Hello from Vermont

[sportsgirlvt]

Hi:
I stumbled on to this website looking for a little support. I am 26 and recently had braces put on. The clear bracket kind and still just under a week out, its quite painful...is there more to my future diet than mashed potatoes and jell-o? I feel as though my lips and teeth arrive 20 minutes before I do...here is the clincher...I am television anchor and my speech has been altered a little bit. Does that go away? and will there come a day when I forget they are even on?

hoping for pain free...
d in Vermont

[drrick]

Speech should improve.

I love Vermont. One of my best friends from dental school lives in Essix Junction. I have been there 2 times. It's georgeous up there.

[heyangieh]

Never fear, the pain should definately get better and soon you'll be able to eat crunchy things! As your teeth move, your speech will improve too. I am a travel agent in a call center and when I had to say "fully refundable fare" my "f's" where whistles (hilarious!) but that has gone away.
Hang in there

~Angie

[sunflr7]

The pain will go away. It took me 10 full days to be able to close my mouth and eat food without feeling any pain. I'm in my third week of treatment and my speech is still a little weird but it is improving. I also have issue with my teeth arriving 20 minutes before I do especially when I smile or laugh. A few of my friends have told me that my braces are hardly noticeable and they only notice them b/c I have a tendency to try to hide them with my lips thus drawing more attention to my teeth than necessary.
Slowly you will be able to add new foods to your diet, I had my first sanwich yesterday since getting my braces. It wasn't a walk in the park but it was definitely manageable. I'm looking at the whole inability to eat issue as a bonus of having braces I think I've lost a few pounds these past few weeks.

Hang in there things will get better.