Hi guys! I just had braces for almost 3 weeks now and from that, I learned a lot of things. I just want to share with you some of the things I realized and I wish I knew before getting myself into this.
First of all, you must prepare yourself for the expenses, inconvenience and tons of dentist appointments. I don't understand why some people here in our country loves to have braces even without teeth problems. lol, such a waste. The inconvenience braces could bring to you is that the when you eat, some of the foods will get stuck in the brackets and if you're too lazy to clean them, your mouth will really smell bad I tell ya.
Second, remove the thought that having braces will give you a hard time for the rest of your journey. Actually, based on me and my friends' experiences, the "pain" we felt lasted for only 24 hours. Sometimes, depending on the dentist's adjustment, the pain can last for 2-3 days only!! I promise. Eventually, after a week or two, you'll forget that you have braces lol.
Third, during the day where the dentist will put up the braces, it is a must to bring a lip balm or petroleum jelly because I swear, your lips get super dry! In my case, the dentist had to set my braces up for almost 2 hours or more I guess... So I had to open my mouth for a long time but don't worry! there's a dental retractor (photo below) that will help you (well, atleast for opening the mouth and still, don't think that your mouth will not get dry)
Fourth, the 3 "must haves" dental kit .After the appointment, you'll not feel the pain yet. It will be felt after a few hours. Eventually, you'll feel the brackets and your lips touch each other and sometimes wound your lips ( I swear it hurts so much!) so I'm telling you to buy this brace wax and put it on the brackets (photo below) when the pain gets intolerable. You can consume only half of the brace wax depending on the pain but yeah most of the people haven't finished their brace wax. The second thing you need to have is Interdental Brush for brackets (photo below) to clean the insides of your brackets and prevent piling up of food remnants after you eat lol. The third thing you must have is a V Trim Toothbrush to help clean your braces. I also would like to add that you must prepare pain killers if the pain gets too
much.
Fifth, EAT SOFT FOODS! such as Congee, Noodles, Mashed potatoes or Ice cream (Ice cream or cold foods can help lessen the pain. At least the first 2 or 3 days. I promise, it will be your dilemma but eating hard, and sticky foods will cause you and your dentist a lot of problem. My dentist told me that the brackets can be detached for 3 times ONLY. Don't worry too much because after a week, your mouth can adjust and can slowly eat semi hard foods (not too hard).
As for now, that's all I could say! I hope this helped you. God bless you on your braces journey! Photos are not mine!