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what are your experience with dental braces?

S

Semidevil

Diamond Member
I'm 25, male, and have crappy teeth. It's clean and free of diseases,, but just not straight.

Im' considering getting braces. I know that this is a 2 to 3 year commitment, and I will go through times of changing rubber bands often, visiting the ortho often, wearing retainers often, and have noticeable metal in my mouth.

Can someone tell me what the procedure is like, and how the pain is?

I'm assuming that you have to go there at least once a month for them to tighten the braces. How is that in terms of pain? Do they give something to you to ease the pain, or do you just have to endure it? If so, Is it very painful?

What about eating? Is it going to be hard to chew meat, eat burgers, etc etc? Did it change your diet drastically because you were not able to chew?
 
Originally posted by: Semidevil
I'm 25, male, and have crappy teeth. It's clean and free of diseases,, but just not straight.

Im' considering getting braces. I know that this is a 2 to 3 year commitment, and I will go through times of changing rubber bands often, visiting the ortho often, wearing retainers often, and have noticeable metal in my mouth.

Can someone tell me what the procedure is like, and how the pain is?

I'm assuming that you have to go there at least once a month for them to tighten the braces. How is that in terms of pain? Do they give something to you to ease the pain, or do you just have to endure it? If so, Is it very painful?

What about eating? Is it going to be hard to chew meat, eat burgers, etc etc? Did it change your diet drastically because you were not able to chew?
Click to expand...

It all depends on your pain tolerance. The only thing I stopped eating were large tortilla chips and hard taco shells. Will probably hurt more as the older you are the more set in place your teeth get. You could try invislign or some other alternate technique if your teeth arent too jacked.

I am eventually going to get my top front six rebraced since I never wore my retainer and a couple of teeth shifted.
 
Should only take 18- months.

Get clear brackets.

pain is more of a dull throbbing and only lasts a few days at a time. No meds, you will cope just fine.



 
THEY SUCK! I hate them. I still have them on, over three years now. 🙁

Depending on how hard they tighten the bastards, you will be eating anything from soft-icecream to rocks. My dentist tightened them so hard that I could only eat really, really soft stuff. (Like licking to eat.. Dairy Queen ice cream) You will cry when they tighten and you try to eat anything. The pain is intolerable and is unreal. You will cry, you will want to die... You will probably even lose weight.

Go for it. >_>
 
Oh braces. The bane of my existence all throughout high school. I had them a bit longer than average at slightly over 4 years. The pain was was only bad after I got them tightened, or changed wires, stuff like that. You *shouldn't* eat certain things like carmel, gum, popcorn, etcetera. I never did and I never had any problems. I do know quite a few people that were stupid about it and had to go in to the orthodontist pretty often to get broken stuff fixed. If nothing else, think of it this way: It's expensive as hell and you don't need anything coming up that's going to add to the bill.
 
There wasn't any sharp pain that I remember, but your teeth can be really sore for a few days after tightening. I think I had braces for 2.5 years and they were tightened every couple of months. For me, eating any hard or chewy foods was difficult for a few days and then I would have a giant meal of whatever I was craving at the end of the week.

Oh wait, there was some irritation on the inside of my cheeks from the rubber band things but they gave me some wax or something to deal with that.

Edit: It's expensive and annoying while you have them but you'll be happy you did it afterwords. In my opinion, the only thing that would keep me from saying yes (if I needed braces again) would be the money.
 
I almost forgot about the wax. Sometimes they orthodontist will cut the wires too long or something and it'll annoy the shit out of you. Save the wax they give you early on and use it when you really need it.
 
i just got my braces off 6 months ago after having them for 3 years.

1) there's really not much pain as long as the brackets come off easily.

2) as long as you're in the area, yeah you'll probably get the wires adjusted every 1-2 months.
this helps things move along faster though. the more you see your orthodontist, the better 🙂

3) tightening braces is not a problem - it hurts a little. the day after, it'll hurt a lot more.
nothing a little ibuprofein can't handle though, so don't worry.

4) i didn't eat differently at all (i just avoided gum, not that i chew it much in the first place).
you *will* get food stuck in your teeth a lot though.

5) my retainers are just molded polycarbonate (same stuff as invisalign). none of the old school metal/plastic deals.

6) i never really had any problems with the wires being too long.

7) the rubber bands are really no big deal. once they go on, things might hurt a bit though. ibuprofein again 😛

feel free to ask more questions in this thread or through PM
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
4) i didn't eat differently at all (i just avoided gum, not that i chew it much in the first place).
you *will* get food stuck in your teeth a lot though.
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This is true. Most orthodontists that I've seen have these small, thin wire brushes that go between the wires and brackets. You'll definitely want to get some of them.

 
Originally posted by: Xanis
I almost forgot about the wax. Sometimes they orthodontist will cut the wires too long or something and it'll annoy the shit out of you. Save the wax they give you early on and use it when you really need it.
Click to expand...

You can ask for more or buy it at any drugstore like Longs, Walgreens or CVS.

If you do not want to deal with brakcets and wires you can always go with the Invisalign.

 
I had them in high school, but could use them or something else to fix a small gap that I have now. This is my fault though cause I didn't wear the retainer like I should. I'm thinking about getting Invisalign to fix that.

I actually had more problems with the retainer than braces. I had trouble talking and sleeping with the retainer. The braces hurt at first, but you quickly get used to them. They tightened them every month and it was sore for a day or two after. My eating habits didn't change much. I avoided stuff like gum, and nuts. But that was really it.

You don't get anything for pain. They told me to take some Advil if I need to, and that was it. The only time I got anything for pain was when they removed two of my teeth. They had to remove two of my teeth to make room for everything.

I think I had them for about 2 years (was supposed to be 18 months). Like a few others have said save the wax you will need it. You can buy the wax at a drug store as well if you run out and need it.
 
Similar to what others mention: Dull pain and maybe some bad headaches for a few days after each adjustment. I also have a chronic problem with ulcers in my mouth - the slightest abrasion or injury will result in an open sore that lasts for about two weeks. For the duration of the time that I had braces, I essentially had two very large ulcers in my mouth, since I had braces on both the top and bottom. Eating was rater unpleasant and painful.

 
Originally posted by: Xanis
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
4) i didn't eat differently at all (i just avoided gum, not that i chew it much in the first place).
you *will* get food stuck in your teeth a lot though.
Click to expand...

This is true. Most orthodontists that I've seen have these small, thin wire brushes that go between the wires and brackets. You'll definitely want to get some of them.
Click to expand...

i never used those at all. i did brush like an obsessive freak though. still do 😛
 
I'm 25, just had my braces off last month 2 weeks before christmas. Had them one for 2 years and I love my teeth now. I had dentist visits every month and a half and there was generally only pain for a day or two after visits. Aside from your modified, the worse thing was how it cut up the inside of your mouth. Don't skimp on the wax they give you and the rubber bands are a pain to take off before eating and putting on after as well. Oh, and forgetting and realizing you ate them also sucks.

Aside from that, I'm really glad I did it. I think it cost me ~5200 for regular braces. currently wearing retainers all day aside from eating with visits every 3 months for another year.
 
Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Go Invisalign
Click to expand...

This. A friend of mine just got them and they're unnoticeable. ALthough she talks with a slight lisp now which is kind of hilarious
 
Invisalign can't correct many of the things traditional wire braces can. They are generally used for minor problems.
 
I had mine for 6 years... Didn't really care too much though, as I ate everything and anything when I had them on. I wore them to mainly correct an underbite, so it didn't hurt as much as other people said.
 
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces.
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces.
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces.
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces.
Dental plan!
Lisa needs braces.
 
I personally could not handle it. There's lot of stuff you can't eat. Anything hard like nuts you can't eat, probably same goes for hard chocolate, chips are probably ok as they break with little force. Then the food gets stuck all over and it's hard to brush and gets disgusting. Then you're stuck with a retainer for life. My mom went through it, she had them for about 2 years. I could slightly use braces on my bottom front but they're not that bad so I'm leaving them. My top teeth are super straight so I'm lucky for that.

 
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