Braces...

[The Don]

Right, I know this would be better suited in the teen life section but i need a quicker reply.

Basically, I'm getting braces tomorow. My friend said they whiten your teeth before they do it, well he said that they did that for him. Anyone here who's had/got braces, did they whiten your teeth before they put them on, or after they took them off?

Also does it hurt when they put them on? And is it true I shouldn't drink fizzy drinks such as coke when I have them on, and I can't eat popcorn or anything like that? Thanks :)



Moved by danzooo (Forum Moderator) from "Discuss Anything": Any thread must be placed in its correct forum regardless of the speed of answer you need.

[Samantha.]

I know you can drink fizzy drinks, my friend has them and she drinks coke all the time ;)

[Rozi]

Can't help you on the whitening front, but it did hurt a bit when I got mine, but bearable pain. But it's afterwards you want to worry about, can't really eat solids for a day or two.

I was also told I couldn't drink fizzy drinks, eat toffee or caramel, chewing gum, apples, raw carrots etc, mostly hard foods.

[The Don]

Can't help you on the whitening front, but it did hurt a bit when I got mine, but bearable pain. But it's afterwards you want to worry about, can't really eat solids for a day or two.

I was also told I couldn't drink fizzy drinks, eat toffee or caramel, chewing gum, apples, raw carrots etc, mostly hard foods.

So did they not whiten your teeth before you got them in then?
Thanks for the rest of the info +rep to both of you.

[Rozi]

Can't really remember tbh, this was a few years ago. I know they did when they took them off :P

[Apple]

Good luck with them, I think that on some people they can suit you and make you look better. :P

I have never had braces myself but I have friends that wear them who drink anything and chew gum all the time. I'm not sure if you are supposed to do any of them 2 but he has had them for nearly a year I think and has chewed gum and drank anything ever since he got them. I suppose all you can really do to make sure is ask the dentist, if he/she says no then I wouldn't really go against their word to be honest. Oh and the pain, I was told they hurt a little when getting them put on and for the first day or 2 but not were you are in agony, just very sensitive. Hope this helps! :)

[Moh]

They wont whiten your teeth unless you pay your dentist to do it, the braces alone cost over £2,000 :P

Putting them on is painless, just annoying having your mouth open for ages - and the glue doesn't taste that good :P

Afterwards your teeth will feel a little bit achy, same after getting them tightened. Nothing a paracetamol can't handle :)

[Con]

They whitened mine when they took them off, but that was down to the glue that they used to put the blocks on.
It does hurt, and you can't eat properly for a week, or at least I couldn't.. I struggled to eat a piece of bread :L
Also, they tell you all this stuff about not chewing gum, drinking fizzy drinks, chewing pencils etc. it's all basically the stuff a dentist would tell you for your teeth normally, but you'd still do it right?
I drank coke, chewed gum etc. all the time was fine for me :)

[Glen Coco]

I didn't get mine whitened before, I still haven't had them off so yeah.
You can drink and eat sweet things and fizzy drinks, it's just not recommended.
Oh and mine hurt a lot.

[Jordan]

I haven't had mine whitened at the beginning, not sure afterwards because I still have them on. I still eat and drink what they say you shouldn't and the only problem is when I ate chocolate eclairs I dented the back metal strap thing. Yeah, it does hurt when you have them put on, and when you get them tightened. I only have my top ones atm, next month I'm getting the bottoms -dredding itt D:

[Art]

I got mine on in early 2008 and I had no whitening before hand. I've eaten all the things they said not to... like apples (probably not best to bite into them though), chewing gum, had soft drinks, all been good.

Once you get them on for the first time though it'll be a bit painful and you'll have to get used to how massive your mouth feels :P but your teeth will move super quickly (like a few days) into place and then you won't even notice them until you have to get a new wire or brackets.

I'm not sure about other people but my braces broke heapsss when I first got them... brackets falling off and stuff. It definitely wasn't from hard food... one fell off from a sandwich! So don't get freaked off if anything happens during your first few ... weeks/months.

Alsoooo I think i'll be getting mine off in 8 weeks or so and from what i've heard i'll be getting my teeth cleaned and fit for a retainer too.

One last thing, make sure the wires at the back of your mouth feel right before you leave or else you could be in a lot of pain if they don't cut them short enough!

[louder]

i don't remember the whitening thing so much.

but, they put them on. your teeth feel a bit funny. kinda like numb. but it's alright & that.
but then it will start really hurting. and i mean, really hurting. like, you can't eat anything solid because you cannot bite.
and it's not even like just biting hurts. like, they just hurt man.
& the bits of wire at the side cut your cheeks up really bad.

and you'd think that once you've got them on, atleast it's over once your teeth stop hurting after about a week.
but it feels exactly the same every single time you get them tightened. for the same amount of time.

braces suck man.
worth it when you get them off though.

WEAR YOUR RETAINERS THOUGH

i didn't & although they only moved back a wee little bit, i still regret not wearing mine.