Gavin Finally Got His Braces Off!

After 3 and half years (and two extra months), I finally got my braces off. This is one of the happiest days of my life.

My teeth were bad. They were really bad. If I were in a rap battle, that would be the first thing some suckah emcee would attack about me. My teeth could only be described as "wrecked." They were misaligned, spaces everywhere, and I had an overbite that would make a Simpsons character reassess their dental health. It wasn't a good time. If you don't believe me, check out this picture from my original consultation back in 2012.

It's not a pretty sight, and I understood that. Unfortunately, I was teased most of my life for something that I couldn't control. My family couldn't afford to get me braces when I was a kid so there were a lot of self-esteem issues. The biggest blow to my self-esteem was after a girl told me she couldn't date me because my teeth bothered her. That sucked to hear.  Thankfully, when I graduated college, I was finally able to treat myself (which is a weird way to describe it) to some braces. So, in 2012, I visited Dr. Randall Brown and he got me set up with some braces.

There were several times that I questioned what this guy was doing. At my most teeth-correcty, I was wearing rubber bands, springs, and had 3 teeth extracted. He kept reassuring me that everything was going to look great in the end. Back in November, I was finally supposed to get them off but one molar decided to be a douchebag and I had to correct it. It was disappointing, but I trusted him. Today, when I finally got them off, I started tearing up because of how much it meant to me and how I'd never have to worry about someone judging my teeth again. And don't get me wrong, I didn't get braces because of the haters or whatever. As it turns out, they are gonna hate no matter what. I did it for me because I wanted to be confident in my interactions with other people. Also, Dr. Brown might be wizard because he did an amazing job with the difficult case that I was.

Thanks for reading my story and, without further ado, here is the finished product of wondering "Is this worth it?"

I think the picture absolutely says "Worth it... Every step of the way."