Braces: Stories

I never thought my teeth were horrible, but I did have a slight overjet and crowding. I wasn't insecure about them, but they certainly could have been improved upon. Then one day I found out that one of my baby teeth (there was no adult replacement) had a huge cavity and would need an implant or bridge. This alone would have cost $10,000 +, so my dentist have me the option of removing the same tooth on the other side, thus fixing my overjet, filling the gap, and straightening my teeth. It sounded perfect. All except the actual time I had to spend in braces. I was told I need 2 and a half years...starting my freshman year at USC.

I did get the sapphire braces, which many people didn't even notice, but they made me incredibly insecure. I NEVER wanted to go out and I was terrified that I would be made fun of for having ADULT BRACES. How gross does this sound? Unfortunately, Invisalign wouldn't close the gap, so I had to suck it up. It took THREE years, but now I feel great. My teeth are perfect. Dentists even tell me so! And I went from feeling like an ugly duckling to a top dog! I got approached by Playboy only months after getting them off. I've never been so confident. I'm still not perfect, but its definitely a piece of the puzzle. My bf's friends ask if I have fake teeth because they are so perfect. Just use Crest Whitestrips and then you have a seriously celebrity smile.

That said, my ortho sucked! I will not put his name here as he actually left (or was fired from the practice). While the end result was good, he had his assistants do all the work and they even put plastic brackets on me by accidents a couple times. Once they did it on purpose because they ran out of my type! Ridiculous! But I am ok because the pain is gone and I feel so much better.

The worst part of having braces is definitely the spacers put in beforehand and the first couple days. Adjustments were a breeze.