9.18.2006

Brace Face

Well, here I am...staring down my 29th birthday...and instead I feel like I'm just prolonging my teenage years because I chose NOW to get braces. What the hell was I thinking? I had them tightened for the first time 2 weeks ago and it seems that the remaining year and a half of treatment is going to take FOREVER. For. Ever.

And they're so inconvenient. Yeah, I know that this is going to be so worth it when I'm done but in the meantime, what a pain in the ass. Or, rather, pain in the mouth. So, I've pretty much given up on eating salad because I have to cut it up in teeny little bits and then it gets stuck in my braces. And I'm not even about to touch pesto unless I am eating it in the privacy of my own home. Alone. Everything I eat gets stuck somewhere in my braces. And I think I might have to cut up all my food for the rest of my life. I can't eat anything by just biting into it--no, I have to have a fork and freaking knife at every meal. Well, except breakfast but only if I eat oatmeal. It isn't so bad that I have to cut up my oatmeal.

Even still, I am compusively checking my teeth for food bits and/or running to the bathroom to brush all day long. I probably only work 7 hours out of 8-9 a day because I spend so much time in the bathroom with my toothbrush. I know I shouldn't complain but these things are a pain! I feel like a giant dork all the time and I can tell when people are trying to decide if, yes, that woman is wearing braces. Yes! Yes I am, dammit! Now stop staring at me!