The demented zebra triangle affair

At my most recent adjustment, I had the brackets on my upper premolars removed and repositioned to persuade them to continue derotating. I also got a powerchain on the uppers again, which is also supposed to help. The combination of the repositioned brackets, the stronger wire, and the powerchain made my mouth hurt like I went 10 rounds with Manny Pacquiao without a mouthguard. The worst part of the entire ordeal?  The little baggies of 3/16" elastics emblazoned with a demented-looking zebra.  I have to wear them in a triangle configuration to help close the open bite I developed on the right side of my mouth.

So, now I have about 1/8" inch of wire that needs to be trimmed because it's tearing the bejeebus out of my cheek (either my teeth are moving fast, or the ortho assistant jammed the wires into the molar tubes haphazardly).  Getting an emergency appointment at my ortho's office is, pardon the pun, like pulling teeth.  They only work at that particular location on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday mornings, and apparently were closed yesterday (or took an extremely long lunch break).

In the extremely unlikely event I have kids and they need braces, I will make sure they get them right away.  It's pretty demoralizing to be an adult wearing these things.  Everyone says, "Oh, I didn't even notice them!" but seriously, it's pretty hard to miss the huge, gleaming mass of metal inside my mouth.  The ceramic brackets on my upper teeth are supposed to be nigh-on invisible, but the wire sure isn't.  From the side, the ceramic brackets just look like I have hugely dirty, deformed teeth -- and yes, I have gotten weird looks from people because of this.  Overall, I'm glad my teeth will eventually be "nice", but I would have never done this voluntarily.