Getting used to a mouth without armor

At last! With teeth released from the prison of braces, the mouth gets acquainted with a new restraint: the retainer.

By SAM FRENCH
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 6, 2002

My tongue sweeps over my teeth, astonished to find a smooth surface, no bumps or braces, no wiggly wires, just teeth.

Getting used to my braces was a challenge. Now getting unused to them is a challenge.

That Tuesday morning I lay on a pale green recliner chair as the orthodontist hovered over me. It was nerve-racking. My teeth had just been squeezed like a stress ball, or so it seemed. He was taking my braces off.

People think it hurts, but it doesn't really hurt. It just feels uncomfortable. Actually, getting them off isn't the uncomfortable part: It's the metal and plastic hunk of retainer next to the roof of my mouth that I now have to wear.

Where my tongue usually rests there's an orange blob in its place. The retainer does not hurt, but as I said, it's uncomfortable, and it makes talking a little difficult. For instance, when I say my name, "Sam," it usually comes out "Tham."

I also have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth, but to me it doesn't exist -- I can't even feel it.

The retainer will take getting used to, but I'm glad I'm no longer a full "metal mouth."

-- Sam French, 10, is in the fourth grade at Perkins Elementary School in St. Petersburg.

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