At a recent trip to my dentist's office I inquired about how to go about fixing all the gaps in my teeth. They had never bothered my too much until I started looking at pictures of myself lately - I decided I wasn't thrilled with the way my teeth looked. My dentist referred me to a wonderful ortho. I had my records appointment the first week of Sept.
I got braced, uppers and lowers on Sept. 26th - the day before my 30th birthday!
The whole process was so much shorter and less terrifying than I had expected. I was in the ortho's office less than 1 hour! Today, 3 days later, the insides of my cheeks are a bit sore (I'm about to go stick some wax on the offending places) but I think's it's because I was talking a lot and had to chew a lot at dinner - I was at a co-workers retirement party. Different teeth have been sore on different days - nothing too bad though. Overall, it's not nearly as big of a deal as I had expected it to be.
The one thing I didn't expect was how long oral hygiene takes now!
Waterpik, flossing, brushing, waxing up...wow! Part of the problem is getting used to threading that floss under and over the wires. I know it will get better as I practice.I am also a bit surprised by people's reactions. A lot of people don't even notice!! They'll be talking to me for 20 minutes and then say 'Oh wow! I didn't even notice your braces!' I had expected everyone to notice right away; must be because I'm just so conscience of them. Another person told me they thought I had braces for a long time (!?).
Here are a couple pictures of day one. I will, of course, post more as I go along.
side view
front view
..a question for those with thumbnail pictures in their post: Where do you host your pictures so you can do that?
I live pretty far from my ortho so I was worried I'd run out. He gives it for free - but I have used a lot already and I don't see him until Oct. 23. There is no place to get wax where I live- the one store in town doesn't carry it. 
Had my first adjustment today! I was totally excited. 
