Fighting With Braces

NOTE: This post is not saying fighting is good or bad. We are only trying to give some basic tips in case you do get into a fight. As teenagers we hear about many fights at our local high school, and they are not that uncommon. This is just meant to help you avoid ruining your mouth.

One thing to keep in mind is, if you get into a fight you might get punched in the mouth. With braces, this will be very painful. If you get hit with your mouth closed, the inside of your mouth will get pretty cut up. There is basically nothing you can do to prevent this except not get hit in the mouth! On the up side, if you get hit with your mouth open, the other persons hand will get hurt. Our dad told us a story from back in 1976 when he was in 7th grade. He got into a fight with another boy from his grade, while he had the old school type of braces, the ones that go all the way around each tooth. The other boy punched him in the mouth while he had his mouth open. Our dad said that although he didn’t feel anything, the other guy’s knuckles were cut up really badly! So although those were with the old braces, the new ones would probably do the same thing to someone’s hand!

One thing you can do is bite your back teeth. This will prevent your teeth from clacking together and it will help to prevent getting a broken jaw if you get hit there. After all the work of getting braces this would definitely be a setback!

Apart from constantly wearing a mouth guard (which if it is fight that was set up, as in you know when and where it will be, we would recommend wearing), there is really nothing you can do to protect your braces and mouth if you get into a fight. Keep all the work and effort you have put into your mouth/smile, and try to avoid any fights while you are still wearing your braces.

-Amanda and Erik

Loose Bracket

Sometimes you will have a bracket fall off or get knocked off your tooth from eating or something. When the bracket isn’t attached it will not pull or tighten that tooth so its important to fix it as soon as possible.

Usually you can schedule an appointment so we would recommend doing that soon. Usually your orthodontist will go through the whole procedure of glueing your bracket back on, so its nothing you haven’t done before.


Here are some tips for the time period before your appointment:

1. Try not to play with it because you can dislodge other brackets and ruin the wire.
2. Try not to eat on the part of your mouth where your loose bracket is that way you won’t damage it more.


So if you feel in your mouth one day that something is loose or you hear a crack after you bite into that hard piece of bread, don’t be alarmed! It happens to everyone at one point and is very simple to fix. Just remember to schedule that appointment!

-Amanda and Erik

Bracket Bands

When you get your braces on, depending on what is wrong with your teeth, you will get different types of bands to fit over your wire.

Type A: For this type of band, there is an individual band per tooth. This band’s sole purpose is to hold your wire in place over your teeth. You can customize the colors of these.

Type B: These are called chain bands. They can span anywhere from over two teeth to your whole upper or lower set of teeth. The chain band is tighter and more evenly spaced than the first type. These are used to correct spaces in between your teeth. The chain-type is also more painful the first few days since your wire is already pulling your teeth straight and this band adds even
more pressure. Another difference is that your
orthodontist may put in a chain band anywhere after you get your braces, your band type can change throughout your time with braces. You can customize the colors of these, but they come in one color per whole chain so choose wisely!

For both of these bands, although type B is harder, it is difficult to floss with them in. But if you use our previously mentioned tips for cleaning (post Cleaning Techniques), it is possible!

-Amanda and Erik

Rainbow of Rubber

After the orthodontist puts on your braces, they will probably ask you what color bands you want. Bands can come in all imaginable colors, including sparkly versions. If you're reading this before you're getting your braces on, keep in mind that not all orthodontists offer color choices, nor do they all have the same colors.

Here are some useful tips for choosing a color:
1. NO WHITE! After a while the white turns yellow from food stains and is very unattractive. Plus even if you avoid that, the contrast makes your teeth look yellow!
2. Don’t get yellow, for similar reasons as number 1.
3. If you're going to go with holiday colors remember you're going to be keeping them on for a while after the holiday.

When I (Amanda) first got my braces, I wanted to get black bands because it’s my favorite color. Everyone told me, "Don't get black, it won't look good" but I got black anyway and the bands looked fine in my opinion. Moral is to get whatever color you want regardless of what other people say because it's your mouth and you’re the one wearing the braces!

- Erik and Amanda