I never wore braces personally and
I get the overall theory of braces. It seems so painful… Can one adjust to them pretty easily?Just wondering about the mechanics. Tia!
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It’s not really that painful. When you have braces, you get them adjusted about once a month. When adjusted, you feel some pressure, and maybe a small ache for a few hours, or a day, but after that, you don’t feel any pain.
Then you go back about a month later, get them adjusted, and you feel that pressure again for another day.
Your teeth are never really solid in place, they can move around slowly even without braces. Braces take advantage of the slight “looseness” to move teeth into the desired position.
Even after braces, your teeth can continue to move over time, which is why a lot of people have to wear a retainer.
Basically it’s a wire that is attached to each of the mounts glued to your teeth. They adjust them by tightening the wire, to pull the teeth in a direction that will leave them looking “straight.” They can also use hooks and bands to pull your jaw in a direction so that your upper and lower teeth align as well.
I hated all three years of my braces. My orthodontist was a sadist with god awful breath. I was in pain every day I had them on, worse for the week following any adjustment.
It depends on how off your teeth are. Braces can be very painful. It’s not uncommon for people who have braces to eat liquid foods/soft foods for a few days after their adjustment. There’s a sort of crown that’s placed at one of the molars at each end. These act as anchors for the wire you see in braces. Then when the dentist adjusts the wire, usually they’ll pull it in ever so slightly, but it can be rather painful (tho some less painful, again depending on how offset your teeth are). Do this a few times over several months, and voila, the teeth are corrected.
Once they are corrected, depending on the situation, sometimes the dentist will also require you to wear retainers. As the name implies, retainers ‘retain’ the shape of your teeth orientation. Since they were able to be moved before, they can still move even after the braces are off. Some people who don’t wear retainers find their teeth slightly misalign after some time.
it’s painful at the start, but not a sharp pain, more like an ache, because the wire is pretty tight. you’ll also probably get ulcers. you can ask for some wax so lubricate the inside of your cheeks to prevent ulcers.
but after the first month or so, you’ll get used to it. every month when the orthodontist tightens it, you’ll feel that same ache for maybe a day or 2 and it goes away.
i recommend having toothpicks on you because food will get stuck almost every meal.
When I was wearing braces, back in the late 1900s (when rocks were still runny), they hurt for about a week after getting put on the first time, and for 3-4 days after being tightened (when the wire pulling the teeth into alignment was manipulated to increase pressure). It wasn’t ever really bad, more a constant ache, and I preferred foods I didn’t have to chew too much in those times. But outside of those periods, I didn’t really notice them. There were foods I had to avoid, because they could damage my braces (which would be painful to experience and expensive to correct).
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