OMG; I thought the day would never come. My orthodontist told me today that he's planning to take my top brackets off at my next visit in three weeks' time. At the risk of jinxing this, can I just say how EXCITED I am. The bottom teeth still need a bit of work, but wow, this is big. It's been almost four years (October of 2007) since I got them, and it's been a royal pain in the teeth a good part of that time.

Getting braces was a big step for me, emotionally and physically. Beyond the fact that I badly needed them (I was a thumbsucker as a child), the fact that I didn't have them as a kid was an emotionally charged issue for me. My older siblings had them, but by the time I needed them, my parents were so self-involved and wrapped up in their own problems, that I got neglected...in more ways than one.

So, taking care of my teeth was not just an act of taking care of my adult self; I felt like I was taking care of my child self, too. I'm proud of myself for doing it. I was so afraid at the time that no one would want to date Ms. Brace Face. Those fears were silly in retrospect. Not quite a year later, I met Brian...and he married me anyway. He's never seen me without them. I sure hope we're both happy with the results, and that I don't fall face first while learning to MTB. I have $6k sunk into these teeth.

Anyway, I thought I'd share.