Hi there! Thank you so much for your question! I can relate to this SO much! I was meant to have braces for 4 years and it ended up being 7 :-( ! My orthodontist kept extending the date I was getting them off, which let to a lot of tears and angst! It is absolutely normal for braces to bring down your self-confidence. I was SO self conscious with braces. I wanted to post pictures of me with braces onto the blog but i couldn’t find 1 photo, because I would never smile with my teeth during the whole 7 years I had my braces! I also thought I looked bad with braces and tried to talk without showing them. However I reminded myself that it’s better to have braces for a few years when you’re younger and have a beautiful smile for the rest of your life, then to be conscious your whole life with wonky teeth.  My friends who ended up not getting braces because they thought they’d be too self-conscious, are regretting it now as there teeth have worsened and they’ll have to have braces in their 20s as an adult. Hope this helps, and I can massively relate to you! Hope it all goes well, and don’t let them bring you down as you’ll get them off soon and have a beautiful smile at the end of it. After 7 years and getting my braces off I have never looked back and so glad i stuck with it and never gave up!! I love to smile now and I am always beaming. Also about other people getting your braces off before you- I was the only one in my year at school who had braces and the last to get them off. But once I got them off I appreciated straight teeth and will never take being confident to smile for granted! Good luck with your braces journey! If you have any other questions along the way I’d love to help and share my experiences with you- I know how hard it is! Rosie, bracesblog xxx