Braces

[xTrishaxLynnx]

I feel your pain, Claire!

 

I had actual braces for over 5 years total, but I started my orthodontic journey at age 9 with a head gear and lip bumper. Got first set of braces taken off in time for high school, but had to have them put back on thanks to the orthodontist's stupid plastic retainers that broke too easily. [It would then take a week or more to get in to have a new one made, and my teeth would shift - this happened at least 3 times] The second time I had  braces, they never got my teeth as straight as they were after the first time. And now it's even worse... I should've made him do everything he could to get them right again the 2nd time and then had a permanent retainer on the top like I do on the bottom. So, the lessons are - 1. Don't let them try experimental stuff on your teeth unless they are willing to do [free of charge] everything in their power to fix any issues it might cause and 2. You should probably wear your retainer at night pretty much forever.

 

Also, funny story: My tongue is apparently too long, and as a result pushes against the back of my teeth. To help me train it not to do this, my orthodontist fashioned some nice, sharp cement spikes onto the back of my two front, bottom teeth so that my tongue would get speared every time it went to rest itself behind there. It wasn't so great at the time, but it's rather hilarious looking back... :hehe2:

 

Another somewhat funny story, which absolutely smelled of elderberries at the time: I had to have a wire hook for elastics right at the front of my mouth on my lower teeth, and one time I hit myself in the face, or somehow hit my face off of something - I forget the exact details thanks to the mind-numbingly excruciating pain that followed - and the wire hook went nearly straight through my lower lip, right about where a lip piercing would go. That wasn't the most painful part, though; I had to then find a way to remove my lip from the hook.

Edited March 27, 2013 by xTrishaxLynnx

[elizabeth09]

You probably won't lose a bracket. Even if you did it'd still be attached to the wire. (I did pop rubber bands once or twice, but never had a bracket come loose). The wax won't hurt you if you swallow it, but it's pretty useless since it falls off so quickly, You really have to work it to make it warmer and more pliable and then try and dry off the bracket as best as you can before applying the wax. Pain in the patooty. I had braces for almost 4 years.

 

Never lost a bracket that I could remember, but had moved the wire more then once.  Trust me on this one, it pokes your month out like there is no to sleep.

 

It smells of elderberries. It will always hurt. It is just that you get used to it.

I had braces for years. Many years. Six or seven, I think. Maybe more They always hurt. The inside of my mouth was always cut.

 

I stopped using the wax. It was useless and I just kept swallowing it. It would feel nice for about half an hour, then it would fall off.

 

You will not lose the wire itself, unless somehow every single bracket simultaneously got released. It is not easy even to release a single one, so this simply will not happen. Although it may happen now and again that the entire wire will 'slide' to one side or the other, poke out on one end, and cause you no end of frustration and pain. Avoid sticky foods for that reason. It takes the dentist all of about five seconds to fix it, but it is difficult at best to do on your own.

 

I am very sorry you have to go through this. It is not fun.

 

Yea, I hated that wax stuff.  I was happy when I did not had to use it.  IN fact, I was even happy when it was out of my sight.

 

I've had my braces off for about 8 years now, and this thread brought back all those old painful memories.

 

My best advice is to avoid the foods they tell you to avoid, wear the rubber bands/headgear they tell you to wear how they tell you to wear them, and you'll be getting them off as soon as possible. If you're a big gum chewer, like I was, you can go for those sugar free gums, like Trident, without too much difficulty, but you should probably cut back.

 

Good luck.

 

I also had them off for about 8 years, as well, out of braces.  The painful memories, I rather forget about them forever.

 

Braces smell of elderberries.  I had them for 2 years and couldn't wait to get them off.  And don't worry about the brackets falling off.  They are cemented to your teeth.  Take plenty of Tylenol.  You'll get used to the pain soon enough.  At least, I did.  The only time it hurt worse was when they adjust them every 6 weeks.

 

Mine did not smell of elderberries, they just hurt a lot.  When ever they adjusted them.  I had them for over 4 years.  I could not wait for them to get off.  Man, I was jumping for joy when they took them off.

[let_go_let_God]

As someone who would forget about food lists and would break off brackets, unless you have a way to undo the rubber bands that keep the wire in place, there's no way that you are going to swallow a bracket.

 

God bless,

LGLG 

[elizabeth09]

Agree.  Just be careful when you are chewing. :spike:

 

Don`t want to break the wires.  The place that I want to just charge a flat fee.  There are no charges after that. :winner:  

[Mary+Immaculate<3]

FCC--
I have braces right now, and have had elastics in. Once I forgot to take them out before eating a cracker and swallowed it, but I was fine. Also, I don't use wax anymore, since it usually falls out. You won't get it stuck in you stomach for 7 years or anything, and not, I don't think you can swallow a bracket unless you were really *trying* to. I just thank the Lord that I can have braces when people from other countries can't afford them because of their incomes, they do t have any near them, or they have socialized medicine and braces are considered an optional medical treatment. My pastor also has them, because his dentist said his teeth would become painful as he gets older. It is hard, I know, especially when they cause you to get sores in your mouth. God gave you them for a reason though.
To make it better, here's a braces emote:
:-)#)

[ContemporaryCaflicCrusader]

 Wire disconnected from back tooth today, orthodontist has been scheduled for tommorow for weeks.  Tooth extraction Thursday.  

[ContemporaryCaflicCrusader]

Tooth extraction has happened and a follow up is coming.  .