One out of three children or teenagers will have to live, at one point, as a prisoner of their own dentist. Teenagers are faced with zit and acne wars during the stages of puberty and braces add additional torture to this already hellish time to both parent and child. A life with braces is far more embarrassing, painful, and expensive than living with buck-teeth, gaps, or overlapping teeth. Mental scars remain long after cuts and bloody sores in the mouth have healed. These metal-like plates come with a long list of insults and nicknames.
All through school one can expect to be called brace-face, Jaws and metal mouth just to name a few. The 'orthodontically' challenged are always the center of electricity and lip-locking jokes. The dentist's office is also a source of embarrassment. Most offices are filled with other patients and operating rooms are easily accessible making it easy for others to watch the pain and embarrassment the patient has to goes through. If one should forget to brush their teeth before their visit, they will regrettably become immortal as the doctor announces the left-over remains of a Turkey and Cheese sandwich stuck between the molars. Braces become a constant source of embarrassment. Braces are three to four years of physical torture beginning with the very first office visit. The applying of the brackets itself is long, tiresome, and uncomfortable. First, cold, flavored clay is shoved into the inside of the mouth, forming a mold as it dries. Jagged metal squares (brackets) are glued to the tooth, forcing hot, burning, glue to drip down the gums. Braces also cause everyday aches and pains in the mouth. Metal wires, guiding teeth to a new shape, stab the inside of the mouth causing cuts and sores while tearing the linings of the mouth each time a person's mouth opens. Rubber bands that are strung across each of the brackets pull and stretch teeth until gums are painful and sore.
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