During Treatment, Having Your Braces Put On

What Does It Feel Like?

1. At first, you will feel an unusual feeling of pressure on your teeth. If any of your teeth have metal brackets around them, this will feel weird, but not unbearable.


2. At first, feeling the braces underneath your lips will be a strange sensation. After about a week, you'll probably find that you barely notice it.


3. You should stick to soft foods for the first day or two; nothing crunchy or hard, nothing large and difficult to bite and chew (e.g., big sub sandwiches or burritos).


4. The first day, it may not hurt too much. The second and third days, it may feel like somebody hit you in the teeth with a baseball. Take a pain reliever like Ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) and try to chill out. It will get better!


5. At first you will not be able to eat certain foods, like tortilla chips, sugar cones, crunchy cookies, hard taco shells, etc. When you eat out, think of your teeth first and be kind to yourself! Order soft foods!


6. Chewing will be difficult. You may bite the insides of your cheeks. The metal hooks on the brackets may hurt. Just chew slowly and carefully. Do not take large mouthfuls. Hint: Fill up on protein-rich foods, not just carbs, so you can go several hours between meals!


7. At first, you won't be used to food getting lodged in your braces. This really takes some time to get used to. It doesn't hurt, it just feels weird and make you want to run immediately to the bathroom to rinse and brush. In time it won't bother you as much.


8. Use dental wax on the little hooks or brackets that hurt. You may not need to use the wax for long, maybe just a week or two until your mouth adjusts to all the hardware. Just break off a piece of wax and gob it on the offending area.


9. Don't try to floss for several days, or even a week. It will probably hurt too much.


10. After a week or two, your teeth may feel loose. That's normal and necessary. It passes in another week or two.

WARNING:  Poor Oral hygiene results in white scars on the surfaces of teeth and cavities. 

It is up to YOU (not your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, babysitter, siblings, best friend or pet)
to care for your beautiful teeth.  You can do it!