Braces 101

Got no knowledge, but wish her well.

Oh for one moment I thought it was you Soz who was getting the braces....

Hugs to Sozlet !!!

I remember ow.

I also remember having it really drummed into me to brush as much as possible, to keep the uncovered surfaces clean.

Yep. We had quite a time flossing last night. ("We" 'cause she got all discombobulated when she tried it.) She managed it at the end though, and I'm sure it'll get easier.

She's been taking ibuprofren every 4-6 hours today and is doing pretty well overall, some pretty bad discomfort before the next pill kicks in. Rincinol really helped, too.

She is very happy about the colored bands (it's a thing these days evidently, you get to choose the colors of the little rubber bands that hold the wires to the brackets). Her friends have only been able to get two colors, she was able to choose THREE. (She chose turquoise, light denim-ish blue and dark navy blue. Quite fetching with the silver brackets, I have to admit, though my first thought was to get white bands. Took me a while to get used to the oceany smile, I'm getting there.)

Also she's happy that she looks even nerdier with braces than she did without. Yes happy. She's odd that way.

What a goil.

A chip off the old rivet.

One specific question I have -- how strict should I be about mouth guards when playing sports? The orthodontist said that she can go without when she's doing general exercise/ conditioning, but she should wear it whenever there is a ball involved.

I tend to go with the orthodontist's recommendation of course but I've seen a lot of other kids with braces playing soccer sans mouth guards. The mouth guard is clunky and uncomfortable and it's hard for her to talk while wearing it, and talking is sometimes important in soccer.

So I'm trying to figure out how important it really is. At this point I'm telling her to wear it whenever the ball is in play -- if they're just practicing passes or whatever, it's OK, but if they're scrimmaging, she should wear it.

Just listening in as this is in the cards for us soon too. My older daughter is a slow tooth loser so it hasn't occured yet, but the estimated time is end of this year or beginning of the next.

Yes - the colored band are so cool and my daughter is actually thinking it may be cool to have braces.

My own feeling is that the orthodonist is right. If there is a ball involved, or very much personal contact, a mouth guard is pretty important.

http://www.centurymartialarts.com/sparring_gear/Mouthguards/Shock_Doctor_Braces.aspx



This thing looks somewhat similar to what I used thirty or more years ago. The one I had felt like silicone rubber, and you custom fit it yourself. That is, you soaked it in near boiling water, stuck it on your upper lip and sucked real hard. It permanantly molded itself to your teeth. Don't know if that particular device would have fouled itself on the braces or not, but the one illustrated claims to be intended for wear with braces, so it should be okay.

I notice the size if Adult, so not so good, but there may be others. I also notice it is sold out on that particular web site, but Adult wouldn't work anyway. Just tossing in the idea. If the dentist can't come up with a good suggestion, you might check out a few of the local martial arts schools that accommodate kids.

In any case, I would avoid a one piece guard that covers upper and lower teeth. They are just awkward, clumsy, uncomfortable, and sometimes interfere with breathing.

Actually, I meant to say you stuck it on your upper teeth, not your upper lip.

They gave us one, it's supposed to be specifically for braces. She's had the molded kind before and I expected to get something like that, but they made a good point -- her teeth are going to be changing for the next good while, so any mold will be rendered obsolete pretty quickly.

She doesn't hate it. Used it today for scrimmaging without much problem.

Love that Sozlet, I do.

I'm reading along. I never had braces - the years when I would have been apt to get them are the years when the family financial balance crashed evermore. But, I had a friend who did, and I remember her grumbles. She eventually became an orthodontist's assistant with straight teeth, plus other careers, but I haven't kept up.

My lower teeth are jumbled, and my uppers ok except for two teeth. A lifetime favorite boy friend called me Snaggle Tooth. That was besides calling me Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy (which is why I liked a certain Beatles' song, but never mind).

A link to look at if you dare -
http://likeshipsrunashore.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/fedor-jeftichew/
Let's say I've luckily not been trouble to look at much of my life, but have had some negs. That boyfriend was fond and kidding.

I eventually had the snaggle tooth and the one next to it capped. I remember it more as the decision of my mother and the dentist, but looking at my high school graduation picture, I see their point. I think that was just after my mother had gotten a job, and was probably optimistic. Trouble with caps is that after fifty years they are very visible as gums recede at least somewhat. So it goes.

good.

Oh, sozlet is starting already? Poor thing, it can be painful!
Ibuprofen is helpful, and there is an over the counter numbing gel or spray
that helps, it's especially good at night so she can sleep.

Since you probably will have to go every month to the orthodontist, sozlet
will feel the pain for the first few days every time they work on her braces. Warm soft food help alleviate the pain too - like mashed potatoes or soups. Breads with a hard crust are out and anything that is too tedious to get cleaned, like corn on the cob.

As for sports, Jane never used any mouth guard but I always was a nervous wreck and feared that she could get the ball in her face and would damage the braces. It never happened and I haven't seen it with the other girls either, so the braces held up quite nicely.

Hiya CJane,

Oh good, you're definitely someone I hoped would stop by.

Yes already, isn't that weird? I didn't like it when it first came up (she's 10 and a half, seems way too young, I got braces at 16 or something), but I've done a lot of research and evidently it's kosher. Main thing is that she has all of her adult teeth in.

The sucky part is that after the braces are done, she's going to have to wear a retainer until she's stopped growing, aka until she's 21 or so. I'm not happy about that part.

Her next appt. is in 6 weeks, so I think that's the schedule (every 6 weeks for tightening). It's always this bad? Oof.

Mashed potatoes and oatmeal are the big stars so far.

Excellent point about corn on the cob, thank you! That's exactly the kind of non-obvious stuff I'm going for. We hadn't tried that yet, we'll avoid it.

One of sozlet's two best friends had braces for a couple of years (same age! she got hers at 8, which seems really crazy to me), she played soccer without a mouthguard too. They're out of town, I'll ask her mom about it more when they get back.

Thanks!

sozobe, these retainers sozlet will wear after her braces come off are usually
invisible and worn only during the night, so it won't be as bad. You will have a much harder time enforcing it - at least I have. I constantly need to remind Jane to wear them at night.

We started around age 8 too - retainers and a pallet to widen the jaw bones,
from age 11 to 12 she was one year without any metal in her mouth. Then the
braces came on until she was close to 15 years old. We celebrated when she
was finally metal free with tons of bubble gum too! It's an ordeal no question about it, more so for us mothers than the kids (I feel) .

Yes, food becomes a challenge! Beef is also very hard to chew for them, shredded or ground beef are much better. Carrots are too hard on the braces, try buying the shredded kind, apples should be cut up (at the beginning I put them in the microwave for a minute), popcorn is a no go
too which was hard for Jane as she loves it; even pizza crusts are out!

sozlet should also avoid any acidic foods, as they can stain the teeth -
it oxidizes due to the metal, so anything lemon and the likes should be
avoided.

Owww! I remember braces.
Two things..
Mouth guards are used not just to protect the mouth and teeth from damage but to protect against concussions. It's the slamming of teeth together when you fall or are jarred that can cause a concussion. Some teams up here will not allow a child to play after a kid has had two concussions.
I think I'm related to sadists. When I wore the steel grin, and it was a mouth full of metal back in the day... Every time I got them tightened, my mom would cook steak or corn or something wonderful that I couldn't eat. Maybe make those nights a bland family meal night so that you don't scar your daughter's psyche.

Sozlet had the palate expander to start too, she got that last year and wore it for 6 months? 9 months? Something like that. It allowed her last adult teeth to emerge (canines that had been trapped behind other teeth) and so we're right on to braces. She had a retainer for the palate expander from when that came off until braces. Had to wear the retainer all the time at first (except for when she was eating or for sports), it was just at night for the last stretch.

Interesting about acidic foods, I didn't know that. How acidic? Like what about tomato pasta sauce? We have a fair amount of that, and pasta has been good when her teeth are sore (nice and soft).

Ceili, very good point, I'll try not to torture her.

I don't know about tomato sauce, sozobe, we always use different spaghetti sauces, but I would check with the orthodontist. If she brushes her teeth right after eating spaghetti, there shouldn't be a problem.

Another thing we found helpful: water pic is a great tool when having braces.

We have one! (A water pic, off-brand but works pretty well.) Got one for the palate expander, should get back to using it now. Thanks for the reminder.

Do you have any suggestions for lunches that worked well for little Jane when she had braces? I'm starting to mentally run through my usual repertoire and I'm foreseeing a lot of messy/ hard to clean up after situations.

The orthodontist is pretty laid-back, he said to stay away from things like popcorn, caramel, ice, gum, a pretty short list of obvious things (though he didn't mention anything about acids except for soft drinks, which she basically doesn't drink anyway). He said everything else was fine.