Hey everyone :)

[leopardprint]

Hey everyone! Thought I should introduce myself since my first post was a crazed, worried, and frantic post about my boyfriend's recent oral surgery viewtopic.php?t=9043 (everything is fine now!).

My name is Sara Rose, I'll be 21yrs old in May, and I live in NYC... and to be honest... this is the first time I've ever registered for any online forums or communities as any other name than 'sararose' strange!

Anyways, here's a back story... I got braces when I was in the 6th grade (1996) and I gave my parents hell for it throughout the entire time they were on my teeth (I'm DEFINITELY regretting it now). I had a severe over bite due to sucking my thumb for years. I wore the braces until the end of my 8th grade year (1999) where I threw the biggest fit of my life to get them off before entering highschool... It went something like, "IM GOING TO RIP THESE THINGS OFF WITH MY BARE HANDS IF YOU DON'T TAKE THEM OFF ME!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!" over and over again, hour on the hour, day after day that summer.

Needless to say, they took them off - and my teeth were great! But stubborn, young me, refused to wear my retainer.


Within the last two years, my teeth have been shifting. Not EXTREMELY, but enough where my smile is probably the BIGGEST thing I despise when I look into the mirror.

I've been trying to save up and get myself Invisalign - I would honestly quit eatting for months to be able to get myself a set - but I'm far from having the money, since I'm currently in college and paying loans and tuition. My dream was to have prefectly straight teeth for graduation, but I doubt it will happen any time soon.


It's weird... when I was younger, I never cared about my teeth at all. I brushed once a day, never flossed, and when I had my braces I never wore my headgear once or my rubber bands once.

Now, however, I'm OBSESSED about my teeth. I've been whitening them using Crest strips and their whitening toothpaste (those premium strips work AMAZINGLY, btw), I brush nearly three times a day, floss, and use mouth wash. I'm not exactly sure when this changed happened, but it was sometime when I entered college. Now I'm so self concious about my teeth not being straight, I've gone back to smiling for pictures through closed lips, or photoshoping my teeth to me straight when I do take a picture showing teeth.

[kktomyris]

Excuse me if I send this off to computer ether black hole but I am trying to respond to leopardprint. I am a "board" newbie too. I can remember being in college and eating peanut butter and kidney beans for dinner cause that was all I had and I needed gas to get to my classes that week. While you aren't happy with the way your teeth look now at least you are not struggling with cavities that you can't afford to repair. When you graduate look for a "first" job that offers GREAT dental care!

If your college has a dental school you could also sign yourself up as a ortho guinea pig patient for the new dentist that are graduating...they may have a training program (under a qualifed dentist) that would allow you to get your braces for little to no $$$$. You can also try a paid internship at one of the larger companies that may pay benefits to their interns.

GOOD LUCK!


KKTomyris

[snowbunny]

Hi Sara. I was as much a stroppy teen as you. I refused to have braces totally. My wonky teeth are the sole result of thumbsucking as well.
So, how do you straighten teeth in photoshop?!! Tell me!