If you’ve just gotten your braces on, or you’re having trouble embracing braces, then it might be time to learn how to wear braces with confidence. Orthodontic treatment like braces, has the power to change lives – but it takes time to create a perfect smile. Throughout the orthodontic treatment process, you have to keep your mind in the game to breeze through it all with ease.
Tips for Embracing Your Braces
If you’ve just gotten your braces on, or you’re having trouble embracing braces, then it might be time to learn how to wear braces with confidence. Orthodontic treatment like braces, has the power to change lives – but it takes time to create a perfect smile. Throughout the orthodontic treatment process, you have to keep your mind in the game to breeze through it all with ease.
Remember You Are Working Towards A Beautiful Smile
If you find yourself lacking confidence, just remember that you are working toward something marvelous; a beautiful smile. Braces work slowly to correct the alignment of your teeth because great things take time. If you want a truly accurate, satisfactory result, you’ll have to put in the leg work. In the end, your hard work will pay off in the form of a lifetime’s worth of flashy smiles. You should try to always remind yourself that you are on the path to a perfect smile.
Braces are Extremely Common
If the thought of wearing braces makes you worried about becoming an outcast, you should know that over four million other people across the United States get braces each year. Both adults and children alike use this common orthodontic solution to correct their bites and restore the alignment of their teeth. Even if you need additional appliances, such as headgear or rubber bands, you can easily find comfort knowing that there are millions of others going through a similar journey – or know someone who has.
Braces are Temporary
Time passes swiftly and wearing braces is only a temporary measure to help you achieve your smile goals. On average, the braces process takes between 18 and 36 months, depending on the severity of your bite and alignment issues. Once your teeth properly shift into place, you can have the braces removed, revealing your bright and happy smile. So, remember, before you know it, your time wearing braces will be a thing of the past – leaving you beaming toward a bright future.
You Can Make Braces Fun and Colorful
With a simple request, your orthodontist can skip the drab metal bracketry and use all your favorite bracket colors. You can opt for brackets of all the same color or add a rainbow array to beautifully enhance your smile with braces. Popular color requests include:
- Favorite professional sports team colors
- We see many NFL, NCAA, NHL, NBA, and MLB bracket color requests.
- Middle school or high school colors
- Holiday-themed colors
- Common colors represent Christmas, 4th of July, Halloween, and St. Patrick’s Day.
While you wait for the corrections to take place, you can have a great time flashing your colorful smile everywhere you go.
Most Foods are Still on the Menu
Despite the hype, most foods are still on the menu when you wear braces. It is suggested that after getting your braces on and after adjustment appointments that you stick to softer foods to minimize discomfort. You can resume your regular eating habits as soon as you are comfortable doing so. As you eat meals and snacks, you will discover your personal preferences when it comes to the best food choices while wearing braces.
Although you have minimal dietary restrictions while wearing braces, eating certain foods are not recommended as they can damage your braces or cause cavities. Directly biting into a whole apple, for example, can put pressure on your gums, causing discomfort. The same goes for carrots and corn as well. Other foods, such as sticky candies, can stick fast to the wires and brackets, leaving you searching for a way to dislodge it all for hours afterward.
You can check out a full list of foods you can and can’t eat with braces here.
A Care Kit Can Help You Stay Prepared
Confidence with braces is improved significantly when you know your smile is free of food particles and plaque. You can stay prepared and confident in your braces by carrying a small care kit along with you. Your kit should include at least the following in order to keep you prepared for whatever braces related issue comes your way:
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Interdental pick
- Floss and threaders
- Lip balm
- Orthodontic wax
- Sugar-free gum
- Extra rubber bands
With these items always on hand, you can easily care for your braces by removing debris from your braces and cleaning your teeth. These items can also help improve your comfort as you cope with the demands of having braces.
You Can Still Be Comfortable!
One of the most common complaints our patients have when they first get braces is that they are not used to the way that braces feel in their mouth. Your comfort while wearing braces doesn’t need to be sacrificed if you have the right tools to help you.
Wax for Braces
You can keep your lips and gums comfortable by using wax to cover any abrasive areas on the brackets or wires. By forming this soft wax over those areas, you can keep scratches and ulcers from developing. The wax will stay in place for an extended period of time, only flaking off as it grows brittle. This will help until your mouth becomes adjusted to the brackets and archwires in your mouth. You can even brush and floss your teeth twice a day without disturbing the wax or having to reapply. Once the wax wears away, just put another piece on to stay comfortable.
Salt Water Rinses for Braces
Another tip for comfort as you wear your braces is to utilize a salt water rinse. By adding just a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to a glass of warm water, you can create an effective rinse to use all day. Simply pour a small amount of this mixture into your mouth and gargle for 30 seconds to ease inflammation. The salt in the rinse can also kill bacteria and help promote healing of your oral tissues. This is especially useful when you first get your braces on, and after adjustments when your mouth may be tender.
At Laster Orthodontics, we help families develop healthy, life-changing smiles using customized treatments, cutting-edge technologies, and caring relationships. Our individualized treatment plans help our patients achieve their perfect smile in the quickest, most painless way possible by utilizing a wide range of options from traditional braces to Propel accelerated treatment to Dr. Laster’s in-house aligner program, Laster Perfect Smile. With three locations throughout the Triangle Area, we create life-changing smiles every day.