Braces

[AOIIalum]

My oldest son has been undergoing treatment for about 5 years now for a Class III Malocclusion. We finally got to the "full mouth of braces" stage today and he's miserable. He's been through SO much with his mouth and jaw, and it'll still be another 2 years for this phase of treatment.

Any tried and true tips or hints to make the next few days more bearable for him? We've got the routine orthodontist instructions to follow, of course. Since he's been in treatment for so long he's used to mouth hardware, oral care and food restrictions, even so he's just a sad young man this evening.

[kappaloo]

Condolences to your son.
I had braces for 4 years. My biggest tip is medication. Let him have his tylenol (in correct dosages of course) as needed. I also found that for follow-up tightenings, taking a tylenol a half hour before the appt really helped. Oh, and wax. Not too much, because the sad reality is that his gums do need to toughen up a bit, but putting it places where there is noticeable pain is good.

Oh, and freezies. Mmm...

[swissmiss04]

Taking liquid Tylenol as opposed to tablets/capsules seems to bring relief faster.

[WCUgirl]

Wax is a must. Another good thing to use is (and this is going to sound wierd but it works I promise!) the wax-coated denture papers. Cut them up into smaller strips and place them over your braces while eating. Works wonders...especially on the days after a tightening.

[PM_Mama00]

Milkshakes and icecream, allllllll day.

[FiReKraCkEr]

I'm 22 and I still have braces....oh the joy. I got them almost two years ago and know they suck because my tteth are straigh and I still have to wait to get them off...

However, I get told that I look cute with them and they make me look younger. *shrugs*

[amgn253]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
Milkshakes and icecream, allllllll day.

I concur.

[kateshort]

Awwww! *hug* Tylenol and ice cream is a great combo. Cold pudding if the ice cream is too cold. Nice liquid or squishy foods like soup or applesauce or pasta can also help-- you don't necessarily want to chomp on apples and carrots the day you've been tightened. You may want to talk about good foods to eat that day or the next day-- can't always have a non-crunchy choice at school.

I got my full braces on my birthday, the summer before 6th grade. (I'd had headgear and an expander for a year before that-- that's another whole circle of hell by itself!) I got them partially off in December of my senior year, after having jaw surgery the previous June. I think they actually came all the way off a month before I went to college. Dunno what class it was, but it was an underbite. Ick.

Best of luck to your whole family, and I hope he doesn't ever have to have jaw surgery.

[Schmeer]

Speaking of braces, anyone hear any negative or positive stories about Invisalign?

[AOIIalum]

According to son's orthodontist, they're good for adults who don't want all the metal on their mouth. They're also good for minor adjustments. DS will actually have an invisalign-type appliance for his upper retainer once the braces go off, and will probably wear that long-term (into adulthood.)

kateshort, were you dealing with a maloclussion also? Surgery was suggested in our case, but since he's still growing (almost 14 years old) we decided to not go that route. He's had the expander, head gear, spacers, upper and lower bands, etc before now...and now the braces. Ugh.

[carnation]

The orthodontist decided that our fifth daughter needed braces after all--just as she was entering her senior year. (Why couldn't he have decided it 2 years ago?) We hope she'll get them off before college.

Anyway, she had the expander in the spring and is now in full bands. I too am trying to remember all the tips for braces wearers..we're keeping a large stock of tuna on hand for tightening days.

[kateshort]

Originally posted by AOIIalum
kateshort, were you dealing with a maloclussion also? Surgery was suggested in our case, but since he's still growing (almost 14 years old) we decided to not go that route. He's had the expander, head gear, spacers, upper and lower bands, etc before now...and now the braces. Ugh.

Heh... I thought I'd written that part! Yeah, I had an underbite or "bulldog" bite. I had two upper and two lower pre-molars removed while I was in braces, because I had a lot of teeth in a small mouth. By the beginning of my junior year, I could clench my back molars and my front teeth wouldn't be touching-- in fact, I could stick my tongue out with my back teeth clenched-- and if I bit into a salami and cheese sandwich the bread and maybe the cheese would be eaten, but the salami would still be sitting there. It ended up being a medical/health thing (due to the slowly increasing inability to eat easily), as well as a figure thing.

I'm PM'ing you with the surgery details. We also were hoping to avoid surgery and waiting for me to stop growing. Feh.

I still have my freakin' braces on after 3 years and I am 23! I don't know exactly what was wrong with my mouth because I didn't care enough to listen. Why? I was irritated I had to have them put on because I have had major troubles with my old "trusty" teeth. What I do know though is I have had a full mouth of braces for the whole time I have had braces. The first 6 months of braces I had this thing attached to the back top bands that suctioned to the roof of my mouth. You think the braces are a curse? Have that suction cup thingy in your mouth for 6 months that causes you to have a lisp. AHHHH!

I also had 2 extra molars in my mouth. You're supposed to have 12, I had 14. Because of the extra molars and my bad TMJ, I was given a choice of having the spare molars pulled or have TMJ surgery. I might still have the TMJ surgery depending on the severity of the TMJ after the braces are taken off. The braces are supposed to correct the TMJ. Don't know how but that's up to the orthodontist.

I had 4 wisdom teeth extracted at the same time. I had the little string thing under the tongue snipped. In the summer before 2nd grade, I fell on a trampoline bar that was steel and not padded. Needless to say, I busted my mouth open and busted the string thing that connects the upper lip to the top gum.

My best suggestion for your son is good brushing, rinse with warm salt water and then some minty mouthwash, and some Ibuprofen. The salt water and mouth wash causes the gums to stop swelling. That might be causing some of the pain. For his lips being cut, use some wax. Oh! Make him floss, yea, I know, it's a real pain with braces. Flossing also helps the gums to stop swelling.

Good luck to your son and all those out there with braced up mouths!

[erniegurl00]

I have braces, and I'm 22. I also got braces for my TMJ, but I'm hoping that I'll be getting them off very, very soon.

I agree with everyone with the tylenol and wax. Also be careful with the wax because it's just plain gross. It's hard (at least for me) to remove it from between the braces. Yuck. Sometimes I use oragel for extreme pain. I often have springs on my bands, which really hurt the mouth. Also try babyfood. It's reasonably cheap and have some good tasting stuff!

Remind him that braces are temporary and that there will be a payoff when it's done. Just tell him to stick in there, and maybe get him something fun to keep his mind off of it.

braces .......one word.....Yuck! luckly i was giventhe option of clear ones ( yeah! the tightening was the worse. I go them off at 18 and at 20 ruin my entire mouth of teeth in a quad runner accident.