22 years old, after 14 months of treatment I have the smile I always wanted! - Saint Marys, GA

I'm finally getting braces after many years of being self conscious of my teeth, and having jaw pain. I've had severe crowding in my bottom teeth because of my wisdom teeth, which I finally had completely removed December of 2014, so now my bottom teeth(and top) are all kinds of crazy looking. Before coming into Barlow Orthodontics in St Marys, Ga I honestly didn't think my teeth were that horrible, however after taking the photos at the office I realized how crooked they really are. Getting braces is ultimately going to make me feel more confident about my smile and also help ease my jaw pain. I know I am probably going to HATE them but it's for the greater good! My ortho only uses clear/white brackets and I will also be getting a white wire so hopefully I won't feel too self conscious while getting used to them. Today I go in to get the mold made and make my down payment. Next week I will have my braces installed! I have active duty Tricare Prime (my husband serves) and ortho benefits expire for family members at age 23, so if you're waiting you should do it before youre 21 to get full benefits from tricare! Tricare will be covering $1750 of the cost, and after a $1000 down payment I will be paying about $100/month for 24 months. I am both excited and anxious about this new journey in my life! I will update next week with more pictures but for now here are my "before" teeth!

Today I got my braces put on! It is such a weird feeling on my gums but I'll get used to it in no time. I got clear/white brackets/wire on top and metal on the bottom. I go back April 8th for my first tightening. Here's some photos I took right after!

So I've had my braces for 1 full week now! Now only like a hundred and something weeks left... Haha! One thing no one warned me about is the weight loss that comes along with not being able to eat most things because of pain. I've lost 5 lbs in one week and I'm a very small person already (I'm down to 100lbs today) I stocked up on Gatorade and fruit squeezes with veggie juice, make sure to get a lot of nutritionally rich foods that are super soft/easy to swallow. After the fifth day I was able to eat real food without too much pain. I mostly use my back teeth to chew (my front teeth still hurt too much.) I also started a new job last week and not a whole lot of people notice my braces nor do I ever get the feeling of getting stared at. So far things are good! Here's a picture for 1 week!