When adults get braces

When our older daughter, Chardonnay was in middle school, we all noticed that her teeth were not quite as straight as they could be. Of course, that is very normal for most any kid. Her dad urged her to get braces and continued to shove the idea down her throat highly encourage her to get them for years. She was going through that vain teenage stage where she did not want to have a mouth full of metal for all of those important stages of her high school career- prom, grad photos, and so on.

She is now 22 and finally realized that her teeth were not going to fix themselves. Either she do something about it, or just live with it. It got to the point where she really disliked seeing her smile in photos or in video. She is in the public relations field and there are many times where she has to be at events in get this, the public! She wants to always look her best and came to the point of breaking down and calling the orthodontist.

We tried not to tell her, "I told you so", but we are human, so we made sure to rub it in her face. (kidding) She realized that she should have listened when she was a teen, and has learned her lesson. She is now the not-so-proud owner of a mouth full of braces. They look so good on her and she is struggling with getting used to them. Here is the before and after shot.

It's actually very cute watching her speak, because she has to do the whole roll-your-lip-back-over your braces thing while trying not to drool. She is so angry about it all LOL Every day she is like I am calling the orthodontist so he can rip these things out of my mouth! It has been almost a week and she is still not comfortable with eating. I feel badly for her, but assured her that she will eventually get used to them and make a way to eat what she wants within reason. Of course when you can't properly eat is the time you want to eat EVERYTHING. Chardie has a slight lisp like she did when she was in kindergarten. We make jokes that maybe we need to find her old speech therapist from elementary school. HA!

Overall, she is coping the best she can. We have known a lot of people who got braces way later than she did. Oddly enough, we can already see a difference with her teeth shifting. It is amazing how quickly it happens. Well, she has a little under 2 years to go, so hopefully she will get used to them in the upcoming weeks. She told me the other day that she tells her coworkers to not think she has no enthusiasm about anything anymore. She simply refrains from smiling or laughing because she cuts her mouth easily. Just think, this could all have been done when she was in her teenage years. Oh well, you live and your learn.

Did you get or someone you know get adult braces? If you have any advice for her, please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by today!

P.S.- for those who often ask about her curls, this is what she uses below (affiliate)