Confessions of a Braces Wearer

'BRACES' the very word reminds us of the famous daily soap  'Ugly betty'  and it’s super hit desi version ‘Jassi jaisi koi nahin’. True, braces are considered by many as the sign of a person being unattractive. They actually enhance a person’s beauty -  aligning and straightening teeth and helping to position them with regard to a person’s bite, while also working to improve dental health. It totally depends on us whether we see the glass half full or half empty. It is nowadays common to see people with braces on their teeth. Just a decade or so ago, it was a relatively rare to come across a person with dental braces - but that has changed.

         However, my problems with braces was different. Being a kid who had spoiled her teeth in the worst possible way ever, I feared the pain associated with them rather than the look after wearing them. Thus I always managed to convince my mom that no matter what age I was of, I was always too young to wear them. After my tenth board exams , my mother was adamant about me wearing braces and I finally had my first appointment with a dentist. Oops ! I mean an orthodentist. A man who had done his BDS ,MBBS  and also held numerous degrees from Russia and who visited our town all the way from palanpur on the last sunday of every month to transform all the ugly betty’s (with reference to the non aligned teeth) into models with beautiful smiles for the toothpaste advertisements!

      His room was full of dental equipments and machines . After all, the only time I had been to a dentist before , was with my father for his cavity treatment , when the dentist on seeing a shaking milk teeth plucked it so hard that his entire clinic was flabbergasted to hear me scream .An experience terrible enough to prevent me from taking any appointments from a dentist! After, the orthodentist explained the entire procedure to my mom ,an idea struck me. I asked the doctor about the pain associated with the braces , which , he didn’t negate. Bull’s Eye! I told my mom that if I wear braces now then what about me going to kota for my IIT preparation. If  it pained how will I be able to study well and might also have to miss classes. Besides who had the time to come home every month for tightening them .Lo and  Behold! they understood my problem and finally it was decided that I will wear them after my twelfth grade.

        Although the problem was temporarily postponed but not completely over. I knew as soon as I finish with all my competitive examinations I will have to meet the orthodentist. Though I did not wear braces in the first year of college itself , but many suggested that it’s high time I should get one. And finally I made a decision that no matter what the cost be I will have my teeth straightened.

         The procedure first required of getting an X-ray of my lower as well as upper jaws. The misalignment of my teeth horrified me. Trust me ,in the report they looked thrice more horrible compared to seeing them in front of the mirror. The dentist told me that I will have to sacrifice my four teeth, 1 from each side of jaw following the canines. Ghosh! The treatment hadn’t even started and the pain had already begun. 

   Strangely enough I never experienced any pain after wearing the braces except slight bearable ones due to movement of teeth. There were other concerns though as what if the gaps of the removed teeth didn’t fill? What if my teeth stay unaligned ?
    It’s been two years wearing them and having almost reached the point when they are soon going to be removed I sometimes do wonder how my teeth would feel like without them. The gaps are almost filled and teeth almost aligned. Now even I will have the perfect smile! From my experience I would recommend people from all age groups having crooked teeth to get braces not just for beauty enhancement, but to save yourself from old age dental problems. The sooner one gets it , the wiser he is.