Deciding to get braces as an adult is hard enough. But then you have to wear them. In public. For a year or two. Yikes!

What will your coworkers say? Will your clients notice? What will your family think? Just how embarrassing is this going to be? Will you be able to cope with everyone seeing braces on your teeth? Not to mention -- the feeling of having them in your mouth?!

The readers of ArchWired have helped to answer these questions by telling their own "first day" or "first week" stories of braces installation and the aftermath.

We have received so many stories that we simply don't have room to post new ones! If you'd like to share your own story, please post it to Metal Mouth Message Board's "Our Braces Stories" Forum. There, you can update your progress report whenever you like, and add as many photos as you wish at any time -- and other readers will be able to interact with you and your story, too!

Note: We have received so many stories that some are now being "archived" on another page. Eventually I hope to divide them into geographic areas. Click here for the "First Day Archive Page" of older stories. Newer stories appear first: