Today I got my braces off. For those not in the know, I've been doing orthodontics for the last (almost) two years. For those even less in the know, my teeth were pretty crooked my whole life. It was the only physical insecurity I ever really had (or at least the biggest one) and would often get over-sensitive when teased about them as a kid.
In 2007 I finally decided to do something about it and sought out an orthodontist (I had been told I needed braces since I was 11 or 12 years old). After talking to a few different doctors, I decided on the one who would do my procedures mainly because he would not remove teeth, and told me it would take less time than traditional methods. Even though he was more expensive, I wanted to keep all my teeth and wanted this shit over with as quickly as possible.
I wore palette expanders (essentially retainers with a hinge in it that slowly widened my upper and lower jaw over the course of a year) which spread out my teeth. After that, on went the braces - my arch nemesis.
It wasn't the inconvenience of wearing them (well, most of the time...okay, about half way through I really started to get sick of having a second meal stuck in them after I was done eating) but I really don't like how braces look. So the vain side of me was embarassed of them. Eventually I got used to it and didn't think about them.
After a mere 8 or 9 months (but what seemed like much longer) here I am. Teeth fixed, confidence restored.
Here is, literally, the first picture I have ever publicly shown of my teeth.
After not being able to eat certain foods for a long time, I celebrated my emancipation by eating a Snickers bar.
