My 1st Braces-versary! The things I have discovered...

[Le]

Hi,

I've been in braces for one year today, and in order to celebrate or reflect on this milestone I thought I would share some of the unexpected things I have learned about being in braces. The things all the pamphlets in the world don't tell you!!

Please add some of your own...

- There is hardly a more satisfying feeling in the world than finally dislodging that strangely stuck piece of food in your braces hours after lunchtime

-The only things I truly miss is being able to bite my nails

- The list of foods my ortho gave me and I diligenty stuck on the fridge, is now fallen down the back with the dust bunnies and I eat everything!

- Its hard to look cool sitting in a waiting room full of teenagers and their mums

-Sometimes I forget the braces, and realise only as I have lifted the biscuit to my mouth in a quiet meeting that I am not going to be able to bite it without being truly disgusting

-Flicking the elastic bands with your tongue is fun and strangely comforting, but people will look at you like your a crazy person

-Always close your mouth when taking off clothes. There is nothing more embarrassing than standing around with a jumper hanging off your wires!

- Similarily, avoid burgers and sandwiches on a first date. Hard to be pretty with a gum-full of half chewed soft bread

-Smiling with your lips stretched over braces is difficult, and you generally just look like your constipated

[b]

- There is hardly a more satisfying feeling in the world than finally dislodging that strangely stuck piece of food in your braces hours after lunchtime

this one.

[Donna]

-Flicking the elastic bands with your tongue is fun and strangely comforting, but people will look at you like your a crazy person

LOL, I know! I can't stop flicking my bands.

[ellen]

I am almost at one one-year braces-versary and these are some of the things I learned:

1) mozzarella cheese from pizza will get caught on the back molar bracket when I swallow, causing a string of stretchy cheese to go down my throat while still attached to my braces, and the cheese will have to be reeled back up.

2) I have gotten very good at sucking out pieces of food stuck in my braces without having to brush.

3) I'm bummed when my teeth don't hurt, because I think they're not moving.

4) clicking my loose teeth is a sure-fire way to gross out my husband.

5) Either I really am discrete when eating with friends when I swish water in my mouth or use my tongue to dislodge food, or I have very good friends who don't mind.

6) I really couldn't care what other people think of my braces.

7) one year in and I am so happy that I chose to have braces. I love comparing the before photos with how my teeth look now, even though I still have a year in braces to go.

[ceramicmouth]

Excellent post.

Funny cause it's 100% true.

[Rachel B]

Here are mine:

1. Remember to remove elasitics BEFORE eating so you don't end up wondering why your pasta is so chewy.
2. Don't wear plaits in your hair and a t-shirt with a cartoon character while you have braces or people will think your boyfriend is your Dad.
3. Don't even try biting into an Apple.
4. Hot drinks were not meant to be drunk through straws no matter how much you want to avoid staining so give up early on- ouch!
5. If you must eat bread with seeds in, remember to go and check in a mirror before speaking to or smiling at anyone - finding a mouth full of black seeds when you get home from work is cringe-making.
6. Smile like you've never smiled before and don't care a jot about what anyone thinks.
7. Don't assume that teenagers will automatically like you because you have an assumed "kinship" with them - they're still teenagers after all.
8. Your dreams will regularly be interspersed with images of your teeth falling out, becoming hideously wonky, braces breaking etc.
9. Wax is your friend and you get great pleasure from being given a different coloured little plastic box to those you've had before.
10. 90% of the photos you take will now be of the inside of your mouth.
11. You spend the majority of you supermarket time in the toothpaste, moutwash aisle and know all the prices of everything.
12. You LOVE it when there is a great offer on on your favourite mouthwash and stockpile it to add to the giant collection you already have in your bathroom cupboard.

Rach x

[Jen8626]

LOL I love these really makes me giggle!!! All very true!!

[trillium]

Every time I sweep the floor at home, I find the elastics that I've dropped- I never seem to be able to see them when I drop them.

Maybe now that I've 'graduated' to the heavy duty tortoise elastics, they won't move so quickly and I'll find them easier.

[Kei]

Newbie here.

I haven't had my braces for very long but I've already learned that I can't bite my fingernails anymore.

I adore those little brush thingies for poking around my brackets to dislodge food.

Broccoli is incredibly difficult to remove. Spinach is nearly impossible.

[Blossom]

I am 11 days off the 1 year mark and have learned a few things myself

1) braces and UV lights are scary and it is in my best interest to avoid any place with these types of lights as they make me look like an evil clown

2) Spinach is not my friend. Ever

3) If you suspect something is stuck in your teeth you are probably right so best you go check before getting home and discovering you have enough still there for dinner

4) Braces do not set of the THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR. at airports so there is no need to lie awake at night before flying worrying about this.

[lovelyleo]

1. Make sure to close the little bag containing elastics before placing it into your purse. The clean up of a zillion elastics is nerve bending.

2. It is great to show off your new smile. BUT not so great after eating a Ceasar salad.

3. No matter how good you brush or floss at night the next morning you will have some of your dinner for breakfast.

4. Some people will not realize you have braces, but others will stare into your mouth like it is a black hole.

5. Enjoy the experience because once its over its over.

[quint9]

Hilarious....Thanks everyone!!

[avy]

Everything is so true!
I've had my braces for about how long my signature says Here's what I've learnt:

1. You build up 'calluses' in your mouth and suddenly that wire that was poking you for weeks has now suddenly stopped hurting

2. Asking you bf 'is there anything in my braces?' ALWAYS comes back with yes

3. Flossing has never been such an effort before, but in a sick way you look forward to doing it

4. Dont smile with a dry mouth... your top lip will get stuck above your braces and that aint a pretty look

5. Bread is evil

6. Wouthwash is heaven

7. Getting excited about the end result - even if it is 12 or more months away

8. Running your tongue along the inside of your teeth and it feeling smooth and not jagged

[FrockyHorror]

1. Teeth do not move since the last time I checked an hour ago

2. Predicting how much longer I will be in braces is like predicting the lottery

3. Trying to explain to everyone what is going on with my brace whilst pulling my mouth open at the same time to show them will only result in jumbled garbage

4. My six year old son's friends think that they're cool because they look 'gross'

5. Phrases like "wow, look at the state of their teeth" whilst watching TV is inevitable (and catching)

6. As much as I would love to come back with a sarcastic comment every time someone tells me "it will be worth it," I will always just smile sweetly

[robojaws]

[quote="Blossom"]

1) braces and UV lights are scary and it is in my best interest to avoid any place with these types of lights as they make me look like an evil clown


Hilarious!

I haven't had mine on long but already I have discovered:

1. As soon as I wake I now instantly check my teeth in the mirror to see if they have somehow 'magically' moved over night

2. I have become obsessed with my braces and can't stop looking at them, poking them with my tongue and giving my family and friends updates every five minutes

3. Noodles are a pain in the backside

4. Smiling has become more challenging and my top lip will frequently get stuck, which results in me looking a bit special