Working immediately after getting braces

[SunshineRay]

If I ever get a freakin brace date I would like it to be on a Thursday afternoon and then take off on friday to get used to them. Thats my plan.

[LizamasLlama]

I think you'll be fine, I got mine on today and went to school and the gym after.

[NeilH]

LOL... So let me get this right... lightning bolts of pain, a mouth full of nuts and bolts that feel like the Sydney Harbour Bridge inside your mouth. But then again it should be just fine with any discomfort kicking in over the weekend! Erm, think I will keep my options open and book the day off making a guest appearance back at work if I manage to make it through the appointment!!

I really love the huge range of opinions expressed on this board, it certainly keeps me entertained.

Thank you to everyone who contributed.

[isthistaken]

Definitely err on the side of caution. I was completely blindsided by how weird it felt to have braces at first. Actually for a few weeks. It wasn't painful but it was MUCH more uncomfortable than I expected.

[Tobilei]

LOL... So let me get this right... lightning bolts of pain, a mouth full of nuts and bolts that feel like the Sydney Harbour Bridge inside your mouth. But then again it should be just fine with any discomfort kicking in over the weekend!

Yes, this is exactly how it is I think that's the problem, you can't really know what to expect for yourself because everyone is so different. My daughter got hers on in the morning and ate steak that night for dinner (and something else just as chewy the next night). I was on liquid food for weeks.

[sablequeenie]

Heh, oh boy do I remember this day for me. Definitely one for the books...

I decided to go back to work afterwards; my appointment was at 9:00 so after getting braced, I went back into the office at around 11:00. All seemed well at first, aside from the new sensation of having things that felt like pebbles fused to my teeth of course. Then, maybe around 2:00 or 3:00 my teeth felt a little...tight. Like I had a big piece of food stuck between every single one of them and there was no fixing it. By the time I went home at 5:00 this feeling had only gotten worse.

Then, around 7 or 8, I felt It.

Every single one of my teeth felt like they were being tugged out. The best adjectives I can use to describe it are rigid, tight, and hurt like HELL. Even opening my mouth was painful. Nothing, not the Tylenol/Ibuprofen/etc. I took, the ice cream or milk I drank took that Godawful pain away. I just didn't see how I was going to be able to rough this out for the next 2+ years. The next day was worse; I tried not to talk very much, as opening my mouth was still excruciating, and broke down the food that I could eat with my tongue; NO WAY was I going to squish ANYTHING on those tender molars smh.

In about a week I was back to normal though. Whenever I have an adjustment things tend to go that way; the first two days are Hell then a week later I hardly feel anything at all. All in all not too bad since I've gotten used to it for the past 8 months. If anyone who hasn't gotten braces yet is reading this, I hope my story doesn't scare you. True, it can hurt, but hardly ever for very long.

[NeilH]

Heh, oh boy do I remember this day for me. Definitely one for the books...

I decided to go back to work afterwards; my appointment was at 9:00 so after getting braced, I went back into the office at around 11:00. All seemed well at first, aside from the new sensation of having things that felt like pebbles fused to my teeth of course. Then, maybe around 2:00 or 3:00 my teeth felt a little...tight. Like I had a big piece of food stuck between every single one of them and there was no fixing it. By the time I went home at 5:00 this feeling had only gotten worse.

Then, around 7 or 8, I felt It.

Every single one of my teeth felt like they were being tugged out. The best adjectives I can use to describe it are rigid, tight, and hurt like HELL. Even opening my mouth was painful. Nothing, not the Tylenol/Ibuprofen/etc. I took, the ice cream or milk I drank took that Godawful pain away. I just didn't see how I was going to be able to rough this out for the next 2+ years. The next day was worse; I tried not to talk very much, as opening my mouth was still excruciating, and broke down the food that I could eat with my tongue; NO WAY was I going to squish ANYTHING on those tender molars smh.

In about a week I was back to normal though. Whenever I have an adjustment things tend to go that way; the first two days are Hell then a week later I hardly feel anything at all. All in all not too bad since I've gotten used to it for the past 8 months. If anyone who hasn't gotten braces yet is reading this, I hope my story doesn't scare you. True, it can hurt, but hardly ever for very long.

Thank you.. I like the description of pebbles fused to your teeth.. I can imagine this really easily. I had braces over 20 years ago but can't really remember much about it. I spoke to one of my team today about getting braces and they were really positive so I'm feeling more confident about going back to work but will keep my options open in case I don't feel up to it next Friday.

[Aerynia]

It depends where you work (if you need to talk a lot in your job) I think.

I work in an office environment where most of my communication is done via email, so I don't have to talk very much if I don't want to. I got mine done on a weekday at around lunchtime, and the pain didn't start to kick in until around 3-4pm. You really start feeling it about 5-6 hours later - that night they were extremely painful, and remained that way for most of the week.

I'd recommend you get the braces placed on a Friday, sometime after lunch - that way you would only need to take half a day off if you have to commute to the orthodontist and you'll have the weekend for recovery time.

[FabBy40]

After reading this I am so glad I took the day off. Stay tuned for my story later on today.