Hello I am a newbie

[MrsRhone]

Hi my name is Antoinette and I am getting my braces on 2/27/2012. I am getting the clear brackets on top and metal on the bottom. My bottom teeth are really crowded. My top are pretty straight. I hav been waiting ten years for braces. I am 23 and will be 24 next month. I am a mother of three and I am married. I finally talked my husband into me getting the braces. So is there anything I should know before I get my braces? Certain foods I should avoid? I will have my braces for 18 months.

[cbt325xi]

Hello, and welcome. The absolute worst thing I tried to eat was celery. The strings! It was not a pretty sight.

[maeby]

Hi MrsRhone! I just wanted to say hello, and that I'm in a very similar situation as you, from the sound of it. I'm about the same age and I'm about to get braced, but haven't just yet. There are many people with experience to offer, but some things I've read have stuck with me.

Bascially, three of my favorite foods are no-no's: popcorn, tortilla chips, and gummy candy. Popcorn in particular, because it doesn't matter how carefully you eat it, the husks will end up where they don't belong, and it can be painful. Then there are foods you *can* eat, but won't be pretty. Celery (like cbt mentioned), lettuce, and beans will get caught on your brackets and will have to be scrubbed off/out. If you're eating out especially, know that you can't always feel these in your braces, so you may have a smile full of lettuce without realizing it!


That's all from me. I wish you luck from a fellow newbie!

[MrsRhone]

[quote="cbt325xi"]Hello, and welcome. The absolute worst thing I tried to eat was celery. The strings! It was not a pretty sight.[/quote]


Thank you for the heads up. Note to self "No celery" lol

[MrsRhone]

Hello Maeby

When are you getting your braces? I also have three kids and I think one or two of them will need braces in the future. I'm hoping not but my three year old daughter keeps sucking her thumb. I think I can stay away from those foods. Maybe I will lose about ten pounds by having braces lol.

[sirwired]

You may want to talk to your dentist about your three-year-old. They make "thumb deprogrammers" if your dentist thinks she's at an age where it's going to start causing real problems. (I'm not a dentist; I have no idea exactly what that age is.)

[Ashca]

Hi there. I'm in a similar situation. I'm 27, married, have a 7 month old daughter, and we just found out I'm 4 weeks pregnant.

I just had my braces put on this morning. It wasn't awful getting them on, but eating after was frustrating! They're not kidding when they say you take a lot of time getting use to cleaning. It's now 5 hours later and still not much soreness. Not sure if it's too early for it yet. But emotionally I've cried and cried. I'm just so sad to have adult braces. They feel awkward and I don't want to talk in hopes my husband doesn't see them, although he is so supportive.

So far it's just the cosmetic effect. Nothing bad pain wise. Just had some soup and it still got stuck in my teeth. I guess we'll all just have to get use to it!

Best of luck!!

[MrsRhone]

[quote="sirwired"]You may want to talk to your dentist about your three-year-old. They make "thumb deprogrammers" if your dentist thinks she's at an age where it's going to start causing real problems. (I'm not a dentist; I have no idea exactly what that age is.)[/quote]

Thank you, I will call and see if they can give her one of those because her teeth are starting to go inward.

[MrsRhone]

[quote="Ashca"]Hi there. I'm in a similar situation. I'm 27, married, have a 7 month old daughter, and we just found out I'm 4 weeks pregnant.

I just had my braces put on this morning. It wasn't awful getting them on, but eating after was frustrating! They're not kidding when they say you take a lot of time getting use to cleaning. It's now 5 hours later and still not much soreness. Not sure if it's too early for it yet. But emotionally I've cried and cried. I'm just so sad to have adult braces. They feel awkward and I don't want to talk in hopes my husband doesn't see them, although he is so supportive.

So far it's just the cosmetic effect. Nothing bad pain wise. Just had some soup and it still got stuck in my teeth. I guess we'll all just have to get use to it!

Best of luck!![/quote]

Congrats on your pregnancy! I bet your gums hurt worst because your pregnant. Hopefully the pain will go away in a couple of days. How lung do you have to have braces? Have you tried Motrin?

[maeby]

QUOTE/
When are you getting your braces? I also have three kids and I think one or two of
them will need braces in the future. I'm hoping not but my three year old daughter
keeps sucking her thumb. I think I can stay away from those foods. Maybe I will
lose about ten pounds by having braces lol. /ENDQUOTE


I'm not sure when I'm getting them on yet. I'm having my records taken tomorrow, so maybe I'll get a date then (is that how it works, typically?). I'm not sure I can wait much longer to find out when B-Day is! And I do have to wonder how common it is for people to lose weight when they have braces. Even if that isn't the goal, it would be a nice trade-off for all of the pain and fasting. :)

[Ashca]

Thanks! My gums hurt a little but nothing too severe. After reading about the second day pain I am getting nervous. I'm making my husband bring his laptop home from work in case the pain gets bad tomorrow and he has to watch our daughter. Hopefully everything is ok! Pregnancy definitely makes things more sensitive!

I can only take Tylenol so I do have that!

I will be in braces for 18 months and that's the worst case scenario.

How about you?

[MrsRhone]

Ashca

I will have mine for 18 months also.

[MrsRhone]

I will be getting my braces on tomorrow now. I am super excited and nervous at the same time.

[trisportgirl]

In total I think I've lost about 15 pounds with braces (I only weigh 125lbs so it's a bad thing when I lose weight!).

I had an extraction the same day I got my braces on, and started with turbos (evil turbos!!) so I was on a liquid diet for about 10 days after and lost about 10 pounds. I could barely get 1000 calories a day, and I was super cranky for about a week - not the recommended way to lose weight! I slowly gained about half of it back in the following few weeks.
I got 3 wisdom teeth removed about a month after getting my braces on, and again I was on liquid diet for a couple of days and lost another 5lbs. Still having the turbos meant it was difficult to get it back.
I got the turbos off after 11 weeks, and that's when I really started gaining it back and feeling better. Now I weigh about the same as I did going into braces.

Recommended foods: yogurt, applesauce, pureed soups, and any fruit-flavoured baby foods (my favourite is prune).

Stay away from: anything stringy. I almost choked on bok choy because it got caught on my brackets when I tried to swallow and ended up halfway down my throat. Same goes for asparagus and celery (although if you chop it up it's still good in stirfry). Strawberries have little stringy bits that take more effort to clean out of your brackets (I have SPEED/Damon brackets) and don't cause issues, just more work. Long pasta or noodles (like spaghetti) can be frustrating because it can get wrapped around your archwire making it that much more difficult to remove. Other than that, stay away from the usual stuff that can break your braces: popcorn, nuts, toffee, etc.

[MrsRhone]

[quote="trisportgirl"]In total I think I've lost about 15 pounds with braces (I only weigh 125lbs so it's a bad thing when I lose weight!).


Trisportgirl-

Thank you,

I am starting to get used to the braces but I am having a hard time biting into things. My front teeth are really tender. I am getting one of my teeth removed on Thursday in the front. I will post a picture today.