The Braces Guide

Getting Them On

The first thing you're going to do when the orthodontist calls you is brush your teeth. They will send you out with a toothbrush and toothpaste. I advise you do brush your teeth. The doctors don't want to smell bad breath, and it might be a chance to get bits of food off from a previous meal.

When you come back they are going to take a mold. It's like play dough, and it sticks to your mouth. They have to do it quickly though, so be ready. They put it in the jaw where your braces are going. They hold it there for a few seconds, then they pull it out. It's hardened by the time that happens, so you might be shocked to see a white rock coming out of your mouth.

Next they'll do some things that dentists do. They'll look at your teeth, scrap off some plaque, and maybe brush them again. Then they'll get started. They invite the official doctor in and tell you to lay down. The main piece of your braces is the brackets. They take a little slab of (safe) glue and put it on your teeth where the brackets go. Don't worry about pain medicine. It's not even painful so they don't need to give you any. Then they paste the brackets on and move on to the
next step.

Now the doctor is going to take what looks like a colorful stick and hold it to your mouth. He presses so,e buttons and a light ejects from it. All the stick does is activate the glue. The light causes the glue to stick together to the braces. He/she will press down on them and make sure they're on well enough.

Of you need springs for your teeth, this will happen next. It may apply a little pressure, because they have to stretch it across the tooth and connect it to the other one. Most doctors will warn you about this, but if they don't you know now. What they do is measure your teeth and see how long it needs to be (not with a real tape measure). Then they stretch it over the one tooth and attach it to the brackets on those surrounding teeth.

Now they put color on the braces. It is like a plastic band that they wrap around the brackets to show color. You can pick the colors you want then can chance them on a later appointment. It might pinch a little because you're not used to this. After you've don't it a few times that feeling goes away. They use a tool to put it on. It looks like a metal tweezers. They squeeze it together and the band is released and the colorful strip is on.

To seal it all together they use the same tool, except this time they use what looks like thin bars of metal. The docter twists it on then releases it. After that the process is basically over.