Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello all! I'm 26 years young and getting set to take the big leap and get braces (scheduled for July 8th). My upper teeth are quite crooked, and I've known for many years that I should get braces, but I have never had any major issues (including cavities) and the aesthetics weren't important to me (I've always been a bit of a "tree hugging hippie feminist" as my dad puts it), and my parents weren't about to push me into something I didn't want to do (being slightly granola themselves, lol). As in a few short years I'll be finished grad school and will (hopefully) have a career in academic research I decided that for professional reasons this would be a good decision.

I'm at that nervous excitement stage, and really appreciate this site. It's nice to know that there are so many others who are going through/have gone through life as an adult with braces.

Hey, we have a lot in common! I'm also 26 and getting my wire within a couple days of your brace-date (had to get brackets separately last week, blah). And my biggest reason for doing it NOW is because I feel so awkward and funky planning for grad school and the rest of my professional life with crowded, "low-class" teeth.

Good luck! I'll be looking forward to seeing how things go for you!

Hey guys,

I'm 25. Went through grad school without braces (everybody, including my dentist, said my smile was good enough and the crowding wasn't very noticable) and entered my professional life feeling blah about my teeth.
Good enough wasn't good enough. And my brother is in dental school and using my case as a fun case study...

Anyway. I teach molecular biology to my company's clients for a living.
I look young enough as it is without braces.
Just be professional. And everybody should follow suit.

And...I'll let you know how this works out for me...

Hi Cass and tamantha2002, it's nice to meet fellow sufferers (lol)!

tamantha2002, I can totally relate to the looking younger thing. I'm under five feet tall and tend to be mistaken for someone much younger (especially once I open my mouth and start talking, when a telemarketer calls my house I always get asked if my mommy or daddy are home). I can't complain too much though, I'll definitely appreciate looking younger a few more years down the road. Small world, molecular biology was a huge part of my undergrad (I did a triple major in microbiology, anatomy and biochemistry), but I don't get into it much anymore as my thesis is mostly histology based.

Cass, what a coincidence, our stories do seem to be very similar. What are you going to be studying in grad school? Also, is it fairly common to have the brackets attached prior to the wire? I had the impression that it was usually done at the same time.

FYI...

I went into work yesterday, for the first time after being braced, and the first thing I saw was a picture of myself with braces and a comment bubble saying, "If you thought I looked young before, just look at me now!"

I'm in a similar field, I got my undergrad degree in chemistry and work in a biochemistry lab

woo hoo for fellow lab geeks!

Today is the big day!!! Right now I'm feeling a weird mix of excitement and dread, part of me is just wants to get the process started, but the other side is wondering what the hell I was thinking.

Last night my boyfriend brought me my "last meal" so to speak, spinach pizza on super crispy crust then for dessert we had popcorn, corn nuts and gummy worms. Funny, I've never been much for these snack foods, but now that I know I probably shouldn't eat them I had a massive craving. Weird huh?

Sorry for the babbling, I'm just trying to keep myself occupied so I don't totally flip out.

Yay for your brace-day!! It'll be weird having them at first, but it will only get better as the days and weeks go by.

I did the same, had a last meal and all. I still get cravings for things that I can't have just yet, like a big, crunchy taco salad

Bracedincanada - how did your bracing day go?? Hope you are doing ok - remember the wax is you friend - I used loads in the first week, then I have been lucky and not needed it since (I'm 14 months in and awaiting my op date currently) Best of luck xx

Sammi, my brace day went fairly well, it has been the past couple days that have been hard. Wax is definitely my friend right now, I have a couple spots on my cheeks that are torn up pretty bad.

I've started a thread in the Our Braces Stories section to journal my progress, feel free to check it out!