what did you wish you had known prior to bracing?

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#1 Post by **tacoma braced** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:28 pm

I wish I had known that that braces do pop off by themselves and it wasn't anything I did or ate,
Also wish I knew how to check the braces to see if they popped off
Also wish I knew that every day my teeth, and bite would feel different.
And most importantly
I wished I knew my ortho wasn't in the office on the first Tuesday of the month. What a wasted appointment.. I have to go back tomorrow to fix a few things the staff couldn't do when he isn't there..

#2 Post by **tingrin in OR** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:51 pm

I wish I knew how differently it would be to talk. Since braced I can tell that I'm not speaking clearly, I'm normally a fast talker and have had to slow down to keep from having to repeat myself. I'm sure people on the other end of the phone are thinking that I'm talking with my mouth full, which is part way true!
Also, I had no clue that I could become obsessed with chocolate covered caramel apples from Disneyland. It isn't even like I had them all that often, maybe once every 3 years or so and now, I'm obsessed with not being able to have one- I don't have a Disney trip planned, so I wasn't going to get one anyway, so not sure what the obsession is about!

#3 Post by **Andromeda** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:22 pm

Well I just got my braces off today and you know what, I wish I knew how painful the ceramic ones are to remove! It was baddddd - felt like my teeth were being twisted out and then they kept breaking so the ortho had to use the sander drill to drill the rest of the bracket off and it took forever. The metal ones were a piece of cake! A lot of people noticed I had braces (new people I'd meet would comment, never anything bad to say but still, they definitely noticed...) so it wasn't really worth it to have the ceramics in terms of aesthetics...

#4 Post by **acd** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:34 pm

I wish I had known how easy it would be to live with braces and how little they actually hurt (except spacers--they were from Hell). I wish I had known how little other people cared that I had braces so I could have skipped the upper ceramic brackets (at an additional $300 and having five come off over the course of treatment) and gone with metal brackets that actually stayed on my teeth ad sped up treatment time. I wish I had know how difficult it was to talk with retainers (removable upper and lower Hawleys).

Mainly I wish I had know how easy it was to deal with braces as an adult and would have gotten them years earlier than I did!

#5 Post by **Briggsy** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 5:46 am

Andromeda wrote:Well I just got my braces off today and you know what, I wish I knew how painful the ceramic ones are to remove! It was baddddd - felt like my teeth were being twisted out and then they kept breaking so the ortho had to use the sander drill to drill the rest of the bracket off and it took forever. The metal ones were a piece of cake! A lot of people noticed I had braces (new people I'd meet would comment, never anything bad to say but still, they definitely noticed...) so it wasn't really worth it to have the ceramics in terms of aesthetics...

Now I'm scared.... I have ceramics..... eeeeekkkk...

#6 Post by **magster** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 8:55 am

I wish I knew that my last meal of everything I love needed to be eaten before spacers because I did not know those were going to hurt and after spacers well it just hasnt been the same.

oh and that random teeth start to hurt at random times out of nowhere.. yup annoying..

#7 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:12 am

Aww sorry to scare you briggsy! It was not pleasant getting them taken off but I have come away from it ok. Still got the same end result, just with a *bit* more pain at the end

Anyway, it was still worth it (of course) to have had the braces whether it be ceramics or metal but at the beginning I was so embarrassed to have the braces and wanted invisilign but was told no it wouldnt work for my case, then wanted linguals but was also told no, so went with the ceramics. But as I said, most people noticed right away that I had braces so it wasn't like the ceramics actually hid anything for me. I'm just glad to finally be out of the braces, haha.

#8 Post by **jxds** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:25 am

I wish I knew that nobody would really care, that I wouldn't look horrible, that keeping everything clean would be so hard, that after braces, elastics would follow and they'd be difficult to get used to, that flossing would be a pain, that my teeth would align so fast, that the molar buildups would make chewing impossible, that after the first couple of months I would eat almost anything... there are many things I wish I knew!

#9 Post by **opera^gal** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:03 am

I wish I had known that for several weeks after being banded, that shrapnel made of excess cement/bonding material would make flossing a painful nightmare until it all worked its way out of the cracks/crevices. I also wish I had known that some teeth are just stubborn about moving, whether based on dense bone or just being mule-ish!

#10 Post by **Takako** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 4:38 pm

I wish I had know everything about the pre-braces stuff... like I'd never even heard of "spacers" before!

#11 Post by **rolo** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:26 am

I wish I had known that linguals existed years ago, and how comfortable incognito / Ibraces brackets were, and also that they could put temporary teeth into the gap created by an impacted canine and missing lateral inscisor. I would definitely have sorted my teeth sooner

#12 Post by **danish** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:10 am

I wish I had known that I wouldn't date for 20 months and not go out so much due to being extremely self-conscious from wearing the braces. However, I have no regrets about undergoing treatment and with a debonding date coming up, I can't wait to be on the dating scene again

Danish

#13 Post by **magster** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:51 am

Danish

I felt the same exact way at first but then I got over it -- for the most part if someone doesnt like me because I have braces well then.... that means they werent planning on sticking around for a while since eventually I'll have them off

#14 Post by **ourfab5** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:52 am

I wish I had known about Aquaphor.

#15 Post by **NYG2007** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 12:17 pm

acd wrote:I wish I had known how easy it would be to live with braces and how little they actually hurt (except spacers--they were from Hell). I wish I had known how little other people cared that I had braces so I could have skipped the upper ceramic brackets (at an additional $300 and having five come off over the course of treatment) and gone with metal brackets that actually stayed on my teeth ad sped up treatment time. I wish I had know how difficult it was to talk with retainers (removable upper and lower Hawleys).

Mainly I wish I had know how easy it was to deal with braces as an adult and would have gotten them years earlier than I did!

I wish I had known what a big deal this wasn't and I wouldn't have gotten the ceramic braces either. I could have save $500. I owe $517 left on my braces and I have three payments left. The last three are for ceramic. Dumb move on my part.