I need advice on braces

[BonsaiK]

Hello kind, intelligent and handsome folk who come to this thread (All of you). In a little while I am about to go into Manly to get braces fitted. Is there anything I should know, things to avoid, benefits of braces?

Braces are awesome. Reasons:

* Great conversation starter
* You can milk that "awkward guy with braces" thing
* A good excuse not to eat any food you don't want to eat
* Once they're off, your teeth will look amazing

Things to avoid:

* Fistfights
* Hard candies
* Sticky foods

Things you should know:

* Brush your goddamn teeth
* Follow instructions the dentist tells you

 

[KittyKibitzer]

Nothing worse than having apple skin stuck under the wire and not being able to get it out, looks gross.

Braces are no big deal really, teeth look nice when its all over

It can be a tad uncomfortable when they're tightened but other than that.

 

[Lavi]

Unless your teeth are actually bad, don't do it. It is a pain in the fucking ass and I've seen people with fairly straight teeth go through the shit. They tried to give me braces for my eye teeth being slightly forward and are still suggesting it except now for a stupid molar I don't use that is totally sideways. Do I need them, then? NO. Especially since my eye teeth look fang-ish and it is awesome.

On the flip side, my friend had teeth pointing every which way. She definitely needed braces.

In short, don't need em, seriously don't get em.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Watch what you eat, and make sure if you grow that the orthodontist cares. After I was fitted for a retainer, I grew a foot and a half, and my orthodontist thought I didn't need a new retainer because I fit so long ago. So now I have one maligned tooth on my lower jaw, because of the orthodontist's inaction.

 

[Actual]

If they tell you to wear a retainer after. Wear the damn thing. I ignored them and my teeth reverted to their original placing, making the whole annoying year useless.

Get used to eating big meals, then brushing your teeth and not snacking until your next meal. If you eat and don't brush you will have lumps of food trapped in your braces, this is unpleasant. I stopped eating completely while at school as I couldn't brush my teeth there.

As others have said, don't get into any fights. Even a weak punch to the mouth will fuck up the insides of your lips.

Over all it's not too bad, but you will want to carry pain pills with you especially after a tightening as it will start to ache, it's really annoying.

Before you start, be sure you actually need them. The dentist will always say that you do, as it's money for them. Decide for yourself if your teeth need it.

 

[wasalp]

Hello kind, intelligent and handsome folk who come to this thread (All of you). In a little while I am about to go into Manly to get braces fitted. Is there anything I should know, things to avoid, benefits of braces?

you should really ask for wax if he dosent give it to you. It is a life saver.

 

[scoHish]

They'll suck for a few weeks until your gums and lips toughen up. Then you won't even notice they're there for the most part.

 

[obex]

Mate i had braces for 4 years the day i got them off i went down to the green grocers and got a big bag of apples.

yeh what other people said avoid sticky stuff or things that will require you to use your incisors allot (ie uncut apples).

When your first have them on its gonna be soup for a day or two as they will hurt allot but after that its not too bad

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Hello kind, intelligent and handsome folk who come to this thread (All of you). In a little while I am about to go into Manly to get braces fitted. Is there anything I should know, things to avoid, benefits of braces?

I need but no have. Also because i'm awesome. Brace yourself for them

Yellow flagged for terrible pun.

On topic: Welcome to a few years of hell. They tell you it's only going to last a year; 4-years later they're still putting in stiffer and stiffer wires. You become unattractive to women, you can't eat some foods, and everytime you get them adjusted you go through half a bottle of Tylenol.

And, yeah, I got braces before.

 

[Zacharine]

Depends on the type of braces and if your jawbone needs widening or not.

Mine needed. For 6 months, twice a day, every day, I turned a little infernal piece of machinery in the roof of my mouth. Each turn widened the space between four teeth in my upper jawbone by 0.25 millimeters. For a time, before the bone pushed the gap closer... Naturally, continued expansion did have an effect and now I have a straight line of sparkling teeth.

The pain was... exquisite. All those nerves running into teeth and all over your jaws aren't exactly the insensitive kind. I got a serious pain-med addiction during that time. Took a few weeks to kick it off once that device was gone and the bracers in place.

The braces.... After that, it wasn't much of a problem, 5 years go by pretty fast. You simply learn to dislike toffee and sticky gum and anything with small seeds. And really, properly and troughoutly to brush your teeth twice to four times a day.

But really, prepare for the worst week of your life to come. After that, it gets progressively easier. A few months later, you won't even care. And after it's over and see the fixed rows of teeth, you'll know it was worth it.

 

[UnravThreads]

I've had "two" sets. One (had this style twice) is removable and is like the one SakSak described. It's certainly the lesser evil of the two but you do talk incredibly funny for a while and it can be a pain in the arse to start with. Bread is really fun with it because it gets stuck in the top

The other is the fixed, which I had for about a year. It's hell at first, but you sort of get used to it. It cuts the inside of your mouth, you catch your tongue on it sometimes and you just *have* to play with it. Fortunately mine never broke but each time it was tightened it hurt like hell. I happily drank fizzy drinks with it But my tip with it is to get one of those specialist brushes. I've actually got strange grooves in my teeth (I think) from where things got missed etc. They don't cause any issues, but they're not exactly good.

Never really wore the retainer, though. It made me feel ill and when I woke up in the morning it was horrible. My teeth have reset to some degree but they're not as bad as they were. I think.

All I can advise, really, is that you listen to your orthodontist (unlike me). At the end of the day, he (or she) knows better than you do. But if you have *any* problems you go straight to them.

 

[Chamale]

I have a soft tissue disorder, which made the braces far more painful than for most people. After an adjustment, I'd be unable to speak for days and I'd sometimes black out from the pain. Now I haven't had braces for months, but I'm still in constant pain because of the adjustment to my mouth.

So yeah, good luck buddy.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

There is nothing too bad about them. Don't eat hard foods like apples. Also don't think that because you cut them into small pieces makes them safe. I cut up an apple into small pieces and it got logged between my gums and the brace and it just snapped the metal.

When you get them put in or tightened it will probably hurt for a few days. You get used to it, just eat soup with bread, ice cream and rice pudding for the first few days, or baby food. Also when brushing for the first few days it will hurt so do it lightly and use mouth wash and the small wire toothbrushes.

 

[RoboPenguin]

Just because you can't swallow your food for the first day of having them, doesn't mean you will never be able to swallow again. Don't panic.

Also, never eat frozen peanuts. Or anything else really hard and small enough to lodge themselves under the wire yet large enough to snap said wire when you try to get it out.

Not eating gum is a myth. It can be done, just don't use bubble or sugared gum. It's the sugar that makes it a sticky mess. No popcorn is also a myth. You can eat it, just be prepared to spend the next few hours finding the corn husks in hard to reach spaces.

At least once in your life go for the glow-in-the-dark braces bands. You only have braces once, enjoy the glow while you can.

Never choose the banana, cherry or chocolate flavor foam-molding-stuff they use. Ever! It's bad enough with the mold itself gagging you, don't make the foam a terrible flavor.

Brush your teeth 3 times a day! Braces + cavities = pain. lots of pain. Not to mention if your teeth get yellow with braces on you'll have little white squares when the braces come off.

MOST IMPORTANT! Always make sure they trim the back of the wire nice and snug. It can (and many times will) get stuck in your cheek. If this happens, pull BACKWARDS and out.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

NO JOLLY RANCHERS!

They will destroy your braces. Otherwise, it's hard to eat for the first few days, then you should be a-okay

 

[Tethalaki]

On a similar note, do you guys think 17 is too old to be getting braces?

Hehe.

I'm 17 and getting bracers. I'm going to try to make the most of it though; as I'm starting Uni (in about a week) doing an IT degree so I'm trying to get the full nerd look going .

 

[Agayek]

They're pieces of metal that make your teeth strait bro. That's about all there is to it.

Basically this.

Count yourself lucky you don't need surgery to fix your bite. Six weeks of eating through a straw is not fun.


Also, remember to brush your teeth like a madman at every opportunity. Cavities are fun.

 

[Agayek]

On a similar note, do you guys think 17 is too old to be getting braces?

I'm 21 and still have braces (had them off and on since I was 12).

Had surgery last summer to fix my bite and am gonna get my braces off for the last time in another 6 months or so.

 

[iml337rofl]

when you eat bread it gets stuck EVERYWHERE!

 

[DarkLordofDevon]

I had them for a few years, and to be honest it's not that uncommon anymore. I knew quite a few kids who had braces. Yes, there is sticking metal to your teeth, but you get to choose the colours of the bands if you're a good boy/girl. I personally didn't see much point in wearing them myself because my teeth weren't too bad, but I won't say it is a bad thing. Straight teeth are probably pretty good if you actually care about your appearance.

As everyone has already said - some drinks, gum, apples blah blah blah. But it will probably be worth it in the end.