The saga of the braces
I got braces last April at the age of 26. At this point I have 8-12 months left to go.
I was not a candidate for invisalign, so I got the ceramic brackets. I don't know if this is what someone else was referring to as "plastic" brackets and saying that they stain, but mine never have. Also, I get the "silver" rubber bands- the assistant/hygienist told me they resist staining better than the clear ones, and are nearly as invisible. I drink tea or coffee every morning, as I have my entire adult life (it'd take a lot more than braces to make me give that up), rinse with water, and then brush. I don't think my teeth are any more or less stained than before I got braces. I do plan on splurging on laser whitening after I get the braces removed, only because I've wanted to do it for years but wasn't confident about my smile anyway when it was crooked. When I have straight teeth darn it, they're gonna be sparkly white too.
I'm really happy with the choice of ceramic. They only cost $250 more, which on top of $5,000 didn't seem like that much. In pictures they're nearly invisible, even with the wire, unless it's a close-up. In fact in most pictures of me over the past year you can't see that I have braces at all, which I obviously really really love.
Yes, get a Sonicare! I wouldn't even consider this optional. Once you get used to it you will wonder how you managed without one. And don't even think about wasting money on those $10-20 crest spinbrush ones. The ones that take AA batteries need new ones constantly and the "rechargeable" ones die after a couple months.
I got a waterpik which I loved at first, but after awhile I felt like it started to get some sort of weird taste to it. Not sure if it was plastic leeching into the water or some bacterial build up in the tubing
. I tried to clean it but eventually gave up and threw it in the closet. Now I just rinse a lot better with a glass of water before brushing/flossing and don't really feel like I need it in my routine. Also, when I was using it I started to get little red spots on my gums, and my dentist said it was because of the waterpik. I was only using it on medium-low, but had to dial it down even more, which made it feel like it wasn't doing much more than rinsing with a glass of water would do anyway.
When you get a pack of those little mini brushes, put one in every single jacket pocket, purse, backpack, wallet, clutch, whatever. Because there
will be a point in time when you forget or don't have your toothbrush for some reason, and you want to at least have the little brush to physically clean out any debris even if you can't fully brush with a big brush and toothpaste. But on that note, I also advise putting together several toothbrush/paste bags and keeping them everywhere (each purse if you have more than one, one at work, etc). I used to have only one that I tried to remember to bring everywhere and move between purses and sure enough, once in a while I'd forget.
I gave up certain foods for a while (apples, carrots, nuts, as I was told to) but at some point I had an apple and suddenly had no idea why I was not allowed to eat them. I eat anything I want now (sometimes cut into pieces) and have never had a broken bracket. The only things I would really stay away from would be caramels or really chewy things, but I've no desire to eat them anyway.
It's going to be really weird at first! Everyone will say that eventually you won't even know they're there, and it's really hard to believe at first but it's true. Also, the first few weeks I was constantly putting wax over the brackets due to the soreness and even considered buying some enormous 500-pack of dental wax, but now I very rarely have to use the stuff. Glad I held off on that purchase!
Overall I would say threader floss, mini brushes, and a sonicare are essential, but other than that I don't use any of the stuff that they try to sell you especially for braces. I keep a regular toothbrush, a mini brush, a regular tube of toothpaste and a chapstick in a little cloth bag in each purse. All of the specialty "braces kits" obviously do the job, but I don't think they're really necessary. I find that the softer the bristles the better, and I look for brushes that have a little "valley" running down the middle of the bristles so they fit nicely over the brackets.
At first it was so awkward trying to eat that I thought "woohoo, this is gonna be a great diet plan!". But, thankfully I suppose, eating does get easier
. However, one good thing that happened is that I find that if there's a choice between a grain like bread or crackers vs fruit and vegetables, I tend to pick the fruits and veggies now. The little solid pieces of fruits and veggies are just much easier to clean out of the little spaces than grains, which tend to mush up and get packed into all the spaces. Usually after eating fruits or veggies if I just drink a glass of water my mouth is perfectly clean. I still brush of course, but it's nice to not have to de-debris everything first.
Immediately after I got them on, I had a sort of "what have I done" moment. But the fact is, you can spend the next two years being unhappy with your smile and not have anything to show for it, or you can spend the next two years in braces and have a beauuutiful smile to show for it when you're done! And honestly after only a few months, my teeth moved so much that my confidence was so much higher. I smile more now with braces on than I ever did before I had them. In a way it feels like I've had them on forever and in a way I can't believe how fast the time flies. So all the best to you and congratulations! Sorry about the length but I hope there was something useful in there
