by Linh from London, UK
I’m 24 year old and today is my second full day in braces. I opted for the Damon braces, which I have on the top but for some reason my ortho has put the full traditional metal ones on the bottom (I’m sure he has his reasons). I’ve had all 4 of my first molars removed. One was removed 6 months ago because it went bad, and as I required extractions, my ortho suggested removing the opposite side (to make the bite match I guess), and the top two as well. I didn’t mind so much as all of these were heavily filled with large silver fillings, whilst the other teeth in my mouth are healthy, so it made sense. About 10 days ago, I had all of the necessary extractions done, and my brace fitting whilst they are still healing.
I was told before hand by friends who have had them themselves, that it would be painful for the first few days. I was completely surprised that I felt no pain whatsoever, both while fitting the brace and once the braces were on. However, this was my initial reaction. After five hours slowly I began to feel pain and pressure, which progressively got worse. But it wasn’t an unbearable pain, more of an ache. Its now the second day and my teeth are starting to move. I know this as they feel slightly wobbly/loose. The worse thing is, the sensation of having a strange contraption in my mouth is making my tongue wander around my teeth and I have this horrible habit of running my tongue along the inside of teeth and accidentally pushing the teeth lightly outwards from the inside. Even the slightest tap, makes them move a little. This creates a lot of pain as the teeth are being forced inwards and my tongue is pushing them in the opposite direction. You’d think I’d be put off by the pain but I cant help it and its really starting to worry me as I keep thinking its making them more wobbly as I’m effective pushing them back and forth. Another concern is the sensitivity on my top and bottom bicuspids (more the top). These feel the wobbliest.
Brushing is a pain too. It takes five times as long as I’m using different brushes and stuff, and I have to brush a lot slower too. I’ve also become addicted to mouthwash as I can’t bear the thought of food being stuck in my teeth. I’m finding it extremely difficult to eat, as I can’t chew due to the missing molars and hence large holes in my mouth. Though, that’s no so much to do with the brace but it has made my teeth extremely sensitive to even bite my teeth together. I’ve been on a mixture of soft foods but mainly soups, noodles, and mash potato so far. This is likely to continue as I have nothing to chew with…
Ok, so this sounds like a long list of negatives, but I have no regrets. I’ve made the pain sound a little worse than it actually is I think, so please don’t be put off. If you’re thinking of getting one, I would definitely get it done. Whenever I have doubts I read some of the stories on this site to make me feel better and to show me it will all be worth it n the end. Hopefully 2 years from now, I’ll be one of the ones writing about how it was all worth it.