Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

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loridee76
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:58 am

Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#1 Post by loridee76 »

I have had my braces for less than a year now and some things I have learned so far, but definitely not everything ;) that would take a book! haha!

*Most people don't notice my braces except when I have gotten off the wall ligature colors or I draw attention to them by complaining about the pain after tightening. LOL
*The pain does go away and the sores in the mouth improve. Use some wax, and yes your cheeks to toughen up.
*Sometimes the wire will poke, so be sure to put your tongue on those wires before you leave the orthodontic office to check if they are poking, sometimes they don't trim enough off of the wire or bent good. Remember they don't feel what you do as far as wires poking.
*Clear brackets don't stain... it's the ligatures that stain. choose food WISELY if you have a light color. I tend to go with a dark pink lately because I LOVE spaghetti with sauce and salsa.
*Use a straw if you drink anything besides water. The straw helps decrease staining from tea and soda, and it decreases sugar left behind on your teeth. I refuse to give up my sweet tea ;) I always have water as my secondary drink to rinse or have a bottle of water in my purse all the time.
*Christmas tree flossers are your best friend. I buy them at Walmart. Don't forget to get 2 different sizes since some teeth are closer to each other than others.
*For emergency flossing on the go the Christmas trees are great but I found some flossers called pl atypus on am azon. They are great when you are in a hurry.
*thin tortillas chips from our local restaurant are my other weakness along with the salsa, and are one of my "naughty" foods.
*They may have to "reposition" brackets , meaning they take 1 or 2 brackets off and put a new one on in a slightly different spot on the tooth to get different movement. after feeling them pry off a bracket, I dread getting all of them off at the same time but of course at the same time look forward to getting braces and having my straight teeth.
*I LOVE getting my teeth cleaned every 6 months. I wish insurance would pay for more and I have contemplated paying out of pocket for a cleaning at 3 months.
*I still smile with my teeth showing. I have some adult friends with braces who keep their lips closed, but my lips look weird when closed and when you have a natural "resting B*tch face" like I do, it doesn't look right. I say flaunt them if ya got em!
*I take less pictures of my teeth/braces the longer I have them.
*I ask less questions on here now but read alot, and Youtube videos about braces have been helpful, but some crack me up.

ok so just a few things after 9 months. Nothing special really. I've only have the 2 back bottom brackets come off. but they ended up having to band them because one is on a crowned tooth and the other has a weird shape. so they banded both and have had no problems.
estimated length of treatment is 31 months. so we will see.

Add some things if you want!

Thanks!
Lori
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ElizabethMae
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2017 4:30 pm

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#2 Post by ElizabethMae »

I've had my braces for a week and my roommate (who didn't know yet that I had braces) bought home a bag of my favorite potato chips for me. I was like, hey, I can figure out how to eat these without using my front teeth to bite. :)

redclaygirl
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:06 am
Location: Boulder, Colorado

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#3 Post by redclaygirl »

Thank you loridee76 for your post...it's really helpful. I've only had my braces on for 5 days and I'm looking forward to the day when I'm not so obsessed with how they feel on my teeth or anxious when greeting people.

bretthov
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Aug 08, 2015 4:22 pm

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#4 Post by bretthov »

thanks for sharing - good insights. I get my braces in a few months, so will keep all that in mind

Jasmine94
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#5 Post by Jasmine94 »

Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?

assertives
Posts: 645
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#6 Post by assertives »

Jasmine94 wrote:Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?
I haven't had fruits or vegetables stain my ligatures yet, but avoid curry and anything with tumeric. Tumeric stains like no other. Also avoid red wine. For carrots and broccoli, if they are hard, cut them in smaller pieces.

Jasmine94
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#7 Post by Jasmine94 »

So fruits and veg are all ok? Well, avoiding the obvious like beetroot, tomato and red cabbage lol. Do you think peppers are ok?

Do you know if green and white teas are ok or is it all tea?

Jasmine94
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#8 Post by Jasmine94 »

[quote="assertives"][quote="Jasmine94"]Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?[/quote]

I haven't had fruits or vegetables stain my ligatures yet, but avoid curry and anything with tumeric. Tumeric stains like no other. Also avoid red wine. For carrots and broccoli, if they are hard, cut them in smaller pieces.[/quote]

Do you think grey ligatures will be better for spicy food? I’m going to Thailand in February...

bracefaceislife
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:18 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#9 Post by bracefaceislife »

[quote="Jasmine94"]Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?[/quote]

soy sauce? whaaat? I love soy sauce and I haven't heard this before. I'm guessing it's a staining thing? I'm getting ceramic braces too, hopefully end of March. :D

bracefaceislife
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:18 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#10 Post by bracefaceislife »

[quote="Jasmine94"]So fruits and veg are all ok? Well, avoiding the obvious like beetroot, tomato and red cabbage lol. Do you think peppers are ok?

Do you know if green and white teas are ok or is it all tea?[/quote]

My ortho said fruits should be cut into small pieces and that cooked veg is preferable to raw veg.

And green and white tea actually do also have potentially staining "tannins", just like black tea does.

Jasmine94
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#11 Post by Jasmine94 »

[quote="bracefaceislife"][quote="Jasmine94"]Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?[/quote]

soy sauce? whaaat? I love soy sauce and I haven't heard this before. I'm guessing it's a staining thing? I'm getting ceramic braces too, hopefully end of March. :D[/quote

Hey :) if you get self-litigating it won’t be a problem, but it’s the clear ligatures that I’ve got (not the brackets) that apparently stain really easily. I’ve been on beige foods or ones that don’t stain. I’m switching to grey ligatures next time though as I’m going to Thailand (and will probably be eating everything I shouldn’t lol).

bracefaceislife
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:18 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#12 Post by bracefaceislife »

Ohh makes sense and good to know! Thanks for the reply! Have a great trip :D

assertives
Posts: 645
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:29 am

Re: Things learned by me in 9 months of braces

#13 Post by assertives »

Jasmine94 wrote:
assertives wrote:
Jasmine94 wrote:Thanks for your help. I just got ceramic braces with clear ligatures and I'm paranoid about staining them. Any ideas what I can and can't eat? So far all I know is that I can't have: tea, coffee, coke, tomato, berries, soy sauce, acidic foods like oranges, food colourings. I'm stuck on a beige diet because I don't know what food with colour doesn't stain. Like can I have mango? Peach? Carrots? Broccoli? I'm totally lost. Can someone please help?
I haven't had fruits or vegetables stain my ligatures yet, but avoid curry and anything with tumeric. Tumeric stains like no other. Also avoid red wine. For carrots and broccoli, if they are hard, cut them in smaller pieces.
Do you think grey ligatures will be better for spicy food? I’m going to Thailand in February...
I haven't had black tea or green tea stain my ligatures. But then again, my ligatures are not clear, I have colored ones. I haven't tried grey ligatures, but a colleague of mine did and hers changed to a green color after having some curry. I guess if the spicy food does not contain tumeric, the grey ones should be quite alright.

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