Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello,
My name is Denyel. I'm 23 and I will be getting my braces on May 17th (3 days after my 24th birthday!). I don't have a website yet, but I am hoping to get one set up soon.

I am having the spacers put in tomorrow. Not exactly looking forward to that, but it has to be done, and in the grand scheme of things it'll be over quick. As far as the braces go I have decided to go with ceramic upper & lower. I teach martial arts to kids and adults and I just didn't want to look like some of my teenage students with metal.
I love crazy colors! Since I'm barefoot the majority of my days I always have my toes painted in crazy/bright colors. So I'm excited about getting to do that with my teeth also, though I may go with nuetral to start, then have them changed at my first adjustment.

Want to thank you for a GREAT site! I am the type of person who has to absorb as much information as possible before I do anything big. I spent most of the weekend reading what this site has to offer and it has been AWESOME!

My husband thinks I'm a little over anxious (he had braces for 5 year and had jaw surgery/wired shut , when he was ages 13-19) He says it'll be no big deal, but I still had to be informed.

Once again thanks for the info!

~Denyel~

Hi Denyal

Just wishing you luck for your braces journey and welcome to the forum.
I'll be interested in how you go with teaching your martial arts. Up until just before i got my braces on, i taught Taekwondo to 5 to 55 year olds, but decided to retire when i got my braces. I figured i'm not going to stuff up $14,000 Aust dollars work by getting a stray kick on my jaw. (I'm having jaw surgery as well as braces).

I also found that my jaw would get really sore after the braces went on (i went down to help out my replacement instructor a few times) when i held the kick pads for the bigger guys. I'm a slightly built (54kg, 167cm) female and some of their kicks would jar my whole body and jaw so i figured 19 years was long enough, and i'll take up Tai Chi or bike riding instead.

I do miss teaching the kids though, and i must find out later from my surgeon and ortho whether i can eventually go back to it, or just stick with something a little easier on my aging body. (lol)

Chrisk

I don't think I'll have a problem teaching with braces but, we'll see how it goes when I get the braces on.

I have only been teaching for 2 years, but I don't think I could give it up. Being kicked or punched in the face is always a "potential" hazard. But it's one of things you just have to be aware of when you teach Martial Arts.

My orthodontist and his wife and 3 kids are actually some of my students. And the first time I ever got kicked in the face was by him!
I feel comfortable with him and that's why I decided to go to him to have my teeth fixed.

I'll keep you updated on how things go when I begin teaching again after I get the braces on (May 17th)