The Hassle of Braces

Since July of 2009 I have had braces. For some this means awkward pictures and uncomfortable tightening routines, but for me this means some of my favorite foods are no longer edible, or at least terribly hard to enjoy. Some of my favorite sweets, fruits, meats, and simple everyday foods have been such a hassle that I cannot wait to get these train tracks off!

Some of the everyday foods like oranges, rice, sandwiches, carrots, peanuts, Fruity Pebbles, and many others are irritating to eat now. Rice slips between the brackets and gets lost, and peanuts get wedged between the wires causing an uncomfortable, tight squeeze. I cannot wait until the day I can go to Panda Express and eat the fried rice with no worries or constant checking in the mirror to make sure nothing got stuck or grossly enough, left behind.

As for dinners, one of my favorites is steak and shrimp unfortunately, steak requires a ton of chewing and with braces, this is not much fun. The meat becomes tangled around brackets and it becomes such a struggle that it feels more like I’m having a boxing match with my steak than just simply eating it. Corn on the cob is another doozey. Instead of getting that fresh, big bite I have to take a knife and cut all the corn off of its fun little cob. Then there are ribs—I love ribs—and if I thought they were messy before, it looks like a tornado went threw an ocean of barbeque sauce and I cleaned it up with a million paper towels. When I get these braces off I want to go to Famous Dave’s BBQ and eat ribs at a normal messiness level.

My sweets, how can anyone live without their favorite sweets? Ask someone who wears braces and they will tell you it is just not fair. Caramel apples, Snickers, Butterfingers, chocolate covered strawberries, and ooey, gooey s’mores are things I know I should not eat, but are just too good to try not to. Caramel apples covered in crushed peanuts are one of the best fall treats out there and I tried so hard to eat one this year but it was just too hard. I tried biting right into it, taking it on from the side, and cutting it up, but even smaller pieces was not doing the job.

Therefore, instead of making a “bucket list”, I have somewhat created an “eat it” list of all the things I cannot wait to chew up with my new, sparkly, perfect teeth this summer. It is going to be great!