What happens when you get braces

Friday it's going in. Or is it being ‘put on’. I believe that's what it's called, but of course I haven't been ‘on’ orthodontics for that long. It's all because of a tooth that has been bothering me for years and a school trip to an Indian reservation. I shared my car with a colleague-mother who is a dentist specializing in orthodontics. Whether it was a conscious choice that I did nothing about my teeth. She asked that. No problem, she continued, but for someone who is otherwise so well-groomed, it does stand out to me. That was the issue. And if I were to go full monty for the braces, I would be done in three months. Of course, we would go for the ceramic braces, because you can hardly see those.

I've been toying with the idea of getting the Invisalign braces (invisible) for a year now, but they are a Chanel bag more expensive and I would be stuck with them for a year. Moreover, it requires iron discipline (because you have to diligently put the braces in and take them out with every bite, and looking at my alcohol consumption and shopping behavior, I have the backbone of a softened licorice lace.

Just put those braces in, go through that funnel of three months and then I'm just done. To prepare my surroundings a bit for what's to come, I occasionally announce that I'm going to get braces. The reactions you get are similar to when you say you want to lose weight. Or that you're doing a juice cleanse. Why on earth are you doing that? You're not fat/you have perfectly fine teeth is the standard reaction. Then you have to go on the defensive. That you've actually gained a few kilos/that your tooth, really, look, is growing over the other one, so much so that there’s sometimes a shadow over it. It becomes embarrassing when you look at the other person and see that they could also use a juice cleanse or a little brace. No need, everyone has their thing, but don't call me out if I want to do it. Moral of the story: just don't announce it anymore and just do it.

This morning (when I hadn't yet come to this crystal clear conclusion) one of the nicest mothers commented on my teeth. That it made me so much more likable, that little imperfection. That it's charming. She looked a bit critically. “You don't want such a perfect smile with all straight teeth, do you?” To which my answer sounded loud and clear: “Yes, I do.”

More on Friday!