A Teenagers Take on Braces

Let me just say this: The pain is real. Very real.

And it’s even more painful when you get them at the ripe age of 17.. Almost the end of your teenage years. Like that wasn’t painful and sad enough. -.-

So I recently got braces- just a couple of weeks ago actually. It’s really late in the day but my mother suddenly realised that my teeth are the most uneven things ever. They’re probably more uneven than uneven numbers. (Don’t know why I just said that but let’s run with it). Anyway, my mother decided I needed braces (this is after 4 years of me telling her I NEED BRACES MOM *very subtle right?*) and so I had to get them a couple of weeks back.

I had to get four teeth extracted which was painful in itself. But hey, I survived on ice-cream so that made up for it. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe.. Not really. So that’s been going on for almost a month now. And I know normally extractions take place within a week or so but well, I love food and if I had to decide between getting my teeth extracted or eating some of the most scrumptious dishes ever, it’s pretty easy to guess which one I’d choose. And no, it’s not the teeth. 

Since I’ve had my braces on now for a couple of weeks, I consider myself an expert on all things “brace-y”. Here’s a few things I’ve noticed –

1. Your staple diet becomes pasta for almost a week. I never thought I’d get sick of eating pasta but well, there’s always things I’m discovering about myself.

2. When you’re getting your braces, it doesn’t hurt at all. Give it a few hours and then hello, space age torture. *I think Blank Space by Taylor Swift is an appropriate song for this*

3. You want to keep smiling all the time. Not because, you want to creep out random strangers on the road but because it hurts less if you smile. *Take that out of the context of braces and it still remains true but becomes all sentimental*  

4. Your brackets will annoy you. To infinity and beyond. I’ve had them on for a couple of weeks and I’ve already managed to break a couple of them and now they’re just hanging around somewhere in the middle of nowhere. *well, not exactly nowhere cause you know, it’s still in my mouth.. you get my point*

5. Your jaw will hurt. Badly. And you’ll wonder why you ever wanted these horrendous pieces of torture repeatedly. *I’m still wondering why I did this*

6. The amount of things you can’t even eat anymore is not even funny.

7. You’ll ignore what the dentist tells you to not eat and still eat it anyway. *Your life, Your rules and all that. Plus you make your own destiny. Even though that destiny results in you going back to the dentist earlier than expected.*

8. Your family aka your father and younger brother will make fun of you. And they’ll think it’s funny and that they’re funny but they really aren’t. *actually some of the jokes were pretty inventive so kudos for that* Your mother will also join them at times. But it gets better. I think.

9. EVERYONE will make you say words with the sound “s” in it just to see if you say “sh” instead. I had to say “She sells sea shells on the sea shore” more times that I can remember. *Geez people, I’ve got braces, not a major lisp. Calm down already.* And they will continue to do that even after you can show them that you haven’t got a lisp. 

10. You’re hungry all the time because half the food gets stuck in your braces. *I spend so much time in the bathroom these days trying to get all the food out that my parents wonder if I’ve fallen asleep inside*    

11. Your mouth will get sores and cuts from the metal. It’s painful. Everything about braces is. At least right now.

12. You start to speak a little funny because it’s hard to get used to it in the beginning. Like your voice becomes a little muffled. *And of course all the teachers tell you to answer/read the day after you’ve got them and are still getting used to the metal in your mouth. Which leads to your entire class staring at your mouth as though it’s some crazy new invention.*  

13. You will get varied responses from your peers. Most of the girls will be pretty indifferent towards it but the guys will want to know what exactly you were thinking about before you brought this sort of torture upon yourself. *No lie. One of my friends really did ask me that. And then asked me why I didn’t just throw a temper tantrum and leave the dentist’s place without looking back. My response was “But I have uneven teeth”. Could anyone be more obvious? Me thinks not. *

14. People say it gets better. I’m still waiting for that to happen. And some people say they miss it, I really can’t wait to get these off. And I’ve had them for only a couple of weeks. So I’m still waiting for that as well.

P.S. If you are going to get braces in the near future, I hope this post didn’t scare you off. Because if you have uneven teeth, you need to get them straightened out. Not to look pretty because that’s overrated but because it can be a real dental issue when you grow up. Also my teeth are really uneven and that’s why I have to be more careful than other people so it might not be as bad as mine 🙂

And that’s it 😛 If you’ve ever had braces or have had friends who have had braces or still have braces, let me know what they think 🙂 I’d love to know about your experiences. 🙂 If you liked this post, like, comment on what you thought about it, rate, follow my blog, reblog and basically do what you want 😛 If you didn’t like it, then well, I’m sorry? Okay I really don’t know what to say.. 

Also if you ever want to talk to me, you can always shoot me an email which is on my “About Me” page 🙂

And here’s a song I’ve just recently heard and really liked. I hope you like it too 🙂

Till next Monday,

A Still Thinking That Braces Are Annoying Teenager.