Braces at 30 – I had my top brace fitted!

Posted on 6:29pm Thursday 10th Mar 2016

Braces at 30 – I Had My Top Brace Fitted!

After months of preparations and lengthy waiting times for numerous appointments and consultations, I had my brace fitted TODAY! Eek!

Well, my top brace at least. I’ll not need the bottom one fitted for another six months or so as there’s a lot less work to do down there!

I was feeling pretty positive about the appointment today. The bit I feared the most was having two of my baby teeth removed, but this happened Monday and was totally pain free. So I wasn’t really nervous about today at all. Just curious to know what I’d look like and how they’d feel.

The appointment took around 30 minutes. The worst bit was probably having my teeth cleaned beforehand. That power jet spray thing squirting all over my teeth and bits flying everywhere! Yuck! Oh, and whilst that hoover sucking thing is sucking out all my saliva whilst my mouth is wide open. Not very glam, uncomfortable and seriously the worst part!

Which means getting the actual brace, in comparison, was not bad at all. I had to bite down on the hoover sucky thing (excuse my terrible terminology, I have no idea what the real names for these things are), and the orthodontist popped the brackets onto my teeth with glue. She did one side, then the other, then the middle. Each one had to be set with a light which was only held on each tooth for a second or so. The whole thing was very quick.

Once done I closed my mouth and it felt so strange! I could feel all the metal on my teeth and it felt bizarre!

Next the wire was threaded through the brackets. Again this was super quick and once complete, she used a couple of tools to tighten the wire I guess, or twist it onto each bracket. Then she cut the ends of the wire off.

Voila. Done.

braces at 30 – i had my top brace fitted! photo

In the car on way home, very dry lips from whole thing & top lip feeling very weird!

I’m not too sure of the exact process as all I could see were hands in my mouth and the tools extremely close up! I was donning a very cool pair of black plastic safety glasses too! She explained what she was doing at each part, but again it was one of those days where I couldn’t take it all in.

She asked if I wanted to see and got me a mirror. Eek! Metal mouth! I felt like I couldn’t get my lip over my top teeth at first because of this strange obstruction and my mouth naturally wanted to stay open. It felt like I had to force it closed!

The orthodontist showed me how to clean them which is very thorough. They need cleaning for 3-4 minutes twice a day working from each angle. Then the sides need brushing using an interdental brush slid up through the wires. Mouthwash must also be used half way through the day and cleaning with the brushes after meals.

There are lots of rules about eating, but luckily I won’t find many hard as I already avoid fizzy drinks, sweets, sugary food and chewing gum. Snacks should be savoury only or fruit. If you must eat sugary foods, they should be eaten at mealtimes only. I suddenly realised I won’t be able to eat my raw chocolate brownies as they are super chewy. Booooo!

The braces are glued on, but not totally super glued or else they wouldn’t be able to take them off! So I was warned they can only put up with so much pressure which is why biting into hard foods must be avoided or else the braces could be damaged. Apples and carrots, for example, can be eaten but must first be cut into smaller chunks. If anything feels like it is pushing on the brace whilst eating, it should be avoided or cut up into smaller chunks and chewed at the back of the mouth.

It’s been seven hours now since I had it fitted and I already feel like I’m getting really used to it. I’m surprised as I thought it would take a couple of weeks. I can still feel it on my gums and lips which is strange of course, but my lip feels like it’s covering the brace more naturally now. A few hours ago I didn’t think I could smile very well, but even this feels more normal now.

Ben has been making me feel at ease by cracking braces jokes all day and calling me metal mouth. ‘What does a dentist do on a rollercoaster?’ ‘He braces himself’. Yep, as awful as that. He must have been researching them and waiting for today! But really, he’s not bothered at all. I keep grossing him out with the gaps as he hates blood and they still look a little tender/bloody, so I get my own back by showing him really close up!

There’s not really any pain, more a satisfying pulling feeling. If I bite my teeth hard together, when I then release it feels like the top teeth take a moment to go back to normal. It makes them feel really pushed together. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s very hard to describe. It’s not uncomfortable or painful; it’s just a feeling that is there.

Eating has been weird. We arrived home at lunchtime and I heated up some left over vegetable pie I made. It was just vegetables in a tomato sauce with sweet potato mash on top. It was super mushy and really easy to eat, so I was kind of fooled into thinking eating was fine. This evening we tried to have burgers with homemade sweet potato curly fries. I had a vegetable bean burger, so super soft again, but I struggled to bite into a burger with the bun as it felt like it was pushing on the brace and bits of food were getting all under the wire. Even chewing the bun felt weird, so I had to just eat the bean burger on its own with a knife and fork! The pressure thing was worse when pressing my teeth together by dinnertime, so I struggled to eat. I was also very aware of food getting under the wire and on the braces. If it wasn’t doing that then it was getting stuck between my two toothless gaps and the wire! I was starving hungry all day, which is typical, so had some natural yoghurt with desiccated coconut after dinner. This was yummy and very easy to eat!

I’m super pleased there’s no pain and I hope I don’t get ulcers on my cheeks from them rubbing. I bought some wax just in case. The eating is the strangest part at the moment, but hopefully it will get better soon. I’ve stocked up on inter dental brushes and will be carrying them and a pocket mirror everywhere from now on!

My first tightening is in 8 weeks so I’ll update then and perhaps before to say how I’m getting on.