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Carrie has an appointment this morning with her regular dentist for her routine six-month cleaning. They don't know yet that she now has braces. Also, haha, this is the same practice that basically told her she was crazy for considering braces. But the son has now taken over the practice from the father who told her that -- and Carrie used to babysit the son when she was a teen!

I'll report back if anything of interest occurs.

Condolences on the loss. My Dbacks lost last night, as well, though we weren't at the game since they're in St. Louis. Our #2 pitcher got hit in the head by a liner, but he's apparently okay, thankfully.

Carrie is extremely social and talks to just about everyone, but I'm sad to say I've never observed her having such a braces-centric conversation with another person in braces. She's had many (dozens, probably) convos with family, friends and acquaintances about her braces, why she got them, etc. But those have mainly been brief, as most people only care superficially, and the talk moves on to other subjects quickly.

The only somewhat lengthy convo I've observed was with a friend of ours who is a dental hygienist who also recently did Clear Correct (Invisalign knockoff). She had an above-average interest in Carrie's braces, for obvious reasons, but it wasn't anything like what you and your wife experienced.  I can only wish!

not sure you've had this happen to you or not, Mike, but my wife and I went to baseball game last night (another blown lead and loss for my Tigers, but that is another matter!), but the woman sitting right by us had braces on and noticed my wife with braces.  The two spent half the game talking about their treatment, the good and bad.  It was pretty entertaining.  The woman had metal braces and elastics and was about half way through her treatment.  This was the first time we've gone out and had someone get into extended conversation about braces.  most times, there is maybe a quick comment from someone, but usually nothing more.

I would go for the modified twinblock....

My wife has had braces for over 20 months and the only major things she has not been able to eat are nuts and corn on the cob.  A few tortilla chips that are hard are also off limits, but she's found substitutes  Yes, my wife has similar issues with salad and is always asking if she has food stuck in her teeth whenever we go out to eat. She's avoided any appliances, but has had to wear elastics for well over 1/2 her treatment and that is more of a pain for her than the braces themselves.

Carrie's back from her family reunion, so maybe she'll chime in.

Her main issue has been the bite stoppers more than anything. She was never really a big consumer of most of the "forbidden fruit" foods, so giving them up hasn't been much of an issue. She definitely tends toward softer foods most of the time, and has basically given up on our normal low-carb lifestyle while she's in braces. She eats a lot of mac-n-cheese, Ramen, pasta, refried beans, soft stuff like that. Surprisingly, she's had no problems with bread, and can eat pizza, eggs benedict, etc. She also has no problem with her favorite Taco Bell meal of a Mexican pizza.

The puffy Cheetos, though. Oh man. She literally won't even eat them when anyone else is around. That and salad. She hates how all that gets caught in her braces.

Like I said, palate of a 12 year old!

Mike or Carrie, is there anything Carrie (you) haven't been able to eat since getting the braces? I'm hitting all the no-nos while on vacation. If you or she think of anything, let me know.

I'll be on vacation this week in a Jersey shore town. I'm wondering what foods I should indulge in or binge before I come back and get braced?

On my list so far- salt water taffy, caramel popcorn, candy apples, corn on the cob. What else?

Here is some advice from a current braces wearer.

When you get them, enjoy them. You are getting them for yourself, what other people think about that is their business. Not everyone will understand why you did it.

When I go for my adjustments, I always get the powerchain colors changed to what I like. I have gone with colors from the start. I have had just about every color that my ortho offers. I also go with the colored elastics.

I have never gone with clear. I am not trying to hid that I have braces. You are spending lots on them, you might as well show them off. Smile all you want. Enjoy them.

I'm ready to be a middle schooler

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It'll all be an adjustment (heh), that's for sure!  ;D

I only joined Instagram to see other pictures initially. I posted a bit to seem like less of a creeper.


I only joined Facebook yesterday because I am changing jobs and will leave many friends behind. Now I am getting all sorts of friend requests. I'll be getting braces and joining Facebook in the same 2 weeks. I'm ready to me a middle schooler

I'm keeping it a secret from everyone except my wife. I want to see how long it will take for people to realize if I don't advertise that I'm getting them to friends and family either in conversation or via Facebook.

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Yeah, Carrie kept it pretty well under wraps before she got hers, too. Her sister and best friend knew, and my daughter and her husband, but that's about it. I don't think the rest of her (big Mormon) family knew until she posted a pic in their group text. Her sister-in-law just asked, "When did you get braces?" Carrie replied, "About a week ago. Fancy, huh?" And that was the end of the braces discussion in the group.

Carrie and I have a pretty broad social circle, so we run into lots of people who don't know she got braces, even now, a couple of months later. But frankly, after the initial "hey, you got braces" recognition, almost no one gives a damn. It's a WAY bigger deal to us here than it is to anyone outside the braces community.

All that said, neither Carrie nor I are enthusiastic users of social media. I seriously cannot remember the last time either of us posted on Facebook (I call it Boomerbook and only have an account because my job requires it), and she's literally never posted a pic on her Instagram account. Social media reactions might differ from face-to-face interactions. Will be interesting to see if your results differ.

I'll be away for vacation next week but next Saturday and that Tuesday I have consulatations. I've decided to see them just to be sure. Unless the really impress me I'll be getting the signing the papers and getting my spacers with ortho number 3 on August 4th. Not much else to share.

I'm keeping it a secret from everyone except my wife. I want to see how long it will take for people to realize if I don't advertise that I'm getting them to friends and family either in conversation or via Facebook.

Thanks! It was a really fun night.

She's off to a family reunion in Missouri, but I told her I expect daily selfies!

MikeB said:

Just uploaded a bunch more pics from casino night. Pretty good stuff!

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Great pictures, thanks for sharing

Just uploaded a bunch more pics from casino night. Pretty good stuff!

Thanks for the kind words, mrmajestic723! I'll actually have a bit of a pic dump on Flickr later, when I get a bunch of images from Saturday's casino night. I expect there will be some good images in that pic dump, since she was being very...playful...with her friends.

Carrie's been excellent. She very seldom complains about anything at all. The biggest change since she got braces -- thanks to the bite stoppers -- has been her choices in food. She's definitely moved to softer foods in general, but this seems to suit her fine, since she's never been a "foodie" type. In fact, I often tease her about having the palate of a 12 year old.

I did recently order her several more sets of Comfort Covers. She likes to wear those when she sleeps, and her original pair was getting worn out to the point that they were slipping off her back brackets.

I just checked the picture page. Great shots. Carrie looks wonderful and the braces suit her well. How has she been with everything?

sounds like a good consultation.  For my wife, she went to 3 or 4 places until she felt comfortable with one.  I think it helped to see other staff in braces and invisalign and the ortho had braces as an adult as well.  keep us posted on what happens at your next appointment!

Sounds promising! Good luck!