This video perfectly sums up the struggles of having braces
I once read somewhere that the human body can forget pain really quickly. It’s a coping mechanism: If our nerves vividly remembered how excruciating it was to get through that pilates class or, I dunno, that whole giving birth thing, we would never leave our houses. Or exercise. Or have any babies ever.
Funny, though, this amazing ability to wipe the body’s memory of how hurtful some activities can truly be never seems to apply to people who’ve had braces. Living with metal gates pretty much stapled to your mouth for years at a time is traumatizing, especially when you take stock of how many orthodontist appointments you went to, how many little containers of gross wax you stuck to your teeth, and how many delicious pieces of steak and bubble gum you missed out on during your sentencing.
Maybe the physical pain remains so vivid for ex-bracefaces because the emotional pain was equal, if not way more substantial. It was super annoying when classmates would notice your new grillz and loudly ask, “Did you get braces?” and all you wanted to say was, “Nope. These are for decoration.” It was embarrassing to remove those teeny tiny rubber bands at lunchtime, and even worse when they broke while you were answering a question during math class. The most devastating mental toll came from your doctor’s broken promises, “Maybe we can take these off in three months.” Three years later, you’re still involuntarily drooling after getting those tooth cages tightened.
BuzzFeed recently made a video about “Memories That Will Haunt Bracefaces,” and it’s pretty spot on. WARNING: The following images may induce minor mouth-wear PTSD.
“Trying not to gag on mold goop” … accurate. Kind of gagging just thinking about it.
“Avoiding all the food.” Oh man, did you ever throw caution to the wind and eat corn with braces? Do you still feel like maybe that corn is still between your teeth?
THOSE DANG RUBBER BANDS. SO HAUNTING.
Watch the full video here, and relish in the fact that you won’t have to endure mold goop ever again .. or at least until you need dentures. Boo ya!
