times being longer for most people.

I'm gonna be asking my ortho about his time estimate for me.

[genxsis]

Evelyn:

Thank you for your words of encouragement! I really need it right now! But you said you've been in braces for 37 months! My dentist said 24 for me. This kind of goes back to what I said in my original post about the times being longer for most people.

I'm gonna be asking my ortho about his time estimate for me.

[genxsis]

KK:

Thank you too, for your advice! (And my apology to everyone for that double post).

Oddly, my Mom and brother (who had braces when younger, and since had his teeth pulled for being too brittle) advise me NOT to get braces. They say it's not important enough because it's mainly for looks. True, I guess. My main reason for it is because my dentist recommended it because of the overlapped teeth. The next chance I get, I'll ask him if there's anyway of avoiding it. If not, then I guess I'll do it!

[butterfly]

My biggest fear is just being in agony all the time

The days after my wisdoms - THAT was agony but braces are nothing so far.

and getting depressed as a result

The depression turns into euphoria when you look into the mirror and notice your first tiny change. With me it happened in only 6 days.

not being able to eat most of what I like

OK this in an issue. I agree. There are foods you will not be able to eat for some time. For example a rump steak. (Can you eat a rump steak at any given time in braces? I cannot imagine it.) And there will be days where you eat only soup and mashed potatos. On the other hand you will discover new foods you can eat. Another bonus is healthier food! I banned sugary drinks and sodas for example and discovered great natural juices I would never have bought/made otherwise. And I lost weight which is not bad! Even when I eat normal food I eat it much slower and more consciously. This makes you eat less and you loose weight.

not being able to go to a resteraunt because I'll have food stuck in my braces all day

So you clean them afterwards! You will remember your favorite restaurants which offer the food you want and a sink/mirror set that suits your needs. Instead of using the toilet after the meal I use the toilet and brush my teeth. Adds a few more minutes and that's it.

maybe even skipping meals to avoid pain and avoid the big cleaning process afterwards

.

This is true. Snacking is out of the question. I hate my mouth to be unclean so sometimes I just skip a snack to avoid cleaning again. Especially sweet stuff. After sweet stuff I clean immediatly. So I often skip it. But this is not bad. Snacking just makes you fat anyway.

It sounds like SUCH a hassle!

It is a hassle. At day 4 I wanted to quit because I couldn`t eat at a restaurant. I cried there!

But then I thought: 1,5 years of hassle like this OR 30, 40, 50 years more of smiling and laughing behind my hand and being afraid of any photo that could show my teeth? (Not speaking of loosing all my teeth because I cannot clean them) Which is the bigger hassle and a bigger bad impact on my social life and health? Now I sometimes smile because I am less ashamed of my crooked construction site than I was of my crooked teeth and not doing anything about them... And I know that in a few months only I will have a perfect line of teeth already with no black gaps in between.

Please think about it. Good luck with your treatment keep us posted.

PS I posted a thread pre-braces myself - My first archwired post. You can read it here:
viewtopic.php?t=6168&highlight=