52 Days to Go: Wednesday Giveaway

The whole time I had braces I was told not to chew bubble gum! I just couldn’t live without it though….Shhhh, don’t tell anyone!

I never had braces, but now I wish I did.. i am paranoid that my middle front teeth are popping out more and more, and that eventually I will wake up one morning to look at myself in the mirror and see a half human half beaver creature looking back at me.

I used to snap my braces on pretty much everything. The worst was on one of those Squeezit “juice” bottles – I tried to open it with my teeth and snapped off pretty much all my top braces, which was really wonderful to deal with until I could see my orthodontist. However, I’m grateful every time I see the photo of my fiance’s brother in his headgear. I may or may not have supersized and framed the photo for him many years ago. Maybe he’ll start talking to me again someday!

Did I have braces? Boy did I. I went from normal girl to ultimate nerd in 2 months when I was only in 3rd grade. I got glasses in January and braces in February. When I was in 4th grade they installed a pallette-expander in the roof of my mouth. I had to turn a key in the thing every night to gradually split my pallette and widen it enough for my top teeth to fit down over my bottom teeth. And yes that’s exactly as painful as it sounds. Not to mention I was an outcast at the lunch table because after every bit I had to make a repulsive sucking noise to clear the food out of the contraption. I also had to wear a headgear every night to correct my underbite. Very annoying. In 5th grade, I was freed from the braces bondage, but only until 9th grade because though my bite was now corrected, my teeth had shifted since I’d grown and gotten all my adult teeth. So I had to endure another 2 years. So that was pretty much awesome. Then I had to have all 4 wisdom teeth cut out 5 days before Christmas my sophomore year and that hurt like the dickens too. But now everyone has finally decided to leave my mouth alone and I have a beautiful smile. Yay!

I didn’t have braces either, but my sis did. Before she had them put on, she had to have the cap taken off for the chipped tooth from when she was little. I paraded all my friends (I’m older) over to the house to look at her chip for the day between the cap being removed and repaired, then braces put on. Hilarious.

What a cool idea for bracelets

I had to have a root canal at 16. Well 2 weeks ago I was told by my new dentist that there was some breakage of the dentistry file used, and its sitting in my tooth under the cap. I don’t know how that happened but it leaves a weird feeling when you find something like that out.

This is probably the best giveaway ever! I have my braces now and it pretty much stinks, but I’m not bitter or anything. They are coming off right after Thanksgiving. Hallelujah!

I think the funniest story was, I had to get my teeth pulled to create some spaces so the braces could do there magic. They pulled one one day and the the second the day after – it was sort of a silly idea. I have learned from this experience that Novocaine sort of makes me crazy. The second day, my poor father had to take me to the dentist. Driving back, I was sort of out of it and just muttering to myself apparently. Then, I went “DAD! Pull over!!!” Now, I have a whole bunch of gauze in my mouth, so I’m sure it didn’t sound like that. He just looks at me and goes, “Umm. Why?” And I start screaming “Dad! Pull over!!! They are selling whoopie pies on the side of the road (there was a little farmer’s market). Pull over!! I WANT A WHOOPIE PIE!” And proceed to try to get out of the car. Thank goodness, my dad had the door locked.

Oh man, I’ll never live that one down.

I was that kid who got the colored bands put on the braces for all the holidays. I don’t know why I would have done that. I look back now and see my 7th grade photo, and it’s just awkward. I’m smiling with black and orange braces in my mouth. I look like I’ve got food stuck there! I love Halloween, but not sure I would do that again if I had the chance to go back in time.

Omg, those bracelets. I remember AGONZING over my rubberband color choices in middle school. I always tried to match my first day of school outfit this time of year.

I love seeing creative re-purposing!!!
I escaped wisdom teeth — to quote my dentist, “The Good Lord didn’t see fit to give you any.” I have had many fillings, though, having grown up before fluoride was added to the water, and should probably have had braces, but braces weren’t so common then. The faulty bite created more stress. . . . and many root canals and crowns. I’m still grateful to have all my own teeth, more or less, following Mom’s advice to avoid dentures at all costs.

I had to wear braces, but thought they were pretty cool! Especially all the cool colored bands I got to wear! And I love the results! These bracelets are so creative!

So this doesn’t quite fit….but, it’s a good story.
My first college job was in an orthodontist office where I briefed kids on the new oral care they needed to use while in braces. I was giving my really gross speech about the horrors of not properly brushing when the girl I was teaching just fainted on me! She just up and fell right on top of me, and she was taller than me and I am a weak person! I guess the pictures I was showing her we just too much!

Those are so cool! I actually had all but 2 of my baby teeth pulled out by the dentist (not all at once! Over a few years…) and 4 adult teeth. I was not a fan of the dentist growing up! I have a small mouth so all my teeth didn’t fit. But now I have a pretty smile, so I guess it was all worth it!

I had braces ‘back in the day.’ You know, when braces were braces. Big metal bands that went all the way around your teeth–not those cute little things kids have nowadays that still let lots of actual tooth show. I was truly a metal mouth. I had them for three years. My ‘peak’ with the little rubber bands was when I had six of them at a time. It was like a little before-bed ritual each night, changing them out. I had: the usual pair that connected the top and bottom teeth; a pair worn in figure eights across my front teeth, top and bottom; and a pair that stretched from the outer side of my lower teeth, across the ‘chewing surface,’ to the inner side. I was, in short, a mess. (And thanks for bringing back THAT painful memory! Why don’t you just give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?)

Braces for several years when I was in middle school… ugh!

I didn’t have braces until college when a coworker (who was a dental student) convinced me that she could do them for me. I only had them for 6 months, but my teeth look tons better than they used to. I could probably have done with a bit more intensive work, but I wasn’t willing to have them break my jaw and change my profile to get the results they wanted.

I went for allergy shots every week from the age of 6 to 11. Hated every minute of it because you had to sit in the doctors office for 1/2 and hour after each and every one to make sure you didn’t have a bad reaction. The worst thing… they didn’t help at all.

Thankfully I had braces put on right before 5th grade and taken off right before 7th, just in time for junior high! I do remember one time when I was having my braces adjusted and the lady who was working on my teeth at the time must have had some butter fingers! The spring that she was about to put in was perhaps too springy and it went flying. We looked around a little but didn’t find it so she just used another. Later that day during school I just felt like something was not right in my bra. Found the spring!!

Before I had braces, I actually kinda wanted them. Glasses too. My babysitter when I was about 6 had both. We even tried to pull the rubber things off of her braces because I wanted to make a bracelet from it then (that was about 20 years ago… I was ahead of the game! lol)

The day I got mine on I cried so much because after hearing I had to have them my cousin decided to tell me all these horror stories of how her friend broke her jaw and her nose because she was trying to eat mashed potatoes with her bands still on her braces.

Oh and of course one of only two years I had to wear them, we took a family trip to Dixie Stampede. You know, where you don’t have any silverware to eat the corn on the cob, whole chicken on the bone, and apple slices (3 of the things forbidden foods while wearing braces) I was stuck with only my roll and soup. It was, needless to say, the most miserable two years of my life.

I’m still reminded today of my experience, I have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth. Something my 3 year old loves to look at and touch when ever he notices.

Something somewhat funny about after my braces came out, I cracked one of my retainers and my little sister flushed the replacement while we were getting ready for school. I only just now after 10 years got a new top retainer.

The best part of it was that the first year I did have my braces off was the year I first met my now husband. All together now… AWWWWW!

One i had to have one of my milk teeth pulled out. I remember being very scared on my way to the dentist’s. But the dentist was very nice and she said you wont feel a thing which kind of comforted me. However she then proceeded to pull my tooth out with a tool that looked like a wrench. Needless to say that ever since then i’ve been massively scared of all dentists!

I had the opposite problem as you….my mouth was too small! I had to wear a retainer that widened my mouth, very painful!!

I had a retainer which sounded better than braces but boy was it fun to put it in and out every time I ate something… I was so embarrassed that I would do it in the bathroom and then the cleaning…oh boy

I had braces put on when I was 30 and my oldest daughter was 12. The orthodontist thought it would be funny to wire my teeth shut on April Fool’s day. He didn’t tell me he was going to do it, just adjusted things and sent me on my way. When I met my daughter in the waiting room she thought it was so funny that I couldn’t open my mouth.

I’ve only just had my braces removed after a long and sometimes painful 2 years – and I’m 42! However, I’m thrilled with how my teeth look, and am finally eating apples again! The bracelets would be a fun reminder of all the gum I had to turn down!

i had braces in middle school so none of the high school horror stories. but …my regular dentist always did the full-tray flouride treatments. i always told them [no one listens to a child] that i couldnt do it and i would cry and carry on. but they just stuffed both trays in my mouth and i would sit there in tears. ..until the day i threw up all over my dentist – flouride tray, lunch, and all.

My wisdom teeth have enough room to grow, so they didn’t need to be pulled. However, they have been pushing through and growing and hurting for almost three years now. I’ll be happy when they finally stop.

I had braces and I thought they were cool. Oh sweet niavity, haha!

Never had braces, but had my wisdom teeth pulled when one got infected. The worst part was the sound of the tooth being pulled!

I had braces for a couple of years and I used to do “Stupid Retainer Tricks” and I would impress people with being able to turn my retainer a 180 degrees in my mouth. People were more easy to impress back then. Anyway – I found out this year I’m going to have to go back in braces for a couple of years to fix my TMJ. So, I better brush up on some new retainer tricks!

I wasn’t a kid, when I had my braces. In fact, I was 46 years old! My mouth hurt a lot – as do many people’s – and I was so grateful that I had dental insurance so that I COULD have my teeth straightened! As an educator, though, I had to time my appointments to the latest part of my orthodontist’s day, so as to complete my work day. I had to drive from the north part of our city, all the way to his office in the south of the same city. I marked papers and exams, while I waited with the other patients, who were mostly kids! I am ever so grateful for having an orthodontic professional do such a fine job on my adult mouth. Unlike many of the kids getting their braces and having to have them for 18 months to over two years, I was DONE in 12 months! Still enjoying the fruits of his labor, as I am about to turn 70 near the end of September!

Love seeing your Dress a Day, Marisa! Even if I don’t qualify for the draw, I am happy to tell you my experience.

I had that horrible headgear thing-luckily only at night-when I was in grade school. So embarassing to wear-even at home! And I still ended up needing braces later-ugh!

I actually had braces twice. And I even wore my retainer! The first time I had them was in middle school, and then I had to get them back on senior year. So… I had them for homecoming, prom and graduation. Thank goodness they were the clear ones!

i have braces on the back of my front teeth because my teeth shifte since i got my braces off. that was when i was 14. now i’m 52. blech!

No braces for me thank goodness because I have serious dental phobia. Luckily my wisdom teeth never came in. Phew.

I didn’t have braces, either. My dentist referred me to an orthodontist just in case, but he told me and my parents I didn’t need his services. He also said I had absolutely no room for my wisdom teeth and would need them out in about ten years. (He was right).

I did have glasses from the age of nine, though, which was tough for someone as clumsy as I was…am. One Field Day at my school, we were competing in the amoeba race (a bunch of you run as a group inside a big hoop–why did we think that was safe?) and I fell (as per usual) and knocked a lens out of my glasses. My mom picked me up and took me to the optometrist to get them fixed while I had fun trying to decipher store signs with my much-worse-than-20/20 vision. A particular misreading had us in stitches. To this day, we still sometimes call the liquor store a “Wine and Sports” store instead of “Wine and Spirits.”

Unfortunately, I never got braces, as much as I wanted to have them, I didn’t need them. I did have the worst experience with glasses! This was the time of big, plastic frames, that’s so cool nowadays. I was horrified when the eye doctor told me I needed to wear glasses. I picked a pair of pink plastic frames. My lens were like 1″ thick! LOL – maybe not that thick but they sure felt like it with everyone staring.

Lol, I had the same EXACT wisdom teeth experience, hilarious! Mine were still giving me pains into my late 20′s too! Fortunately, no cavities in those!!

My “something I had to do as a kid that I wasn’t thrilled about” is IRONING – that was my job, I had to iron curtains, dad’s shirts, all kinds of stuff. Now I try to pretty much buy nothing at all that needs ironing & my hubby is on his own with his work shirts! Not quite as painful as braces, but still a pain in the rear, lol….

I wore braces for two years when I was 12, and then retainers, and at that point my orthodontist told me that my teeth had moved unexpectedly or something, and my teeth were not straight. Would I like to put on braces again? NO!

My 14 year old daughter, Claire, gets her braces next Wednesday. She just transferred to a new school and is starting 9th grade in a huge suburban school where she knows only two people. Claire is a creative, free spirit who loves thrift stores and indie-rock music. Her raging quick wit will get her through these scary first few weeks of high school in spite of the new braces, but having braced-lets FROM YOU would be a huge encouragement. She would totally freak out!

I had braces for 2 years. I hated wearing them. Food would always get stuck and it was hard to clean my teeth. The only thing I like about them was picking out different color to wear.

I had to have 8 teeth pulled before I could get braces! And for some reason, my family decided to go to the county fair that night, so I couldn’t even eat without abandon like I usually did. It was a rough night in Amberland…

I wore braces for 4 years…..but my mouth was so small I had to have a space first and my parents would turn the key every night…..it was SO painful! Food would routinely get stuck in the spacer and the roof of my mouth….altogether a DISGUSTING experience, expecially when you are going into highschool. Now my poor small-mouthed children are going to have the same fate, I am just sure!

No braces, but I had my wisdom teeth out and I was very loopy afterwards.