Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I'm ready to announce....

Okay, I am ready to announce somewhat of a secret I have been keeping for the last 2 months! Do I have everyone's attention now???

I have braces now! Yuck! I swear I am one of the oldest people on the planet to get braces. However, my dentist assures me that I am not and that he has a lot of adult patients with braces and that I do not qualify for the Guinesses Book of World Records. I have yet to see any of these other adult patients with braces in the waiting room nor have I seen anybody with them out and about. (It may be that us adult braces wearers don't smile as much as we used to!)
Not only have I had braces for two months now but I had this bar put in the roof of my mouth that I have absolutely loathed. (I don't think many people knew of my braces, since I don't see many people from Ktown anymore and I have been so self conscious about them.) The bar on the top of my mouth has been widening my mouth. (I am not going to get into the very long explanation for the braces, but rest assured I had two opinions done from two dentists and they both said I needed them, whether I wanted them or not.) This bar on the roof of my mouth may have been doing a good thing, however, it has made me miserable for two months. The worst part about it is that it caused me to have a lisp when I spoke. It was horrendous when I first got it put in and I would not talk in public or answer the phone I was so self conscious. It got better over time but never completely disappeared. The other thing about it is that food constantly got stuck up in it and around it (lovely I know).

Before getting this bar put in, I had never really given a lot of thought to the way I talk. I just took that I could talk coherently (most of the time :) for granted. After the bar, I have never been more aware of it in my life. Especially since I have been meeting a ton of new people. It has been a very humbling experience for me and a lesson in pride for me. Two things I definitely needed a good wake up call on.

I had been dreading the look of the braces since before I got them (I even paid extra to get the clear braces.) However, I never dreamed that the effect on my speech would be the worst part. I sounded very slow. However, on Tuesday, I came into Ktown for a whirlwind dentist visit and he surprised me and removed the bar and said it had done its job! I really could have kissed him, I was so happy! This whole speech ordeal (now that it is over) has made me a whole lot less self conscious of the actual braces (not that I love them and want to wear them forever) but having dealt with sounding a little slow for two months, dealing with the way the braces look is a piece of cake.

So now my secret is out but do not expect any pictures!

1 comments:

Joy said...

Come on...just one picture? I actually have a friend who has braces and she chose the clear braces as well. They really aren't that noticeable at all. I was surprised! I am glad that you could get the bar removed sooner than anticipated!