A Bit About Braces

    Hi, you guys wanna learn about braces? Well I can tell you a bit about my time with them. I am currently 9. Your probably thinking "Whoa! Why is he getting braces so early?". It's because of my crowded teeth. This post will be about what I've felt and experienced in my 2 years of braces.

   Before Getting Braces

    "Wait. You have to get an appointment before you get braces? Oh gosh." Well, yes, you do. During my appointment, they took pictures of the inside of my mouth. First they hooked something like a really wide, rounded, double sided, hook on my cheek, and another one on my other cheek (trying to give the best description possible). Thanks to orthodontists, they invent the best, most convenient, tools. So they put that hook-like thing in my mouth and I held the other end so that the tool would pull my cheeks out of the way. The hook didn't hurt, only the stretching of my cheeks hurt. Once they were done taking pictures of the front of my teeth, they needed to take pictures of the back of my teeth, or the inside of my mouth. I still had to pull that hook thing on my cheek but the only difference was that they were going to use a mirror. It was a flat, curved on the corners, mirror with a handle the orthodontist photographer would hold. They took a picture of the reflection on the mirror of my mouth. I can't explain it in exact detail, but I'm sure that there are some videos that show the process. Finally, they were done taking all of the pictures. Later, we went to watch some videos about cleaning and flossing my teeth with my orthodontist. It looked easy and quick on the videos, but it is a lot harder and time consuming. "He should get braces in about 6 months," My orthodontist told me and my mom. Not a big deal, I thought. 6 months is a long time. I'll have quite a long time of happiness until I have to get braces--- but 6 months go by very quickly...

   1st Days With Braces On

    The braces did not hurt when my orthodontist put them on. Actually, I didn't even feel them (they put a bendable "blocker?" in your mouth so your cheeks wouldn't touch your teeth while they put the braces on, but they took it off when they were done)! Wow! I have really good orthodontists! I went to school, feeling quite odd, though, trying to get used to my braces. They felt pretty big in my mouth, probably because I wasn't used to them. At school there was quite a welcoming, everyone was asking, "Do they hurt?" and "How do they feel?". I answered, "They don't hurt, they just feel weird." The "don't hurt" part was true until 5:00. I had taken a nap and when I woke up my incisors started hurting. It's because my teeth were moving and getting closer together. Hurting is usual on the first few days, though, so don't worry. Later, you'll get used to them. However, I had never really had pain in my teeth so that night at dinner I started crying. I also was crying for another reason. Since the dentist said "No hard foods", I had thought that I couldn't have hard foods like almonds for 2 YEARS. Don't worry either because once you get used to braces, you can eat more foods. 

    The next day, the back of my cheek was getting irritated. Later, I found out that the bottom of my back molar brace was rubbing against my cheek. My cheeks are very sensitive. You shouldn't worry if this happens to you because it happens sometimes. It should go away in about a week. "If it really bothers him," my orthodontist said, "just put a little wax on the brace and take the wax off when he's eating. If it doesn't bother him that much then he shouldn't put the wax on. Just wait and his cheek will callus. You want it to callus so it won't bother him." I chose to tough it through and let my cheek callus. Soon enough my cheek felt like it never got annoyed. Later that day, for lunch, my mom made one of the best dishes for my new braces: Avocados and hard boiled egg with soy sauce. The mushy avocado and delicate eggs make the dish easy to devour within seconds. The soy sauce also adds some flavor. Bananas are also nice and soft. Also, if you really like cereal, but now that you have braces you can't eat it, I'd recommend Rice Crispies.