What is the whole process of getting Braces?

Okees, I've been wearing 'em for two months. Speaking with experience. They put something to hold your mouth open, yeah, but it didn't hurt me at all. It's not bad at all- that's not the biggest problem. The actual process doesn't hurt much- he'll put slight pressure on your teeth and all that, but it's not a lasting pain until... After you get it, it begins to hurt about an hour later. The brackets break up your gums, the wire will as well, and it'll be pretty hellish for a while. Take painkillers like oragel, advil, and tylenol. I got used to it about two, three weeks later. Eat soft foods that can't get stuck in your braces or break them- soup is always a plus, and salmon or mac n' cheese is good. Soft fish is good too. Whatever you do, don't eat gum or anything chewy. Meat isn't a good idea either, and I personally couldn't eat pizza whole for another month. The process? In all, it takes about two hours, maybe a bit more. First they put a tube in your mouth to suck up the saliva (doesn't hurt at all, don't worry) and then they clean your teeth. For me, they put a UV-light activated glue on each of the braces. They'd put a bracket on, then shine this UV light on my teeth. It was actually pretty cool, except the UV thing looked like a gun. Anyway, he just repeats that for a while, then when all the brackets are on, he'll put the wire in. The wire will poke the sides of your mouth until he bends it in, just warning you. Me, I was lucky enough to have the brackets and wire put on a week apart, so I could get used to it. Sort of. I started getting the rubber bands about a month later, once I was used to the braces themselves. There's a chance you won't even need the bands, but many people do. The bands make your teeth kinda sore for a day or two, but then you get used to those. My problem is I keep losing them XD Personally, I entertained myself by watching every move the orthodontist made and analyzing, me being scientific. Some offices have TVS. Other than that, all you really can do is twiddle your thumbs and daydream. Good luck, hope this helps :)

yes they do use an expander thing to spred your mouth, its just so they can get all the spots and not get anything on your mouth since it is like cement. gettting them on doesnt really hurt, well they didnt for me. it just hurts after cause your teeth are changing. so it will hurt when you get the first on or when you go get them tightend. i recomend eating something not so hard and chewy like a steak. maybe soup or noodles, yogurt, mashed potatoes. its totally your choice about how much pain you can take. i didnt get rubber bands at all, i guess it depends what problem you have or what dentist. and im sure you can bring in music to keep yourself occupied. hope it helps atleast a bit haha.

I know the idea of going for a 2 hr appointment to have braces put on sounds scary but really it isn't. There only pain you will experience is when they are putting on these metal crowns that go around the back molars to hold the wire for the braces. They have to figure out which size best fits. My molars were already soar from wearing the spacers for a couple days that them pushing on and pulling off these different sized crowns was kind of painful. The rest is fine. A lot of time is spent making sure they place the brackets in the exact, precise spot. This is what take sup most of the two hours and this part has no pain, no buzzers or loud noises. They will put the coloured elastics on today because this is what keeps the wire in place. Your mouth will probably hurt for about 2-3 days. The first day will be the worst. Your mouth feels kind of swollen and soar and so you don't really feel like biting down or chewing anything. I suggest soup, pudding, and yogurt. You might be able to manage something like spaghetti or lasagna as well. You dno't really need to worry too much about keeping your mind off the situation because there is a lot of interaction between you and the orthodontist while they are putting them on. You might though want to bring your ipod and listen to some soothing music. at that point you won't really want to be listening to anything other than calm, relaxing stuff so stay away from the angry screamo stuff. It really isn't all that bad and you'll get through it. One more tip : when I first looked at my mouth in the mirror I started crying. I thought it was soo ugly. The braces look weird because they are all bent to go along with your crooked smile but guess what? It straightens out really quickly!! I saw improvement after the first couple days! Just realize that the crooked smile your looking at will soon be gone. Even braces look better on straight teeth!

If your orthodontist told you that you were going to get an expander on the top or bottom of your mouth then you will. If he hasn't mentioned it, that means that you don't need one and he won't put one on you. Braces don't hurt at all while your getting them on, and they normally hurt for about a week or maybe even 2. If your teeth aren't hurting when you get them on, you should be able to eat about anything as long as you tear it and chew with your back teeth. I would stick with soup and anything soft just to be on the safe side. They won't put your rubber bands on today, but they will put bands over the brackets. I think you are referring to elastics which you use near the end of your treatment to fix your bite. Some people don't even have to wear them. It normally doesn't take 2 hours to get your braces on. Just think about what you are going to do tomorrow, or at school. It should be a breeze. I would suggest you brush your teeth when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed. You should also floss and use mouthwash so you'll teeth will be pretty and white when you get them off. Hope this helped.

It really depends on what kind of treatment you are going to receive. My daughter's friend had an expander appliance in the roof of her mouth. They had a "key" and had to turn it at certain intervals. My daughter did NOT have to have one of those. When they put her braces on, they put a plastic thing in her mouth that held her mouth open. It wasn't a painful thing for her, but her lips were really chapped when they were finished because it stretched them out. It does not hurt at all to have braces put on your teeth. They basically glue them on. (Back in the early 1980's my orthodontist literally used Elmer's glue for my front brackets!) Once they get the brackets on - and they might not put all of them on at the same time, it depends if your teeth are all in - like your 12 year molars - it may feel rough, but bear with them... they're not finished yet. They will put an arch wire on (goes through the center of each bracket, it's a "smart metal" that will bend back to its original shape (even if your teeth are higher and lower or farther in or out, it wire is "tied" to the brackets and will pull the teeth back to the wire's original shape). After the arch wire is in place (that doesn't hurt either) they will probably use tiny colored (or not) rubber bands to hold the arch wire in place in the brackets. That's how my daughter's started out. Since then they have also used an "elastic chain/powerband" for moving some teeth a particular way or holding the in place. Sometimes they just use other wires and twist them around the archwire & brackets. None of this stuff hurts. When they get everything on and in place you should feel around in your mouth with your tongue or just move your mouth around to make sure nothing is poking you. They can fix that! Usually it's just a wire that needs to be trimmed up or tucked under. The soreness you'll feel (my daughter was kind of sore but never took even a Tylenol for it!) is once your teeth start moving. It's a little uncomfortable, but don't worry. You may feel that for 2-3 days each time you go back for an adjustment. I gave my daughter milkshakes, pudding, jello, yogurt, ice cream, soup, applesauce, popsicles, etc. You asked about rubber bands...do you mean the colored ones? Like I said, they will probably use those, and maybe later go to wires or the powerchain thing. Rubber bands that hook on at your upper canine teeth & hook on at the lower molars will probably not happen til later in your treatment. Everyone's mouth is different and it is just a matter of what shape your mouth is in now if it's just that your teeth are crooked or if your bite is off or if you have an overbite or an underbite, etc. To keep your mind off of what they're doing, think up lots of questions to ask them. Don't be afraid to ask ANYTHING. They are there to HELP you get the best treatment possible and are rooting for you the whole way. The other thing you can think about is how you'll (probably) be getting out of school to do that while your classmates are studying. :o)