Im scared!
Today I found out that I am getting BRACES soon! My older brother got them recently, and he said it's major pain for the first six weeks!! SIX WEEKS!!! I dont want to get braces, but I gotta admit.. I kinda need em.
But still, SIX WEEKS!!! That's way too long for pain to last!!
And the Orthodontist in my area is SCARY too!
She has a MOLE on her face! AAAAA!!

Help,

DCWORDNERD1

You'll be fine. They'll make your teeth sore, but there's no pain or anything. The first week will be tough, because your teeth will ache in a dull way, and they'll feel weird and uncomfortable. Soft foods will be your friend. About three weeks, you'll start feeling more used to them, and eventually you'll get to the point where you won't notice them. I was afraid of it when I got them, too, but it's very easy. The hardest part is keep food crumbs and shit out of them.

They will be sore, but it's worth it in the end. I've got a nice set of chompers because of it. (Side note: I'm in a retainer now.) Don't fear it, though - it's not bad. You'll be all right. The biggest pain in the ass in the beginning are the readjustments. Those'll make your mouth sore too, and depending on what setup the orthodontist gives you (depends on the position of your teeth), it may hurt just a bit to have them tweak them. But it's nothing to be afraid of. Seriously, you'll get to the point where you won't even remember they're there.

Thanks for the info!

I used to be a dental assistant before I went to school for cosmetology...ask your orthodontist about Invisalign. It's removeable braces, and they're more or less invisible, and dentists/orthodontists SHOULD have different payment plans available for it.

Apparently it's less painful too, but I've never had braces so I'm just going by what I heard when I worked.

oh it's nothing! i had braces from the fifth grade up to 7th grade. honestly, you get used to them soon enough, and when they take them off, you'll feel weird without em and might lick ur teeth alot (like i did lol) they feel so smooth! i also had to wear a retainer (the easiest) afterwards up until this year. and before i got my braces, i had to wear a palette expander (which not everyone needs to wear, luckily. it's a pain in the ass, you have to turn a key a night to tighten it! i had a cross bite, meaning the top part of my mouth was narrower then the bottom. i only had it on for six months.)

good luck and don't worry!!!! just eat the right foods and brush ur teeth really good!!!!!!

I had braces when I was a freshman in highschool (I'm a senior now.). They hurt for the first couple days...your teeth just get sore from the braces, but I definitely not in pain for 6 weeks...the first few adjustments can be a little annoying, but it's not too bad. This is coming from the girl who had to go back to the ortho the day after she got her braces on because three brackets popped off within the first 5 minutes You'll be fine though The results make it alllll worth it in the end.

I'm 26 and I had to have full braces in 6th grade. My mouth was too small for my teeth. Boo. And that was before the InvisiLine stuff. They were pink...um, and yes they hurt when I had to go in to have them tightened. I think my ortho said I could take like 4 Advil at a time if I needed. I missed eating popcorn, Jolly-Ranchers, corn on the cob, and chewing gum worse than the pain though. I took really good care of my teeth though and when I got them off I didn't have any cavities. I still haven't had a cavity before. I got 'em off right before I went to high school which was nice. I had a guy for my ortho and he was nice but a bit arrogant. I also had to do these rubberband deals and wear a retainer for a while

Though I'm sure several orthodontists and dentists will say different things, I heard those weren't as effective as the standard bracket braces.




Sounds like my Mom. She's always had brackets popping off. She got hers about ten months after mine, and she, like me, had a tooth rooted in the palette. But hers needed a lot of work to move up, unlike mine. She was always popping off brackets because of the stretched wires in her mouth.




Lucky. As soon as I got them off, I had six small cavities I needed filled. Had never had a cavity before, but my luck ran out.

Oh, yes, the rubber bands - those things are more of an annoyance than anything. I liked shooting them off the walls.

Well I've seen first hand how they work and I've never heard any complaints. In fact, my boss (the dentist) even wore them to straighten his teeth.

In fact, the only way the results aren't the same is if the person doesn't follow the routine properly.

I had braces when I was 12-13 years old - I'm 48 now. Braces were a lot more painful back then. You had a metal band pounded on around each tooth with a bracket on the outside of each, then a wire that went around the outside of the teeth strapped onto each bracket by some really thin wire. Now I think they just glue the brackets directly to your teeth so you don't have the pain of the metal bands around the teeth. The rubber bands in the mouth didn't bother me too much. I thought it was cool to be able to shoot rubber bands out of my mouth at people. The headgear I didn't like much, though. But still, I feel like it was all well worth it to have a nice smile the rest of my life.

I have heaps of friends that have had braces and seriously after the first day i didnt even notice they had them!
Just think about how perfect your smile will be after you get them off

I had braces from the time I was 12 til I was 14. My brother had them, I think my cousin had them, and probably everybody in my school had them at one point or another. Yes, they hurt at first - your mouth will ache dully. When you go back (I had to go every month) for appointments, the readjustments will cause more aching. Take Tylenol or Advil if you need it and eat plenty of soft food. Like somebody else mentioned, I missed not being able to eat anything I wanted (popcorn, certain candy) or chew gum. The only time I had to go to the orthodontist with a broken bracket was when I had eaten a Butterfinger candy bar, which I knew I wasn't supposed to do. And yes, make sure you brush your teeth - around the brackets - really well.

My teeth were always pretty straight; my problem was a bad overbite. My ortho said if it had been just a little worse he would have had to break my jaw and reset it!! Just thinking about it makes me cringe!

Oh, I forgot to say - one great thing about my ortho was that when people were getting braces on or getting them off, we always got hot chocolate after he was done with everything. I know you're nervous/scared, but the end result of wearing braces is worth the hassle of an achy mouth and giving up certain candy and gum for awhile.

I had braces for a year and a half, and in my opinion, they aren't as bad as everyone says. Before I got mine on, all of my friends would moan and groan and complain about what torture they were put through each day, so I was incredibly afraid. But I got mine on and I was used to them within a week. The aching is dull but annoying, and yet it didn't really bug me. Make sure you have wax or something to minimize the scratching on your gums...I think that was the worst part for me. Also...I know this sounds obvious, but BRUSH YOUR TEETH WELL!!! There's nothing worse than finding a month old piece of spinach stuck in your braces!!!

Yes! I had forgotten about that...definitely have some wax in case you get some random wire poking your gums or the inside of your cheek or lip. That will rub a raw place. The wax helped a lot!

Yeah but the orthodontist in my area has a HUGE mole on her cheek..

EWWWWWW!!

It's not as bad as it seems!
I had to get braces when I was 13 and I had to wear them all through high school. 4 years of them!!!
It took about 3 hours to put them on which was a long time and it does hurt the first day or two. I'm not going to lie.
Then every month I had to go get them tightened. It's kind of alright because you can choose different coloured elastics to wear. I always just stuck with plain grey. Nowadays there are the clear braces. I wish they had those when I had mine.
Anywho, after the tightening, yes it will hurt again for a day or two but then it goes away.
Remember to brush everytime you eat because things like bread especially do get stuck.
After it's time to get them off, which only takes like 20 minutes, you will most likely get fitted for a retainer.
I'm sure you had to have that wonderful goop in your mouth to take an impression of it. Well, they do that all over again! Lovely stuff, isn't it?
Hopefullu you won't be like me and have them on for 4 years.
You'll be ok and the end result is worth it!!!