Braces update

Today I chewed gum–Mentos gum.  Nothing happened, nothing got stuck.  I enjoyed myself very much.  Whoo!

My first appointment after “The Beginning”

Get in, endure, get out–this is the mind set of most young people when they enter the orthodontist’s office. I don’t honestly know what I was thinking when I reached the door. I had been thoroughly warned about the upcoming event.

“Oh yeah, it’s a great time, you’ll love it. They tighten them like crap and you shall survive only by asprin. Looks like it’s back to soup for you, babe. You will also love the nurse ladies, they are the ones who do the tightening. They don’t care how you feel, sometimes they will put the wire in backwards and that hurts twice as much, or they might forget to cut off the wire and it rips open your cheek.”

I think it will be a pleasant experience.

I open the door, climb the steps, and enter the room. For such a great paying job, they have a crappy building. I sign in, my picture pops up (which I hate) and I confirm that “Yes, that is a picture of Charita Lewis.” The wait was not as long as I thought (or hoped) it would be.

The door of HELL opened and my name was called (incorrectly, I might add). I walked back and entered the torture chamber.

I sat in the chair and listened the nurse ladies (witches is a more appropriate name) converse about their love lives. I think that most of them are married, for I see rings on fingers and sappy pictures of them with their husbands and kids. One girl, I believe, is living with her mother and/or her boyfriend. Then the conversation took a turn to pedicures and the dead skin on the bottom of one’s foot. Then, they asked me what I thought about it. I mumbled a lame reply and smiled. I sat in the room, just sitting mind you, listening to their petty conversation for a full twenty minutes.

I had broken a bracket and it needed mending. If this was not so, I don’t think that I would have had to see Dr. Ortho that day. The most awkward thing about the orthodontist is having one’s head between the doctor’s legs–very, very awkward. Why does the orthodontist try to carry a conversation with his patient? It isn’t as though they can talk with his hands in their mouth anyway. Also, why is it that at my orthodontist there are many many female nurses, all seemingly under the age of thirty, working with one man over forty? (Makes me very curious).

He fixed my bracket, and I got a power chain. It was basically a pain free experience. I don’t understand what the big deal is. My mouth didn’t even hurt the next day.

School life with braces

I now have braces. I got them over spring break. I have to go to school. Yes, it sounds like an enjoyable experience, does it not?

I have prepared myself for all types of ridicule and was thoroughly surprised with the amount I received. The first day went great, hardly anyone noticed. The second and following days is what got me.

Jessica: They look good

Jenna:…..

Abby: You look good with braces, I don’t know if I told you.

Karlee: You talk funny.

Maci: You’re wearing your hair down! (She didn’t notice, but that’s okay)

Lee: Hey, Charita! What did you have for lunch? A Caesar salad? Ma ha ha ha.

Elizabeth: You have a listhp.

She made fun of me the rest of the week.

Rickey: When did you get them?

Tori: You have a listhp.

She also made fun of me the rest of the week.

Ashton: I like the way you talk. You sound so cool.

Krystal: You got braces!

Mollie: You got braces.

Chris: You have braces, I haven’t seen them all week. I tried to make you laugh but you only smiled (which made me laugh).

Ericka: Do people make fun of you for the way you talk?

Interpretation: You talk funny.

Lee Jr.: Whatsth up?

Yes, indeed I do have a lisp (a bad on at that). I took the ridicule all in good fun, for I was expecting it. School has been pretty well, for the most part I enjoyed it.

Braces

For the people who have begged me to write this post–yes, I did get my braces today. There really is not anything worth mentioning, nothing at all. The ladies said my name incorrectly and the orthodontist never called me by name. It was ninety-nine percent pain free. When the actual braces were being put on, I thought they were still cleaning my teeth. Also, I did not have to take any pills to dry my mouth. The nurse put an odd looking contraption in my mouth that helped keep my mouth open and sucked out saliva.

I had to watch a video about how to properly clean my teeth and what to eat and what not to eat. I find it rather funny how it seems most of the stuff I cannot have is what we have in the house. All that I can have for now is soup–soup and oatmeal (I made an attempt at toast but…) Yes, my mouth is sore. I cannot chew with my back teeth. I could not even eat the chicken in chicken noodle soup. The doctor said that the pain should last for two days. I have to have these braces for two and a half years so I am really hoping what he says is correct.

I also have a terrible lisp.

Which I do not like on bit.

Spacers

I walked into the orthodontist office. I was holding my little brother (who is nine months) so I got a ton of those dirty looks (you know the ones, Oh my goodness, I can’t believe she has a baby). Well sorry folks, the kids isn’t mine! Anyway I walked inside, signed in, and sat down.

“Charita, will you please come to the back with me?” said a petite blond.

I don’t answer. They always say my name wrong, yet I never correct them.

I get some x-rays done, sit in a chair, and wait patiently for the nurse lady to come in. I am called by the wrong name again.

I get my spacers and they don’t hurt. Not one little bit.

Jessica, they don’t hurt.