Hi! I'm Sam (female) from West Hill, Ontario (a small suburb in the Southeast corner of Toronto). I'm 50 years old and just got "braced" on December 4th!!! It's something that I've wanted to do for years, but either couldn't afford it or was too chicken to do it.

The morning of the 4th, I woke up very early, probably around 4:00 a.m. and started getting anxious about the experience I was going to have later in the morning. To my surprise, my mother (who is 82) came with me (she's not a supporter of me getting braces because I'm "too old"). It was great to have her there and she eventually looked at the colours (red & green for Christmas).

Getting the braces on was a breeze - no discomfort and done in less than ½ hour!! Later that day, however, the pain was horrible! I took Advil every hour on the hour that night and got very little sleep. The next day, I was at my doctor's office renewing a script for Tylenol 3. A week later, I'm still taking them, but not as often. I still have a great deal of pain, mostly because of the occlusal pads on my lower molars. These have put my lower jaw in a new and, obviously uncomfortable position. There are also a couple of teeth that are set on reminding me of their existence every hour or so!!!

All that being said, I'm glad I finally "bit the bullet" and got braced. I know in the end I'll be very happy with the results. The next hurdle is the extraction of a lower front tooth, which I'm not looking forward to. "No pain, no gain", right?

The one thing I haven't tried yet is singing. My lower jaw is just too sore to even try, although I have to sing in a concert on the 17th and rehearse on the 14th, so where are my Tylenol??!!!!!