I got braces April 1st, 2015! It’s a day I won’t forget because for me, this was a very important day of my life! For the next 14 months from that point on, I would be wearing braces. Now, a lot of people think braces are unnecessary or scary, or stylish to wear! Everyone has their own opinion. But now that I have braces, I thought it would be great to share my experience with my fellow watotos!

The first few months before I got my braces on, a lot of people that I knew were getting braces. My best friend got braces a couple of months before me. I really wanted braces at that time because I love change! Also because they were just so interesting that I wanted them myself! Boy was I a lucky duck! One orthodontist appointment later and they said I needed braces! I have had a diagonal tooth for a long time and my orthodontist said that it was affecting inside my jaw. He said it was a serious problem but braces could surely fix it! I only needed six braces on the top row though! I got them on my two Central Incisors, two Lateral Incisors, and my two Canines. My crooked tooth was one of my Lateral Incisors. They put in spacers on the farthest teeth on the top row! One on both ends! It was normally supposed to be on for a day, but they said my teeth were ready for braces after 30 minutes!

When they first put on my braces they explained how I was supposed to clean it, and the dangers of braces and when to come back and everything I needed to know. It was a lot to remember! Good thing I had my mom there the whole time beside me helping me memorize all the information (especially what I could and could not eat)! When I took the first look at what I looked like with braces…I didn’t really like how I looked to be honest with you. I chose the colors purple and blue but my teeth looked yellow and big with them on (in my opinion)! I was a little nervous because I was going to school right away with them but I didn’t like how they looked! Oh well! I got to school and so many people were asking to see my braces! Let’s just say I did a lot of smiling that day! Everyone loved my braces! After a while, I did too! It just took some time to get used to.

Are you wondering whether getting braces on is painful or not? My honest answer: Not one tiny bit! It doesn’t hurt at all to get braces put on. But unfortunately, it will hurt one hour later for (in my experience) around 4 days! The first day I got braces, I could not chew! Believe Me! I wanted to so bad because I had this delicious apple turnover for snack but my teeth burst into flames when I tried to bite together! My lovely mother did fix me a delicious soup for supper that night which I was able to eat and I enjoyed very much! The pain died down day after a day and by the fifth day of having my braces on, I was already used to my braces and forgot they were in my mouth!

Was my unique thought of wanting braces accurate? Yes! I love my experience of having braces! It forces me to clean my teeth better, makes a great added accessory considering I get to choose and change the colors monthly, and best of all it makes my teeth straighter! My special news (drum roll please)…My crooked tooth is ALREADY no longer crooked!! I checked, then double checked, then tripled checked. Then my sister, then my mother checked for me. Conclusion= my teeth are now (almost) perfectly straight! I do still need braces for my head gear though. Yup, you heard me (well not heard), I’m getting head gear! I haven’t gotten it yet but I need it for night time use only because I have an overbite! It’s all part of the treatment though!

I have a longer teeth brushing routine now that I have braces! My first step is to go in between every bracket with a proxy brush. Then floss with my Super Floss, and then brush my teeth! I also got a little container of wax to put on the brackets that poked my mouth. I ended up using it for the metal ring in the back of my mouth (where I put the spacers in).

My most interesting experience with my 3 months of braces so far, is when I broke my wire. I was eating at lunch and I must have caught something near my ring because the wire slipped out the ring and was poking into my mouth. My natural reaction was to panic but of course I kept that on the inside. I told my best friend who has braces and she told me normally you were supposed to cut it short with a nail cutter so that it doesn’t poke into your mouth but I didn’t bring a nail cutter to school. I guess I forgot that day (sarcasm). So I took scissors instead and went to the washroom mirror and snapped a long part of it off! It looked fine except the wire at the side of my mouth was a bit shorter! Luckily it was the day that I was going to get my colors changed and a tighter wire so they fixed it no problem!

I’m sure all of you want to know what I can now eat and not eat! I’m honestly going to say that NO ONE with braces follows everything on the list! And that includes me! I have eaten some popcorn, unsoftened carrots, gum, candy, chips, nuts, corn, and a bagel. But they put those items on the list in case it breaks a bracket. I do still slice my apples though!

Overall I think the experience of having braces is amazing! It challenges you to look at things differently and take care of your mouth more! Although there are some disadvantages to braces, there are some definite pluses! I don’t regret having braces. Especially since I can already see the results! I’m glad I got to share my braces experience with you all.

Braces Bearer,

Venus Wambura.