Our staff member shares her story with braces!

Check out what a member of our team at Dr. Talbot's office wrote about her experience with braces as a child!

Many times we think back on our childhood and remember fearful times. Usually fear or anxiety about a situation happened because the outcome was unknown. For the most part change takes a little courage to face.

I remember when I was told as a very young girl that I would someday have to get braces. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to feel. No one in my family had gone through orthodontics. All I knew for sure was that after my braces, maybe I would “look normal” and the kids would not tease me anymore about looking like a “bulldog”. I was at that time very excited for the change but disappointed when the orthodontist said I must wait until I was 14 years old to have braces and make a change.

My orthodontic needs were a bit more than the average braces and retainers. I had an overgrowth of my lower jaw which caused my lower teeth to protrude in front of my upper teeth, which attributed to “the bulldog look”. I waited a few years for my braces to be put on, and wore them with pride flashing that “silver smile”. I knew the change was coming and kept my eye on the goal with brushing and wearing rubber bands. My apprehension about the braces I think was overshadowed by the other stage of my treatment, orthognathic surgery. About halfway through my braces I had a surgery that removed bone in my lower jaw to make the correction in the skeletal relationship of my bite. My result was phenomenal and changed my outlook in life!

I believe that most of the FEAR of braces is due to stories that others have shared and often those sharing the stories either are only focusing on the bad experiences with braces or they have heard stories from others and have not had braces themselves at all. FEAR is “False Evidence Appearing Real”. The best thing that we can do to alleviate our fears is to ask questions, a lot of questions because the more we know the better we feel about anything that we may experience.

Think of all the beautiful smiles that are created with braces. It’s a life long change that is yours to keep. Someone may be afraid of what others will say but the truth is people will always find something to say good or bad, and after you have your braces it will be all about your beautiful smile. Be brave, you deserve it!