The Handy Head Gear Guide

Besides braces, here is another device you may
encounter on your road to perfect teeth. The head gear. Head gear fixes your overbite. It is usually a wire frame inserted into a bracket glued to your back teeth. The strap can either go across your neck, or over your head. Now both of us have head gear. Trust us even though it looks weird, hurts, and is a big pain, it really does work!

Now here are a couple tips for dealing with the headgear:

1. Do not eat while wearing it.
2. Schedule how long you wear it so that it you can fit all your hours in without screwing up your day.
3. Wear it routinely. You will just pay for the time you skip wearing it by having to wear it longer.

We know it's hard, but, if you do end up getting headgear, following these tips will make it a lot easier.

- Amanda and Erik

Predicting the Pain

One question that's frequently asked when people get their braces is “how much does it hurt?" There are two main time periods where the pain is apparent.

The first period is when you are getting your braces put on. There isn’t much pain in this part since all the orthodontist is doing is cementing the braces on your teeth. After you have the wires set in, your teeth might be a bit sore (the amount of pain may vary from person to person).

The second time period is the first week or so of having your braces. During this time your mouth pretty much will have a constant, dull ache to it.

Other common ailments to look out for are when you get your braces on the metal will rub against the inside of your cheeks. This can really hurt, especially if you cheeks get really ripped up. Chewing hard food is also kind of painful, but by the second week you will hardly notice them anymore!

Here are some useful tips for dealing with the pain
of your new braces!

1. To cure those painful cuts on the inside of your cheeks, try getting dental wax and sticking it to the wires and braces where its rubbing your cheek. Although this is a good temporary fix, the best thing you can do is tough it out till your mouth gets used to the braces and don’t rub your cheeks.
2. For the first week, its usually a good idea to eat only soft foods and lots of liquids!
3. Another thing for the first week, brush carefully so as to not break anything and not hurt your sensitive mouth.

We know that, if you are going to be getting braces soon or in the future, you might be nervous about this part. But don't worry, you'll get through it!

-Erik and Amanda

The Health in Hygiene

Careful hygiene is especially important when you have braces. Not to sound like your mother or dentist. This includes flossing, brushing, and extracting hard to reach bits of food stuck in between your braces.

One of the reasons this is necessary is because when you have a piece of food under your wire for a while, it starts to rot (gross, right) and makes your breath smell bad. Another obvious reason is that if you smile and there is, for example, lettuce stuck in your teeth, everyone can see it and it’s very embarrassing. Brushing is also important because when you get them taken off, if you haven’t brushed, there will be small white squares on your teeth with yellow all around it! So remember brush, brush, brush!

Here are some tips for your dental hygiene:
1. Buy waxed floss as it is easier to stick under the wire and will make your job of flossing a bit easier.
2. Make sure to brush above your braces for the top and below them for the bottom.
3. Use a toothpick or something similar to push out those chunks of food stuck in your braces. Carrying one around with you is also helpful when you go out to eat!

-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

Damaging Delectables

Hey, we're here to talk to you about what you can and can’t eat while wearing your new braces! When you first get them on, the orthodontist will list off a variety of foods that you are not allowed to eat while wearing your braces. This list includes essentially all hard and chewy candies and foods, such as popcorn, caramel, gum, ice, stale bread, and rock candy.

While it is smart to generally stay away from these foods for the first few weeks of wearing the braces, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t eat any of these foods. It is a good idea to at least wait until you have had your braces tightened for the first time before eating any of these banned foods. Your parents might not be too thrilled if you damage your braces accidentally after only having them on for a week!

Now while your orthodontist may say never to eat these items, in reality you can eat all the foods you ate before getting braces. If you’re like me, it would be very hard to give up eating that delicious popcorn. Or caramel. In general these foods just get stuck in your braces and are a pain to get out, but it’s nothing a good tooth brushing can’t solve!

Here are some useful tips on how to eat those delectables, but without the damage!

1. Instead of chewing on hard candies and caramel, suck on them first.
2. When eating popcorn, try using your molars as much as possible and stay away from unpopped kernels!
3. When chewing gum, avoid sticking it in the side of your cheek because it is very easy to get the gum stuck in the wires and nearly impossible to get it out.

While all this may seem straightforward, it is worth it to be careful when eating those restricted foods. For example you could be busily munching away at a piece of caramel, when suddenly you feel a sharp poke in the side of your cheek. Turns out you just broke the wire holding your teeth straight. That wire will continue to jab you in the cheek, painfully, until you get it fixed by your orthodontist. We know its annoying to have to watch what you're doing while you eat, but it's less annoying than a broken wire!

- Amanda and Erik