In my early adulthood, I mostly ignored my teeth. I wished they were straight, but I think slightly crooked teeth can look charming on some people, so I told myself that my teeth gave me character.
Unfortunately, as I got older, my bite continued to get worse. I developed an open bite, and my front teeth started to stick out, and I had gaps between my upper and lower teeth. I stopped smiling for photos. My crossbite got worse too, and at a routine cleaning two years ago, my dentist said, "do you realize that only two of your teeth touch when you bite down? Why dont you get braces already??"
So that got me seriously thinking about braces. I went to a few orthos for an evaluation. I was hoping I could use Invisalign on my teeth, but all of them told me that I would need traditional braces, probably for 2 years. This scared me, so I decided to forget the idea of braces.
Two years later, I was still unhappy with my teeth, my bite was continuing to get worse, and I was starting to get pain in my jaw. I was going to turn 40 in July, so I decided that now would be a good time to stop stalling and just get braces already.
So a week ago, the braces went on! I was originally planning to get metal brackets, but all of my friends who had braces as teens told me to get the clear brackets. Even my ortho recommended them due to my sensitivity to nickel, so I went with the clear ones. I thought they would be ceramic braces, but they really are clear, so I think they must be Inspire Ice brackets.
I was SO SCARED to get braced, I seriously considered breaking my appointment, up until I walked though the office door! However, this first week has been great! I had a bad headache the day my braces were put on, and I felt a lot of pressure on my teeth, but other than that, I had no pain. The next day, some of my teeth were a little sore when I chewed, but nothing major. I never had to change to a soft food diet!
Getting used to eating with braces on has been a little challenging, but not too bad. I havent had any mouth sores yet either, just a little uncomfortable rubbing on my bottom front brackets. I keep thinking, is this all there is too it???
I dont have any bands or brackets on my back molars though, and I assume something will have to go back there. Maybe the pain will really kick in once they are braced too?
Anyway, so far so good! The clear brackets are very unnoticeable (at least to other people; they feel huge to me!
), no one has noticed that I have braces on! When I mentioned to people that I had braces (sometimes after talking with them for a while) every single person claimed that they hadnt noticed. So I would definitely recommend the clear brackets for people who dont want people to see their braces. They arent that visible unless you are smiling widely.Ok, here are some pictures. My teeth from the front: my open bite is hidden a bit by my gigantic front teeth.
My teeth from the side: you can see here how most of my teeth dont touch when I bite down.
And finally, my braces! This photo was taken the day after the braces went on.
And a photo taken today -
please excuse the big wax glob, I forgot I had it on.
I think my teeth have moved a little already, the gaps below my laterals seem a little smaller!So far this has been a great experience, I feel very proud to finally be getting straight teeth! I am already looking forward to my first adjustment!
They look terrific, btw. 
Congrats
