Yesterday was my first adjustment (aka "tightening"). Everyone I know who has had braces before has been telling me horror stories about how bad adjustments hurt and that I wouldn't be able to eat solid foods for 3 days afterward. Honestly, it wasn't bad at all. I don't know if everyone else has a super low tolerance for pain or if orthodontics has changed significantly over the past few years, but I barely felt any pain and have minimal soreness today.

At the adjustment, my orthodontist said my teet have moved a bit although I personally don't see a ton of change yet. He put on a stronger wire and a thicker "bumper" over the blocked tooth that doesn't have a bracket yet. Hopefully over the next few visits, that space will open up enough to put a bracket on that tooth and get it in place. If it doesn't, I will most likely have to have an extraction. So needless to say, I really hope this space opens up, but I will do what i need to do.

As you can see in the pictures, I decided to go with red and blue ligatures in honor of July 4 which is just around the corner. Unfortunately, I ate some paella which contained tumeric for dinner tonight and I learned a valuable lesson. My pretty red and blue ligatures are now orangey red and a nasty teal green color. I look like some messed up version of Christmas. So much for being patriotic.. Even my "bumper" has turned from gray into a nasty puke green color.. Yuck!

It has been exactly 2 weeks since I was braced and I am happy to report that I barely notice them anymore. I can still feel them, but I don't think about them as much and they don't hurt anymore. For a few days after they went on, my mouth was pretty sore and the brackets felt like they were rubbing holes in my cheeks but that has pretty much stopped. My only complaint is that eating is still a bit of a challenge but that isn't entirely because of the braces. It is really due to my molar build-ups. I can't wait til those come off.

I also want to say that I *LOVE* Crest Glide Threader Floss. It is a lifesaver! I was using Oral B Superfloss before which kept shredding on me due to my tight crowding. I don't hate flossing anymore and I can get it done in 15 minutes instead of 30, lol.

Anyway, that's my boring update. My next adjustment is June 28 when I'm sure I'll be reintroduced to the pain and soreness. :)

Well I just completed my second day with braces which is actually my first full day with them. I have learned a lot in the past 32 or so hours..

I am having to learn to eat all over again. Seriously, I feel like a baby just starting out on solids and I am constantly worried that food is all over my face or in my teeth. Eating just feels gross and I have not mastered chewing yet with my molar build-ups.

Flossing.. Seriously! WTF??!! I had trouble flossing anyway with my tiny mouth but this is ridiculous. Floss threaders suck. I spent almost 30 minutes flossing last night and I still couldn't reach all my teeth well. This is going to take some getting used to.

I have also learned though that most people are very supportive of adults with braces. I have gotten nothing but compliments today at work and everyone has been so understanding. That's a big relief!

And luckily, I still haven't had too much pain. My front teeth are a little tender and it hurts when my cheeks rub across my brackets but that's about it.

So all in all, aside from eating and flossing so far so good. We'll see if any of this changes.

Well it's official. I have braces. I went in at 8:00 this morning feeling a mixture of anxiety and excitement. The assistant made me feel very comfortable though and talked me through the whole procedure. Everything was done in just under 2 hours.


When the brackets were first applied, the assistant told me to bite down and make sure I could chew, but due to my overjet, the brackets on my top front teeth kept hitting the brackets on my bottom front teeth before I could even bite in the back. The orthodontist applied globs of glue to 2 of my back molars to build them up so I can chew. It is a very weird feeling but the glue will be removed as soon as my bite corrects some.


Luckily, my mouth hasn't been too sore yet, but I do feel like I'm constantly chewing on rocks. Eating has been quite an adjustment. I'm sticking to soft foods right now simply because I have to teach myself to eat all over again. When eating, I feel like something is going to fall out of my mouth at any minute and that food is getting stuck everywhere. It's pretty embarrassing, but I'll get used to it.


Here are some pictures that I took right after the braces were put on. Notice my hot pink ligatures! I decided that if I'm adult with braces, I might as well have fun with it! I love the pink and choosing my colors is the one really fun thing about this whole process. :)

Well one week from today I will officially be "braced." Right now I am feeling a strange mixture of both excitement and anxiety. I'm happy that this is finally happening, but no matter how much I research the subject or how many other people's stories I read online, I really don't know what to expect.


I went in yesterday to have that pesky metal spacer replaced with a nice rubber one. It definitely feels a lot better, but my mouth overall has already developed a dull ache and I can't really chew at all without experiencing pain anymore. I can't imagine how much worse it's going to get once the actual braces go on.


In other news, my 28th birthday is tomorrow. I think a turtle caramel cheesecake sounds like a good birthday cake. I doubt I'll be able to eat one of those for a while. ;)

Welcome to my blog! The purpose of this blog is to document my progress with adult braces and to share my experience with the world.

I have always had embarrasingly crooked teeth. Unfortunately, since we didn't have a lot of money growing up or any insurance, I was never able to get braces when my peers were getting them in highschool. As a result, I have spent most of my life being self conscience about my smile. I always smile in a way that doesn't show all of my teeth and do my best to cover them up when talking. Many people I know don't even realize how bad my teeth actually are, but since I am fully aware of it, it bothers me. My husband didn't even really know until I showed him a couple weeks ago and he said "Wow, your teeth really are crooked." Gee thanks, hun..

Now that I am a professional working adult making my own money, I decided to start researching braces. I also have great insurance benefits which cover $1500 of adult braces which certainly helps! I had a consultation with my orthodontist and was given an estimate of 15 to 18 months of treatment (which of course I am taking with a grain of salt). My x-rays, models, and photos were done on May 16 and the braces will go on on May 31. At the x-ray appointment, they also put spacers around 4 of my molars where the bands will go.

As for spacers, they have been an interesting experience in and of themselves. Three of my molars have rubber spacers around them which are like bright blue rubber bands. These aren't so bad. They just feel like food is stuck between my teeth that I can't pick out. The forth molar has metal spacers, however, because the crowding was too tight to fit the rubber ones in. This one is a real treat. Imagine having a piece of metal jammed between your teeth that jabs your gums each time you bite down. I have had to stop biting on that side altogether and am actually going back tomorrow to see if they can replace them with more rubber ones. I was told that after a few days, there may be enough space to do so.

Now I am going to post some of the most embarrassing pictures I have ever shared with anyone, let alone the entire Internet. These are my "before" pictures. Please ignore the quality. Do you have any idea how hard it is to take closeup pictures of your own mouth? You can easily see how bad my crowding is in these pics. You can also see that my teeth aren't the whitest in the world, but I'll fix that once the braces are off. Blame it on coffee. In the first picture, you can also see my lovely spacers.