Having perfectly aligned teeth have a lot of benefits more than people know. Apart from having the perfect smile that you could flash confidently anytime in every picture, your teeth would be easier to clean and is less prone to tooth decay and any gum diseases. Of course, a lot of people are not born with perfect teeth, and for this reason, a lot of people have opted to get braces put on. A lot of people have contemplated having braces put on, but are too scared to go through with it. If you are one of those people who want to get braces, here are a few things that you need to know and what you should be expecting:
Setting an appointment pre-placement of the braces
When you visit the orthodontist, they wouldn’t automatically put the braces that instantly. There would still be things needed to be done first and they wouldn’t be done in a single day. The orthodontist would take pictures and also ask you to get an X-ray of your teeth beforehand. This is to ensure that they would know exactly how the braces should be put on, and not risk any other infection if a tooth needs to be pulled out for the alignment.
The placement of the braces
After all the preparations needed were done, you would now have an appointment to have the braces put on. The placement of the braces would only take about 1 and a half hours to 2 hours depending on whether a tooth needs to be pulled out. After the braces were put on, it’s only natural to feel slight pain and irritation because of the metal. Some people also found it hard to bite food on the first day after the placement. You would also have to say goodbye to eating hard food like chips and any other crispy food that might damage your wires. But it would only take a few weeks for you to get used to the new material around your teeth. For maintenance, you would also have to brush your teeth regularly and thoroughly, and visit your dentist every month to have your braces adjusted.
Getting your braces removed
After getting braces, you would still be required to wear retainers and yes, you would have to wear them every day and regularly for a few months. Even after your teeth have been aligned by the braces for a few years, retainers would still be needed to be worn for the teeth to ‘retain’ the alignment and get used to it. Failure to regularly wear the retainers could make your teeth crooked again and then back to wearing braces! So for this, it is really important for you to know that once you get braces, you would still endure a little bit of misery through wearing retainers. But there’s absolutely no need to worry about setting your teeth free from the traditional metal braces which look awkward in pictures. Retainers also come in different colors like the brackets, so you could get gold retainer wires or any color of your choice.
Getting braces may seem like a lot of work, but at the end of the day, all the pain and getting used to would all be worth it once they are removed.
