Scratch

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

08jackt wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

I have gaps between my teeth...

I think I have to get them in a month 

A lot of my friends already have them. They say it only hurts at the begging...

I can't get mine until more of my teeth fall out. They seem to be stuck.    I have lost 8 teeth. The last tooth I lost was 2 years ago.

Dazachi wrote:

08jackt wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

I have gaps between my teeth...

I think I have to get them in a month 

A lot of my friends already have them. They say it only hurts at the begging...

I can't get mine until more of my teeth fall out. They seem to be stuck.    I have lost 8 teeth. The last tooth I lost was 2 years ago.

lol. I've lost all my baby teeth xD (Just shows how much older I am then you xP)

Dazachi wrote:

08jackt wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

I can't get mine until more of my teeth fall out. They seem to be stuck.    I have lost 8 teeth. The last tooth I lost was 2 years ago.

lol. I've lost all my baby teeth xD (Just shows how much older I am then you xP)

My sister who is 2 years younger than me has lost more teeth.

lol. Fail 

Dazachi wrote:

08jackt wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

My sister who is 2 years younger than me has lost more teeth.

lol. Fail 

Yep. But in my defense girls go through puberty earlier than boys.

True. lol.

Last edited by 08jackt (2010-03-09 07:24:39)

I've worn braces for just over a year, (meant to be wearing a retainer at the moment    but I hate my retainer...) So, here's my answers:

1. Not really. Don't lick your teeth for a few minutes after they get put in - it stings a lot (the glue has something in it to make it dry quicker (I think) ). I actually didn't notice when I had my first brace put in - I thought my orthodontist was still cleaning and prepping my teeth for having a brace on.

It aches a little for the first day or so, but then you get used to it. If you find that the metal plates get caught on the inside of your mouth, try using the wax. I don't normally advise using wax, because it's a real pain to brush out. I used to use an orthodontic full-mouthguard (your orthodontist will point you towards these - they're specially designed so that you can do contact sports without damaging your brace, but they're helpful to wear around and about if you have trouble with your brace)

2. My first brace took a couple of months, but one of the kids in my English set had his on for about 4 months. They get tightened up every month or so, but you also get times when they're taken off for a fortnight to a month. They say about 1.5 to 2 years for a full treatment, but that includes time where you have no brace, or when you have to wear a "block" brace/retainer (I barely wore my "block" brace, and can only think of wearing my retainer for a day).

3. I'd have a hard time explaining this, but I'll do my best (I'll get some links to websites that should help)

Basically, in a "train-track" brace, you have a bracket stuck to each tooth in the area that need correcting, plus a couple on each side. There's a wire that runs between them, and this is clipped into the brackets somehow. The wire gets pulled taught (not sure how, I'll get more info).

Sometimes people have rubber bands to straighten their jaw, but I'm really unclear on how bands work 

"Block" braces come in two parts, the top has a thicker piece of plastic at the back, and the bottom has a thicker piece of plastic at the front. These are generally used if you have a large overbite, and work by not allowing you to close your mouth at the angle that you did before. You have to slide your jaw forward to close your mouth. It harnesses your jaw muscles somehow, and it makes them a little achy after wearing them for a long time (i.e. overnight without breaks)

Retainers... I really don't know - I'll look them up.

4. Once again, nah. Eating apples (and things of similar texture) with a "train-track" brace in is a painful experience. I'd advise leaving whole apples alone, unless you:

a) have a death wish (my friend's orthodontist exploded when he broke his brace while trying to fit a whole apple in his mouth)

b) have a lot of time (you could try cutting it up into really small pieces)

Then again, a block brace is really difficult to eat with (even though my orthodontist told me it wasn't - pahhhh.) I only ever managed to eat a digestive biscuit with my block brace in, and it took aaaaaages to clean off. Don't try eating with a block brace in - I used to sneak mine into my pocket at school, so that I didn't have to eat with it in (if you're going to buy a box for a block brace, make sure it's at least 5cm high - they're rather cumbersome)

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask - I'm at home, sick, and bored out of my tiny mind, so I'll stick around for a while 

And I'll get some useful links for you, too.

Last edited by Wolfie1996 (2010-03-09 09:17:09)

Dazachi wrote:

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

I have cross bite too and I had to get an expander. It really got annoying when food got stuck above it.

BWOG wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

I have cross bite too and I had to get an expander. It really got annoying when food got stuck above it.

I am not looking forward to it.

Dazachi wrote:

BWOG wrote:

Dazachi wrote:

Are you getting them on? I have to at some point.
Of course they help. Why would dentists put them on if they didn't help?
My friend had his on for 2 years, took them off, then put them back on.
You probably get use to eating with them.
I don't know whether or not they hurt to put them on, but for the first week, I was told they are a bit sore.

I have to get an expander and then braces. It is because I have a bad cross-bite that no one ever notices until they look closely. Cross-bite is when one or more teeth turn so they face a different direction.

I have cross bite too and I had to get an expander. It really got annoying when food got stuck above it.

I am not looking forward to it.

I GOT BRACES LAST WEEK AND I COULDN'T EAT SO I STARVED.

Does that help? 

Yes
VERY long time
They don't
Yes

Hope that helps.

Oooh I'm probably going to get braces in the next few years.... 

I am getting braces maybe next year.