Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi All,

Was wondering if any of you had some thoughts or experiences you could share with regard to getting braces and any dental difficulties you've had during/following braces treatment. Currently I'm a year removed from college and have dental insurance that will cover my braces, but given my dental history and what I feel to be pretty weak teeth/sesame luck at the dentist, I'm a little nervous about potentially getting braces. Fortunately, it's just some minor crowding on the bottom 4 front teeth, but my dentist said I was a candidate and that a lot of people in their adult yrs are now getting braces (my parents didn't feel it was worth the money at the time lol). I was talking with a close friend of mine who had braces for the better part of our college years and she said had to have a ton of work done after her braces were taken off, presumably from not being able to take care of her teeth as well as she otherwise would have. She felt in her opinion the improvement I would see in my bite wouldn't be worth any collateral dental work I might need after. Someone else suggested invisilign since you can remove the trays while you do your normal oral hygiene routine, so I suppose that's an option. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

J

You need to commit to extreme dental hygiene with braces, otherwise you are going to have problems with decay and gum disease. That means brushing after every meal and snack, using a water pick to flush out what brushing misses, and floss (note: I never flossed, but instead dipped a Christmas tree brush in Listerine and work that in between my teeth. For more details see the thread "Confess Your Orthodontic Sins.") I had zero problems that could be linked to braces. In fact, I think I was able to correct some functional issues that helped me maintain a high level of oral hygiene following the braces. Also, unless your friend is a dentist, I wouldn't pay a lot of attention to her assessment of your situation. Best of luck to you.

Braces themselves don't cause dental issues. The problem is cleaning. It sounds like your friend did not properly clean her teeth while she had braces on and that's probably what caused her issues.

If you can commit to enhanced dental hygiene while you have braces on then I doubt you'd have a problem. Invisalign might be a good option though if you're really worried about being able to clean properly.

It all comes down to your starting point before braces. Have you been checked for any cavities, loose fillings, gum disease, etc,? Once your Dentist declares your teeth and gums healthy enough for braces, it’s all about brushing and especially flossing daily. Several times a day if necessary. If you start with a good dental hygiene approach and keep it up, you should be fine. And with that in mind, unless your Orthodontist suggests Invisalign, keeping teeth and gums clean with traditional metal brackets, bands, wires, rubber bands, ligs, etc., isn’t nearly as daunting as it seems at first. You get used to it and it all becomes part of your routine. But you HAVE TO BE committed to the additional time spent and early frustration. But again, it’s absolutely doable and becomes routine.