Jared--
Hang in there--it will get better as you and your mouth learn to adjust to all that metal.
I have had my braces for 2 years, 7 months. I was very, very unhappy with life for the first month. I had to get 4 teeth removed before the orthodontist would install the braces--2 upper and 2 lower. My teeth were too crowded together and the braces would not have been able to move them into the proper alignment. Learning to chew anything at all was my biggest challenge. I had visions of sucking all my meals through a straw, with jello and chocolate pudding being the only solid food I could handle. At first I had a plastic bite plate which covered most of the roof of my mouth to contend with also. I was supposed to eat with it on, which just added to my chewing difficulties and screwed up how my tongue worked. Whenever I tried to talk, I sounded like Jerry Lewis in the original Nutty Professor movies. I soon wore it only at night--could not deal with talking to people on the job during the day.
Hunger eventually overcame my initial chewing problems--I have been able to tackle anything short of saltwater taffy or peanut brittle.
No committment from the orthodontist as to when the braces come off. He keeps saying, Some cases take longer than others. (He's not stringing me along for the money--I paid him off a year ago.)
I have to say, my teeth look and feel a lot better, so I guess it's worth it.
(Bill [Bassman 10096]-don't feel too bad, I'm 57 years old.]
Eric
