Laurens story!

Message

#1 Post by **laurenlove** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:35 pm

Hi my name is Lauren and I am 4 months into my treatment with braces so far! I have been reading this message board for a few weeks now and I thought I would share my story and hopefully get advice from other people too..

I am 16 years old so not really an adult, but I have been self concious about my teeth for aslong as I can remember.. The first time I went to the orthadontist I was only 8 and even then I knew I needed braces and I was so desperate for them it would upset me that I had to wait.. I got put on the waiting list for a nearby hospital [I am from the UK so it is paid for by the NHS, hence the waiting] when i was 14 but they said i would have to wait up to 3 years.. then a new orthadontist opened in the same area so both me and my sister got put on the waiting list. She got her appointments quicker than I did for some reason which also made me extremely angry, she is two years younger and her treatment got started quicker, but she has to go through twin block retainer treatment so she hasnt got her braces yet.

I finally got my appointment for my braces to be put on. I find it weird because everyone on here seems to have had either spacers or expanders or things other than just their actual braces put on. I have none of that at all! Just brackets, wires and ligs. I have had 2 adjustments so far. The first one was very quick he literally changed 4 or 5 of my ligs and I was done! The second one was more exciting, i got new wires which i was pleased about, I look forward to getting my braces tightened so much because i cant wait for my teeth to be straight. Ive never had any coloured ligs I just get the plain silver ones to match the wires and brackets because I am quite self concious about my braces.. It is not as bad as I thought though, i am a student at college and quite a few other people have braces so they understand what I am going through. None of my closest best friends have ever had braces though, so when Im moaning about the pain or getting food stuck in them or smiling for pictures they never seem to understand!

Anyway i have rambled on for god knows how long, and i am going to update this when i get the chance and put some pictures on! I took some pictures before i got braces on my camera which are awful quality but since then ive been taking pictures on my phone which is actually better quality for some reason, so when i can find the lead i will post those!

#2 Post by **Maggie Brace** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:10 am

Good Luck with the braces.

I know that you re probably very self conscious now but you re very lucky to get them so young. I wish i d had straight teeth for my teens & twenties. You wont notice the time passing.