6 Tips for anyone with braces

Tips for Anyone with Braces!

    About 65% of high-schoolers now have had or have braces, so there is a good chance you have them if you are in high-school!  Make sure to use these tips, to maximize your comfort and how well the braces work!!

1.  Use your rubber bands

     This Is probably the hardest thing for me to remember, but use the rubber bands on your braces!!  Your orthodontist will probably give you rubber bands to use with your braces, they are a key part of fixing your bite.  If you don't put them on, it could extend the time you have to wear the braces.  The big of the rubber bands is to pull your teeth forward and back to fix an overbite or under-bite.

2.  Don't use wax if you get braces sores.

     When you first get your braces put on or get them changed slightly, you might get braces sores on the inside of your mouth.  These are caused by the braces rubbing on the inside of your mouth, and it causes a stinging terrible pain.  The orthodontists give you wax to put on the sores to stop the pain, but don't do it!  Short term, the wax will make the pain go away, but it will cause more pain in the future.  If you use the wax, your mouth won't build up callouses, so your mouth will hurt again when the wax goes away.  So don't use the wax, just wait out the pain.

3.  Eating apples, pears or other skinned foods will be uncomfortable.

     Eating fruits is great!  But if you eat pears and apples while you have braces, it can be uncomfortable.  As you eat the fruit, the skin will get stuck in your braces which is annoying and looks weird.  If you eat it at school or work, you could have pear skin in your teeth all day. So either don't eat fruit with skin, or bring a toothbrush to get it out.

4.  Don't eat Taffy, Caramel, or other hard candies.

     They should tell this to you at your orthodontists, but don't eat chewy, sticky, hard candies when you have braces.  If you bite into the taffy, it could break the braces of your teeth, causing you discomfort and extra time wasted because you have to have another appointment to fix it.

5.  Wear a mouth-guard during contact sports.

     If you have braces, you should wear a mouth-guard in most sports, even basketball and soccer.  If you jump up to get a rebound in a game of basketball, you could get hit on your lips or around your mouth.  Two things could then happen: 1. Your cheek skin will be hit onto your braces, which ends up with you having to pick your skin out of your braces and bleeding profusely out of your mouth. 2. The hit could knock part of the braces off of your teeth, causing more inconvenience for you, because you would have to get another appointment.

6.  Brush evenly above and below braces.

Make sure to brush above and below your braces, or else when you get them off the roots of your teeth could be yellow while the tips aren't, or vice versa.  That's not a good look!! So make sure to brush all around your teeth, and floss between your teeth.