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Ok, so I'm 28 (almost 29 to be honest) and before I started at Seapoint Clinic, I had always thought my teeth were in pretty good nick. No obvious bunny rabbit teeth, nor hugely disfiguring features that kept me awake at night. I had also thought of braces as something a teenager or a pre-teen has to suffer through, big awkward train-tracks from the 1980's, which is totally not the case anymore!

I had a check-up (to check the general health of my mouth) and hygiene treatment (scale and polish) at Seapoint in February and at that stage they also took an X-ray of my mouth. At this point, one of the dentists raised the fact that it would be easy to fix the cross-over in my front teeth. I had always been told it was a nice 'character' to my teeth but when flagged by a dentist, I felt that my little character might need a little adjustment.

To be honest, I had never really thought anything was really 'wrong' with the cross-over but I had noticed that there was more obvious staining on those teeth than the others in my front smile line. I decided to speak with one of our Orthodontists as I wanted to know my options- I just wanted a simple cosmetic change- but one that would allow me to eat and speak as normal (in so far as possible!) and get about my daily tasks as normal.

Even though my little crossover seems very minor- and it is- it actually turned out that both of my premolars on my lower jaw were twisted at the root, which means my lower teeth, which look very straight to me an everyone else, will actually be the harder part of my smile to fix in the long run! And for this reason, in my particular case, Invisalign (invisible braces) isn't an option, so I opted for Six Month Braces. Six Braces is a low force Ortho technique which gently moves the teeth into a more cosmetic position and they are available in clear or metal colourings.

The problem with crooked or mal-positioned teeth is that they are harder to keep clean and, as we get older, our oral health becomes even more important. Poor oral health is linked to gum disease, which is in turn a major factor in tooth loss. Gum disease has also been linked to heart disease and stroke.

Taking everything into account- especially the prospect of tooth loss!- I sat in Dr. Altona Myer's chair and had my braces fitted last Wednesday. No pain, no injections, nothing scary at all. There is a strange sensation immediately after they are placed, which I would say is kind of akin to getting a new filling. Your mouth feels brand new and your lips feel a little funny.

It's been 5 days since I got my braces and I can eat most foods, although my mouth does still feel a little different, there is no element of pain or no difficulty in speaking at all. I am still aware there is something new in my mouth but even after a few days, that's just getting more and more normal.

If you have just had your braces fitted and are having difficulty in the transitional period, I would definitely recommend to use the Ortho wax or the Braceeze, to prevent any little mouth ulcers while your teeth are readjusting.

Overall so far, so good. I am really excited to see the end result and will be keeping record of my progress as I go through my treatment.

Week 1 almost over and I can eat chocolate.