Project Self Improvement

I am using our wedding as the motivation to do a little Meerkat self improvement.

I told you about how I learned to put on makeup (which I wrote about here and here). I did a little hair therapy to bring my hair back to its normally healthy self. I also started dieting and exercising which by the way is going fabulously!

But for my biggest (and longest) self improvement project, I had to get some professional help:

source

Yep I got me a set of braces. I knew from an early age that my teeth were too large for my jaw size and I would need braces. No matter how many times the dentist told my parents I needed braces I refused to get them. There was no medical reason then to have them done (just cosmetic) and even as a kid I knew I wouldn't feel right letting my family pay that much for something as superficial as a straight smile (read: no dental insurance).

Fast forward to a couple years ago when we got engaged. I had pretty good insurance through work and the crowding of my teeth had become much worse with four impacted wisdom teeth so I set up a consultation to see an orthodontist. BEST. DECISION. EVER.

Now I am not going to lie and say that braces as an adult were all fun and games but you know what, it wasn't really all that bad. First I ended up having to have two oral surgeries to remove my wisdom teeth and four other teeth to make room in my mouth. In all honestly the oral surgeries were a piece of cake. I never took a single pain killer except Tylenol.

Next I had the braces put on my teeth. Easiest part of the whole process. Every couple weeks they would replace the wire with a different size to "twist" any teeth that were currently twisted the wrong way. After that they put these niffy rubber band chain things on to close any gaps (like where they removed teeth from) and also to pull in my overbite.

And thats it! Really it was that simple. It took 1.5 years and was worth every second. Did it ever hurt? Kind-of. The little pain I did have happened for about 24 hours after each appointment where they did an adjustment. My gums/teeth would be a bit sore but a couple advil or motrain took care of it.

Want to see the final result?

All the time and money were completely worth it to have a carefree smile on my wedding day. Any of you have or are getting braces as an adult?