After two years of imprisonment, my teeth were recently freed from their braces jail.

I was the first one in my third grade class who got braces, and I was also the first person to get them off in the fourth grade.

Unfortunately, my braces journey was not over as Dr. Charles Smaha, my orthodontist, told me I would need my braces again in two, or three years.

The next three years were busily filled with moving to a new school and learning to adjust to the huge amount of homework at Stratford.

But eventually in seventh grade, I got my braces on again. Ever since the start of my braces sentence, I have imagined what life would be like if my teeth were braceless.

These dreams were filled with walking around smiling with my perfect, white teeth.

After around 15 months with braces, on January 14, 2021, my orthodontist took off my metal prison, but my face was still covered due to my mask.

After my braces were off, I still looked exactly the same to everybody because of the mask. But I felt incredible.

When I went back to school the next day, not everybody knew I had gotten my braces off, but the people who I had told asked me to show them my teeth. 

I complied and took my mask off. They all told me my teeth looked great, which was nice to hear.

After the initial rush of sadness that nobody could see how my teeth looked without brace wore off, I began feeling grateful for the masks.

Although my teeth did look beautiful without their metal prison, they would look better with some whitening strips, which I’m waiting a few weeks to do. 

The mask prevented anyone from really looking at my teeth and seeing how they could have been whiter. 

If I had a choice, I would make masks a non-necessity.

Although, when people no longer need to wear masks, getting my braces off will feel like a bigger accomplishment.

Considering only around a quarter of the people in my grade saw my new braces-less teeth, it will be surprising for others to see me with my braces off.