Help in finding the right verb?

Hi. I'm SOOOO sorry to bother, but may I receive advice on this little piece I'm writing? I can't find the right verb for this sentence: She explained to me that just the day before, she went to the orthodontist to get(????) braces.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what word I can use instead of "get"?

 

Receive, acquire, only two I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Thank you!!!!

 

why are you so desperate for a diff verb?...it works fine

 

Because I want this story I'm writing to be written perfectly. Last time I got my story proof read, the person scratched off the word "did" for "completed" and it made the story flow better and it just seemed more descriptive. =/

 

well...watch out...sometimes what you try to perfect is already perfect...

 

When you say 'get' braces, do you mean to be fitted for braces or to collect braces.
'Get' doesn't really make that clear, so perhaps you could clarify that:

...she went to the orthodontist to be fitted for braces.

... she went to the orthodontist to collect her braces. (or pick up her braces)

 

Obtain would be my choice. It may also be better form to replace went with had gone, and also insert a comma after that.

"She explained to me that, just the day before, she had gone to the orthodontist to obtain braces."

 

I don't see anything wrong with 'get'.

The suggestions just don't flow as well for me, personally. There's nothing wrong with using simple words.

 

There is nothing wrong with get, Sarah, and I don't think that anyone has suggested that there is.

However, there is nothing wrong with receive, acquire or obtain either. And they're hardly complex terms, are they?

 

Well Drew, I was only saying that in my opinion 'receive', 'acquire' or 'obtain' doesn't flow as well as 'get'.

But of course it's up to the OP.

 

I see evelon's point, though in my personal opinion 'get' seems perfectly fine, though you could easily take evelon's advice if you feel it helps the story flow better, I personally would use this, it seems, to me at least, to help the situation flow better.

 

... she went to the orthodontist to have her braces applied.

... installed? (sounds a bit industrial doesn't it?)

... attached?

 

this is double posted... see my reply in your other thread and ask a mod to get the two combined into one...

 

I think you should use get or "put on."

"She explained to me that just the day before, she went to the orthodontist to have her braces put on her teeth."

Or

"She explained to me that just the day before, she had braces put on her teeth at the orthodontist's office."


Just think about how people talk about their braces. We say we 'got' braces, or had them 'put on.' People never say, "I obtained/received/whatever braces." That would sound weird.

And as for the comment about "get" being a little vague. Just add in "on her teeth" and the problem is solved. "Yesterday she had braces put on her teeth."