Operation Braceface: Day One

I’ve always wanted braces.

Ever since my adult teeth grew in, awkwardly filling the gap that my baby teeth had long since vacated, I remember thinking how much I wished we could afford to send me to an orthodontist. My family could barely afford school clothes and Christmas presents, though, much less thousands of dollars of orthodontic work.

But my third grade teacher, Mrs. Wallace, was in her mid-fifties and got her braces off over Christmas break the year I was in her class. That made a huge impression on eight-year-old Diana: I realized that I could get my teeth fixed whenever I wanted — even as a grown-up!

Fast-forward almost thirty years, and here I am. Today was the day.

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