Almost everyone I know had braces at some point in their life. Most people had them during the most awkward time ever -- middle school. I even know of some people who have had to have braces put back on many years later because their teeth went back to being crooked. Whether you had braces in middle school or high school, or you even have them now, here are 11 things that every person who has had braces can relate to!
1. These things were the devil.
Talk about getting off on the wrong foot; spacers were my first experience with the braces process and, boy, did I want to scream. It felt like my teeth were being ripped out of my gums. I still can feel the aching pain that they caused me. To my ex-spacers: just know that I still absolutely 100 percent hate you.
2. Oh, and these things too...
While rubber bands were not as bad as spacers, they still hurt and made your mouth feel like it got punched by a 500-pound sumo wrestler. Even five years later, you still found them in the most random places; behind your bed, in your dresser, in the crack between the carpet and the wall. At least they were colorful, though.
3. Getting your bands changed was the best part of your week.
With so many color options, how does a person choose? The best part was being able to coordinate your braces to holidays. I think my favorite was pink and red for Valentine's Day, and orange and black for Halloween!
4. Flossing with braces was nearly impossible.
Who has four hours on hand to use this piece of fishing line to weave floss between their teeth? Not me. But you can bet your bottom dollar that I took advantage of flossing when my wires got changed during my appointments!
5. Wax was either your best friend or your worst enemy.
I have always been very prone to canker sores because I frequently bite the inside of my mouth on accident. This pain is heightened when you have a mouth full of prickly brackets that pick at the sore. I thought wax was the most disgusting thing ever, so I refused to use it no matter how much my canker sores hurt.
6. This should have been considered a torture device.
Though I did not have one, my best friend did. Just looking at a cartoon of it still makes me cringe. I cannot even begin to imagine how painful this would be. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is an expander, also known as a Medieval torturing device.
7. And this too...
Out of everything, I think I may of hated this the most. Why? Because my mouth is very, very small, and this stretched out my lips three times the size they should be stretched. If it was the wintertime and your lips were chapped, you expected to have some cracking and bleeding afterwards.
8. A headgear was one of the most embarrassing things to have.
Only Katy Perry could make this look somewhat OK. Headgears were always made fun of by the media, so when I found out I had to wear one, my self-esteem was totally crushed. Thankfully, I never had to wear it out in public, but even wearing it at night was a pain in the butt. Not only was it super uncomfortable, but it made me feel like a dweeb. People laughed at me in middle school when I disclosed that I had a headgear. Bad decision. Kids are mean.
9. You can still taste this awful goop in your mouth.
The more I look at this picture, the more my face squinches up. While getting your braces off was a tremendous victory, they proceeded to torture you even further by putting this nastiness in your mouth. I don't care what flavor you chose, it was all disgusting. Imagine putting plaster in your mouth. That's what it tasted like. The worst part of it was waiting for it to harden in your mouth. A minute felt like forever and you could hardly swallow because your mouth was stuffed with plastic and goop.
10. This decision was even harder than your bands because you knew you would have your retainer forever.
I spent about a year and a half pondering over which retainer designs I wanted. I eventually decided on rainbow for the top and glow-in-the-dark for the bottom. Sadly, I lost my bottom retainer, but now I have a sparkly polka-dotted one. Although, as I'm looking at this picture, the watermelon one would have been pretty cool.
11. You are thankful for all the headaches braces gave you because now you have a beautiful smile!
If you're anything like me, you are glad you had braces, but your teeth have shifted slightly since you got them off. My bottom teeth are not straight by any means, and they are basically back to where they were before. But that's OK because my top teeth cover them up. Now I can just look back and laugh about all the funny stories I have from wearing braces!
