Braces at 31...they suck!...but if you're on the fence just do it!

So in typical fashion...it takes almost 20 years for me to get em. I procrastinate and wait and wait and them just BAM up and get em.

At first they tell me it only takes a year, and I'm thinking "well, that's not too bad." Then they mention how they need to pull a top teeth (ala Tom Cruise) to align my much less crooked top teeth and close the gap..."well, perhaps". Oh and then the bit about getting implanted molars to replace the impacted ones you lost 10 years ago because your dad cheapened out of getting you braces when you were 12 so the oral surgeon had to remove them at 17 and now your top molars are descending and will fall out eventually..."cringe cringe cringe". They don't recommend Invisalign because it'll take longer and cost another grand...or perhaps they want more of the money? Who knows...anyways, they tellme I can use a retainer instead of implants as an option and I give in, and whaddaya know, they have an opening at right that moment and have all the xray equipment in house.

So there I am sitting in the chair. Pretty easy process, little pressure when they install the wire, and the ceramics really aren't that noticeable. I guess to give up a year of my crunchy taco bell taco eating, soda drinking, apple biting, gum chewing life I'll deal, although 2 things stood out as the most immediate and annoying side-effects and I didn't see it coming:

- can't eat...lol. It's like being on a forced diet. Teeth are way too sensitive to bite. Yogurt, soup, soon dooboo, you are my friends now. I hear that part gets better, but we're not there yet. Oh and food gets stuck in em...gross!

- flossing takes forever. Actually day 1 it took forever. Day 3, it takes about 10 minutes. Suddenly I'm threading floss between individual teeth and trying not to yank on the wire, but then it gets caught on a bracket, and then i try to pull it out but it starts to tear and now that part is stuck on a bracket...agggggh!!!! annoying!

Thank god I can still drink, although I hear i'll need to save red wine for the day before they replace the brackets. I hope I don't start getting grade school flashbacks too...bleh! On a positive note, there's a bit of mental goodness to doing something like this for myself. It will require a kind of patience and sacrifice that I generally don't summons for myself anymore. Go figure!