Confess your orthodontic sins.

[aussietrumpeter]

I have been pulling really hard on certain teeth, trying to give them an extra push into the direction they need to move... at first I thought I might break a bracket but it turns out they're really strong !

[SingleJawMelb]

hmm let's see ... have I sinned? .... definitely!

been in braces for a little over 3 months now and so far I'm guilty of the following :
I eat candy or chocolate whenever I want. I never drink water that stuff is poison. I live on soda, that's my life blood. I eat whatever I can manage to eat without too much pain. so if it doesn't hurt too bad then I eat it. I'm not even sure I read the list of don't eats, it pretty much looked like " if it tastes good, it's forbidden" so I filed that in the trash can immediately. Brushing after meals is strictly reserved for when I'm not full and lazy and or tired, which I'm pretty much lazy all the time. Coffee is a must to wake up in the morning with lots of sugar for energy ! I don't smoke but I do dip and so far I don't really see any problems with that. ( yeah I know not good for me but it's far too late to stop now... at least easily.. see above comment about being lazy ) Flossing I just don't understand ..the directions say I should floss but when I go in for a visit they make all the crowded teeth jam even tighter against each other so when I come home to floss there's just no room to make it happen. Well at least I tried. Maybe I'll try again the day before the next visit. Maybe. Probably not. So far neither the dentist / hygienist / orthodontist have said I'm doing anything wrong with keeping everything clean. I just don't follow their directions !
I haven't gotten to the stage of needing elastics yet but I already know I'm not doing that. I just cringe when I think of elastic in my mouth because I know they are going to snap and hurt like hell. My orthodontist needs to find another way. He did say I would need them but nope not going to happen.
I've had 3 brackets come so far. 1 in my sleep, so there's no proof that it was my fault in any way since I was non-conscious for that.
1 because the wrong glue was used when my crown was bonded, it came off 1 hr after being bonded when I was drinking some soda so clearly not my fault in any way..
1 when the orthodontist was trying to adjust the hook into a position that wouldn't poke me, it just snapped off and flew across the room. again.. not my fault !
So far I'm innocent of any damage so I shall continue in my evil ways!

yes, I know I'm bad, but the dark side has cookies.

Ew yuck. Eat a better diet!

[guilder68]

Great thread! I'm happy to see so many people eat popcorn. I would really love to eat some Salted Caramel Roger's Chocolates at Christmas time, is toffee possible? It seems it would be a tooth brushing nightmare afterwards lol

[Len]

I'm making an update here because I need this to be recorded in case I mess up really bad.
I ate everything that could potentially break my brackets on the last 7 months and I only broke one damn bracket...WHILE FLOSSING!
I ate roasted chestnuts, hard candies, really hard biscuits, fries.. Well I guess my orthodontist would faint if she knew this.
I haven't flossed in like 2 months because I'm really scared of breaking another bracket. I only brush my teeth twice a day when I have classes because I'm too shy to go to my college's bathroom and brush my teeth in front of like 10 people (it's always crowded).

[anacsilva]

Aw!

Nearly 9 months in and I've pretty much done it all (except biting apples... although I'm sure I could do it). I never used to care much for chewing gum before, but since like September I've been obsessed and I carry gum around with me at all times.

Popcorn? Eh it can get a little messy, but so worth it.

I brush twice a day AND I floss. I didn't need to floss before, but I guess my teeth have changed globally because if I don't floss, I'll accumulate tiny little micro spam bits of food between my teeth (you can't even see it, but I FEEL it), so I obsessively floss every time now.

Anyway, 9 months in and I still don't even have full top braces, so. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts, because when I have full top braces AND bottom braces..... oh man. That's gonna hurt. And I'll definitely go back to being the wimpy baby I was when I first got braces who was too scared to even eat chocolate because a bracket might fall off (true story. Especially because a bracket DID fall off while I was eating chocolate).

[KatieMiller]

hmm let's see ... have I sinned? .... definitely!

been in braces for a little over 3 months now and so far I'm guilty of the following :
I eat candy or chocolate whenever I want. I never drink water that stuff is poison. I live on soda, that's my life blood. I eat whatever I can manage to eat without too much pain. so if it doesn't hurt too bad then I eat it. I'm not even sure I read the list of don't eats, it pretty much looked like " if it tastes good, it's forbidden" so I filed that in the trash can immediately. Brushing after meals is strictly reserved for when I'm not full and lazy and or tired, which I'm pretty much lazy all the time. Coffee is a must to wake up in the morning with lots of sugar for energy ! I don't smoke but I do dip and so far I don't really see any problems with that. ( yeah I know not good for me but it's far too late to stop now... at least easily.. see above comment about being lazy ) Flossing I just don't understand ..the directions say I should floss but when I go in for a visit they make all the crowded teeth jam even tighter against each other so when I come home to floss there's just no room to make it happen. Well at least I tried. Maybe I'll try again the day before the next visit. Maybe. Probably not. So far neither the dentist / hygienist / orthodontist have said I'm doing anything wrong with keeping everything clean. I just don't follow their directions !
I haven't gotten to the stage of needing elastics yet but I already know I'm not doing that. I just cringe when I think of elastic in my mouth because I know they are going to snap and hurt like hell. My orthodontist needs to find another way. He did say I would need them but nope not going to happen.
I've had 3 brackets come so far. 1 in my sleep, so there's no proof that it was my fault in any way since I was non-conscious for that.
1 because the wrong glue was used when my crown was bonded, it came off 1 hr after being bonded when I was drinking some soda so clearly not my fault in any way..
1 when the orthodontist was trying to adjust the hook into a position that wouldn't poke me, it just snapped off and flew across the room. again.. not my fault !
So far I'm innocent of any damage so I shall continue in my evil ways!

yes, I know I'm bad, but the dark side has cookies.

Ew yuck. Eat a better diet!

No wonder you have had some come off! What is the point of shelling out thousands for braces if you are not going to take care of them, and yourself?!

[KatieMiller]

I guess you can say that I am a rebel as well.

I only brush twice a day now (oops!) After the first 2(or 3, or 4) cups of coffee in the morning, and before bed. I floss every other day...ish. I don't like to use mouthwash as I get the colored stringy stuff stuck on my wires, which requires brushing again... ain't nobody got time for that. I also use a whitening toothpaste (Oral-B Optic White), and also occasionally do a hyrdrogen peroxide/baking soda scrub on them too if they are looking more yellowish.

I eat popcorn, candy, jerky, nuts, and basically anything. The only thing I haven't tried, and wont, is biting in to things like apples, or corn on the cob

I drink red wine like it's going out of style ( I do not, however, drink soda. Way too sweet for me)

I chew sugar free gum, but my Ortho said that was okay.

I smoke when I drink, and occasionally other times ( I know, I know)...

I sometimes use my teeth to open things as I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and sometimes my hands just don't have any strength.

He praises me at each visit for my great oral hygiene, so I guess I am not messing things up too bad. I have never had a bracket come off. I wonder if that is due to me not being too horrible to my braces, or really freaking strong glue? lol

I did miss an adjustment in September, and didn't reschedule it, so I went about 12 weeks without seeing my Orthodontist... oops! He wasn't *too* upset though.

[LockedinMyTower]

Oh, man. I was in school and I used to brush religiously after a snack and lunch....but I only did that at school. I never did it at home, ROTFL! Even during field trips, I was a crazy person! But I NEVER flossed. Never. Never had a Water Pik, but our water had fluoride in it, so maybe that helped. I also drank my weight in soda every day and had popcorn. The only thing I didn't do, or don't remember doing, was chew gum! But I did eat candy. I'm not a big candy eater, anyway, but you couldn't pry those mini Milky-Way bars from my cold, dead hands.

And I never had a single cavity, thank God. I only did twice a year cleanings, too, but I remember the dentist giving me a hard time about flossing. But he gives me a hard time now and I floss twice a day!

[MikeLewis]

When I had braces, I didn't give up hardly anything. Not coffee, not gum, not popcorn. I made up for it in part by heavy brushing, which seemed to do the trick.

[Tyrantblade]

I think I'm a bit addicted to the fruit punch filled Licorice (the 4 pack ones you buy near the checkout at Walmart; they break apart pretty easy); also those Sour Black Forrest Organic Gummies.

[FlossWrangler]

Bought finishing strips on Ebay and did a little IPR on my lower incisors myself. Tricky, but it worked!

[BrowsandBraces]

Ah, chips, cookies and brownies and I've just developed the thrill of chewing gum. I just made a fresh batch of brownies last night. FML.

You Carmel guzzlers are bold, maybe one day I'll decide to be just a naughty and enjoy the Carmel Apple sucker in my candy dish.

[FlowerPower]

Well....I was afraid to eat chips at first but I was craving corn chips so I gave in! It went smoothy.

I also ate some cheese and garlic bread a few days after I had braces but I paid the price for that because one of my molar brackets popped off...but I think it was because it wasn't bonded correctly, so no fault of my own.

I brush 3 x a day and I floss at least once a day (not including the waterpik at night) but I haven't been washing/flossing after every meal since sometimes it's just a sweet drink and so I'll take a swig of water.

[T1braces]

Wow we are all naughty people !!

12 weeks in with metal braces. You name it; I've eaten it. Chocolate Brazil nuts - chopped up, crisps and I even had a go at a hard toffee (do not do this) - I paid the price . No brackets broken, hygienist says my oral health is good though !!

[r1r1r12000]

I've had metal braces for 4 months. They've been sturdy so far! No broken brackets yet, even though I've been eating tortilla chips, nuts, etc. I did bite the wrong way on a chip and pop the wire out of my molar band, though. Twice.