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Braces: A Reflection

So I was thinking about my braces- and how annoying they are. And that got me thinking about when I used to have braces in grade school/high school. They were the best at killing my self esteem. I don't even remember when I got them. 7th grade? I'm pretty sure I had them for about three years though. That's a really long time.

And now here we are again.

My current orthodontist said that my older orthodontist did as much as he could with the tools he had, but the underlying problem is my jaw- not the teeth. Jaw surgery was never really on the table as an option and was not mentioned. I still had tons of cavities, but they didn't really affect the integrity of my teeth too much.

And now- after three crowns, one root canal and DOZENS of fillings- we're finally getting to the "root" of the problem. The reality is that I would be in dentures by the time I'm 40 if I continued down this path.

I couldn't even find an old photo of me with braces. They never really bothered me until I hit 7th grade. I got contacts & braces all in the same year- when I was actually starting to care about my appearance. I never gave "toothy grins" in photos for approximately seven years until my braces were off.

Having a newborn, trying to stay healthy, dealing with braces, thinking about jaw surgery (plus the cost) is not doing good things for my stress levels. I probably have too much on my brain to worry about. Keeping my mind busy is what I'm good at though- and I will continue to think about these things- but only to the extent of which I can do anything about it. Here's a good motto:


Don't worry! Be Happy! :)

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