Train tracks. 

Metal mouth. 

Brace face. 

Only some have been blessed with straight teeth; for the unlucky, the only way to get straight teeth is to get braces. 

Curtis Orthodontics is where a lot of people go to get their teeth straightened, and the entire institution makes the process much easier to go through. There is always a hello on the way in and a goodbye on the way out from the front desk; even after the front desk every employee is kind and welcoming. 

Times and technology are changing and the design of braces has gradually gotten better. 

Shelley Asher, a teacher at LHS never had braces but has witnessed plenty of people having them. She thinks that people sometimes look more mature after getting braces off. The dentists putting on braces have gotten much better at placing the braces on the teeth and making them less noticeable. 

“At least they aren’t making people wear headgear,” Asher said. 

Braces seem bad now, but back in the day, the medal was sometimes on the outside of the mouth making everyone that had to wear headgear look nerdy. 

Once the braces part of the ordeal is over emotions can be high in the moments before seeing if your teeth are ugly or not. The person looking back at you in the mirror looks much different without train tracks across their face. 

Ella Haug, a junior at LHS, had braces for three years and not them off her sophomore year. She thinks that when she got her braces off she looked much older. After getting them off their absence is hard to get used to; her teeth felt weird for a couple of days. 

“I am glad I had braces and very glad to have them off,” Haug said. 

I was happy to get my braces off on this year’s Valentine’s Day. I am glad to have them off and have straight teeth, but not glad to hear “OMG Let me see!” for the next week. After three long, dreadful years the day finally came to take my braces off. Pop off the brackets, drill off the glue, take pictures, get retainers, and have an end meeting with Curtis made the whole ordeal two hours long. 

One would think that it would be fun to get braces off, but the getting them off is one of the worst appointments. Popping off the brackets feels like someone is cracking your teeth off and drilling the glue off seems to take an eternity.

I think having braces at an older age comes with pros and cons. Driving oneself to appointments is nice, but getting talked to like a child isn’t so much.

Yay straight teeth.