Metalmouth.

It's not really that bad.

I had braces when I was 13-14, and while I hated it back then, I'm somewhat glad for them now. I've had compliments on my teeth, but it really was a long and somewhat painful process to get through it.

My case is probably a bit different from yours, but my upper jaw actually had to be widened with this horrible little device that need to be adjusted every day. Since the thing was literally forcing my skull to widen, I had headaches every day for the duration of that, which was maybe a few months.

Monthly pain as they tighten the braces, as some have mentioned, isn't that bad at all. It only bothers you for a day or so.

Oh, and about the foods that they tell you not to eat: as long as you chew carefully while you eat, you can have anything you want. And make sure to brush properly as well. They'll give you these annoying mini tooth brushes to clean between each bracket.

I'm not sure what How Unfortunate meant about braces being an alternative to retainers, as usually the two go hand in hand. I had to wear a retainer for a few months after my braces came off to keep my teeth set, and even after that I had two permanent retainers installed on the back of my bottom and top front teeth, which I still have at age 22.

Actually, I think I would rather have braces at a slightly older age. When I got them, I was in grade 7, and was extremely shy. The braces just made me even more shy and self conscious. Obviously at an older age you'd be more confident and capable of dealing with something like that, so I think it's better.


I was just reminded now, but there are a few different kinds of braces you can get. My friend had these braces where the brackets were made of some white material (porcelain, maybe?), and her braces looked totally invisible except for the thin wire. I was extremely jealous at the time. If you're getting a big discount, maybe that's something to look into.

Jam it back in, in the dark.