Coming Out

I was talking to a few friends last night about "coming out of the braces closet." How do I tell people that I have braces? Or should I tell them at all?

Tuesday was the first day I taught yoga with my new braces. My objective: to explain as much as I could in as few words as possible. The problem was that up until that point I hadn't had to do much public speaking and I hadn't practiced as thoroughly as I should have. I tried practicing reading aloud, but quickly stopped that as I didn't like what I was hearing! So, there I was trying to be soothing and uplifting with my slurred and lisping speech. I was tempted to say, "Welcome, everyone, Sat Nam, I have braces." But, I decided against that--mainly because once you point something like that out, it becomes more of a focus than it was originally. Luckily, I drew upon my yoga "wisdom" to realize that the class is about your own experience as a student and, in the end, has nothing to do with the teacher. The teacher only facilitates the process. In this case, I happened to be a teacher with a lisp. I have one student who has been in every single class since I started in October. I wouldn't say we're friends, but we definitely have gotten to know each other over the past 6 months. But, I know that, to her, I am still her teacher. She always seems amazed and excited when I take class as a student. I think because of that relationship, I refrained from "coming out" with the self-concious statement, "I have braces." Maybe she noticed, maybe she didn't. She didn't say anything and neither did I.

Later that day, I had a meeting with someone I am going to be doing some freelance work for. I've worked with him before, so we were chatting about the project. He asked me, "What's new?" I immediately said, "Well, I got braces." I felt like I had to clear that up right away--this is why I've spent the last 30 minutes talking this way. It's not me, it's the braces. Again, another person who said, "I didn't even realize," and "I never noticed anything wrong with your teeth." To which, I replied, "I've been getting that a lot lately." Just as I blew up the state of my crooked teeth, maybe, too, I am blowing up the state of having braces.

La Traviata

I bet you didn't realize that this was a blog about food...

Last night I went with a friend to La Traviata in Brooklyn. It was very spontaneous, as I had already planned my meal of mashed potatoes (homemade!), mac & cheese and creamed corn. But, hey, no better time than the present to venture into the world of eating out. I had very delicious and mushy white bean and escarole soup and very soft sweet potato fries with a glass of white wine. Because of the escarole I was terrified the whole night that I had big green chunks stuck in my braces, but was afraid to ask. At the end of the night I went to the bathroom and lo and behold--nothing. My braces were perfectly clean. I think next time I go out, I may have to make an announcement at the beginning: "If I have anything in my braces, please don't be afraid to tell me." Of course, I think that goes for people without braces, too. Why is it that people are so afraid of telling someone they have something stuck between their teeth?

"You're not your usual smiling self today"

I've been getting this a lot lately. Most people think I'm just not feeling well. So, what's the protocol about telling people you have braces? I told several people at work that I was getting braces, but I didn't send out an office-wide email or anything. I just can't smile the same way that I used to. It's either all or nothing now. When I'm talking to people, mostly I've been trying to hide it--trying to speak without opening my mouth so much. Today I was talking to this girl in the office who's been temping here for the last month or so. She asked me whether I was feeling better. So, I finally just told her, "I got braces last week." To my dismay, she said she didn't even notice that there was something wrong with my teeth. Another person who never noticed? I told her that they're really crooked and she said, "Oh, that's funny, I didn't notice them at all." Granted, she's only seen me for the past month and we usually just chat for a few minutes. I mean, everyday for the past 15-20 years I have thought about how awful my teeth are--was it all in in my head? Or maybe I just did a good job at hiding them.

I feel faint

Yesterday I almost fainted--most likely from lack of food. I just haven't been eating enough. I had a smoothie (again) for breakfast and didn't end up eating anything until 3:30 that afternoon. At that point I got really light-headed and felt a little nauseous. So...today I tried eggs for breakfast; mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and yams for lunch; orange-veggie blend juice for snack; and salmon and bean salad for dinner. It still isn't quite the same amount of food I'm used to eating, but I think it may ward off dizzy spells!

Having Second Thoughts

I went to a yoga workshop yesterday and one of the other teachers at my studio asked me why I got braces. I told her that it was something I've always wanted to do and that I want a beautiful smile. She then told me how much she loved my teeth and how cute she thought my smile was. Come to think of it, several people have told me that they think my teeth are cute. I was acting in a play a few years ago and I mentioned in my dressing room that I wanted to get braces. My dresser said that she thought my teeth were so cute and that she wished she had my smile. (I never understood that!) When I mentioned that I wanted to get my teeth straightened to a boy I was dating he told me that he loved my teeth. Of course, when you're enamored with someone, you tend to love everything about them--especially their quirks (at least in the beginning). So now I'm wondering that this whole time when I felt self-conscious about my teeth, did people really like my smile? Did they not even care or notice? Did I blow it up so big in my mind that I projected it on everyone I met? Maybe my smile is cute after all. What if I don't recognize or even like myself with straight teeth? What if I miss my "quirky, cute" teeth?

Oatmeal

Oatmeal is also a good food to eat. Though, as I discovered this morning when I went to brush my teeth, oatmeal is also best eaten in private!

Food

So I guess the main thing preoccupying me now (besides the pain, discomfort, and inability to say any word that has an "s" in it) is food. What can I eat? Well, here's what I can't eat:

Anything hard--like cookies, rolls, crackers, pizza crust
Anything chewy
Candy
Red wine (stains the ceramic brackets)
Tea/coffee (ditto...my teapots are going to be very lonely this year!)
Tomato sauce (ditto)

At this point in the treatment--day 3--I have had smoothies for breakfast from the GNC store on my way to work. Though, today I had a high-protein smoothie and the person making it convinced me that I needed a multi-vitamin thrown in. And now all day my pee has been flourescent yellow. I think for next week I'll stick with Caribbean Blast. For lunch I've discovered mashed potatoes and very soft melt-in-your-mouth yams. Last night I went out with a few friends for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and the only thing on the menu that I could eat was the smashed pea and barley soup. Without braces I never would have ordered this. Ever. I've never tried split pea soup and I've never wanted to. The name alone is unappetizing. But, that was my only choice. And, amazingly, it was really good. Really good. In fact, I bought two cans of split pea soup tonight--another food I can eat! One thing is for certain--my pants were fitting me a lot better today! This could be the best diet yet.

What's that on my teeth?

I got my braces on Wednesday morning. The orthodontist's assistant put me in a chair and placed this huge contraption in my mouth. There was even a place for my tongue to fit into. They needed to get my teeth as dry as possible, so lips and tongue had to be far out of the way. She painted on all this gunk onto my teeth and then put a rubbery-looking mold on my teeth for 5 minutes. While I was hanging out looking gorgeous, she pulled out a Looney Toons bag with loads of "fun stuff" like a toothbrush and braces wax and a big magnet that says "what not to eat." When she took the mold off, I felt this hard gunk on my teeth. I thought it was the glue. I said, "What's that on my teeth?" She told me they were the braces. At that moment I felt a wave of horror run through me. This is what I'm going to be feeling under my lips for a year? How could they be the braces when I've barely seen the orthodontist? Dr. M put the wire through the brackets and I was all set. I was offered some Advil. When I said that I was feeling fine, they said that I should take it--that I would need it. A sign for the next few days...The funny thing is that I only got the top done--I get the bottom on in 3 weeks!

While this was all happening, there was a teenage boy in the other room getting his braces off. His teeth looked great!

It's time to go back to high school

When I was 14 years old the one and only thing on my Christmas list was "Braces." I figured that if that's all I put down, I would surely get it. I got a jean purse and some perfume instead. Tons of people I went to school with had braces. I was different. This is the time I learned to smile and laugh with my mouth closed. I have loads of pictures from high school and in every one of them I am the girl with her mouth closed. People made comments on my tense mouth, but, hey, it was better than showing my teeth! Especially since they made comments about my teeth, too. One day during 10th grade math class we had to partner up and I was partnered up with Alan M.--a guy on the football team. We put our desks together facing each other and while we were waiting for instructions from the teacher, he said, "Are you going to get braces?" To be honest with you, I've blocked out my answer to him. Knowing me, I probably just shrugged my shoulders "I don't know" and looked down at the floor. Well, now I get to say to Alan M. and everyone else who wondered the same thing, 15 years after I wrote that Christmas list, "Yes, I am getting braces!" Here's to the beginning of a year as an adult with braces!