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My friends and I are the best, most weird people to hang around. We crack jokes all the time. It's never a dull moment. At lunch, everyone is always laughing and smiling. When someone is feeling down or sick, we pick them right back up and put them on their feet. Most of my friends have or had braces. Most of them have already had them removed and feel confident about their smile. I had never really thought much about braces until my dentist told me I needed them.
One tooth was what I thought. I needed braces for one tooth but boy was I wrong. My mom set appointments for me at different orthodontics saying that we would find the best one there is. We found a comfortable place where we decided that's where I was going to get my braces. They had us in there for a very long time but I think it was worth it. I needed a certain type of braces so that they could do a certain type of movement for my teeth. We decided to get them from that place and I got very excited.
It wasn't until 5 months later that I actually got them on. That gave me lots of time to think and to observe. I observed the kids that had braces and what they did. They chewed gum, they had hard candies, and they did lots of things I was pretty sure you aren't supposed to do with braces on. When the appointment came, it was only for my spacers. Spacers are like little rubber bands that they put between your molars so that it creates space for the base of the braces. They hurt at first and I could almost feel them moving my teeth around. A week later, I got the actual braces on and I felt bad for my teeth. I wouldn't get to see them for the next two years. Instead, I would see these ugly squares blocking the way. When I got them on, it didn't hurt and I felt fine. My lips hurt though because they used something to hold my lips back while they were cementing the brackets to my teeth. The only problem was, I was worried about my smile.
Although my teeth were messed up, my ability to smile, laugh, and make others laugh was my talent and my teeth didn't bother me. Now I have to be responsible with my braces. I have to watch the foods I eat and brush my teeth after almost every meal. They are already starting to get annoying and I'm already tired of people saying, "When did you get braces?"
At lunch the other day, it was Papa Ginos and my friends and I always buy on pizza day, especially Papa Ginos. After I was done eating, I asked one of my friends if I had anything in my teeth. Sure enough, there was a great big glob of tomato stuck between the teeth and my wire. Soon, my friends and I were using carrots, pens, fingers, anything we could find to get it out. I bet it looked really funny too. We finally got it out using one of the clips I wear in my hair. We laughed and joked about it and now it's going to be our favorite thing to do at recess. Let's get all the food out of my braces! And then I realized, they weren't that bad. Anyways, I can't be myself if I'm not smiling.
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