well, sort of.
Big had the full train track braces removed a couple of weeks ago. But before they were removed, she had a fixed retainer put on to the back of her lower teeth and she now has a removeable retainer for her top teeth. The journey isn’t anywhere near over, but this is an easier step.
She still has to be very careful with her teeth care. She uses mouthwash, special floss that has a stiff bit, a fluffy bit and a normal bit (says this is particularly good for cleaning behind the fixed bit and wishes she’d had it all along. I’ve yet to find a good source of this – the dentist was cheaper than any of the local chemists which isn’t normal.) But I think we’re past our need for dental wax now, and this part doesn’t seem to be nearly as painful as the braces were at times.
We posted some before and after pics of her mouth – I’m hoping she’ll let me share it here. Her teeth didn’t really look that bad to begin with, but this wasn’t about cosmetic dentistry. The biggest problem wasn’t visible – there was a tooth still high in her jaw with no room to descend. If the NHS funded treatment hadn’t been successful with braces, she’d have had to have extractions in hospital to sort it all out, which presumably would have cost rather more. So while her teeth look fantastic now, it wasn’t her looks that were the driving force.
I’m very glad that she has had it done. My teeth are overcrowded and crooked, and it makes it difficult to keep them clean and healthy. I was never told how bad her teeth were – from what I can make out, they must have been graded at least 3 on the scale for her to have been entitled to free orthodontic treatment – I wonder if the orthodontist has it on her record? I must remember to ask.
So, do I have any tips for those of you yet to go through it? Yes.
Plan for soft food around treatment days. When the brace is adjusted you can have up to 48 hours of pain/ discomfort that makes eating even less fun. Soup was popular. Bolognese is good – but not spaghetti. The little bits get stuck around braces too easily – tagliatelli goes down better. Fruit can mostly be managed but needs cutting up, and more acidic fruits or fruit juices can cause pain.
Painkillers. I kept melt type tablets in the car for immediately after appointments. She never took tablets for more than two days running, but it made a lot of difference to her comfort levels, particularly overnight.
We tried a whole variety of interdental brushes and so on – like I said earlier though, the superfloss we’ve only just discovered is far and away the best product for cleaning around the braces themselves. Soft brushes, and you need a bag for carrying it about in, or a guard for the head as you’ll find teeth cleaning needs to happen more often.
I was impressed with how she dealt with it all in the end. We’ve actually had more wobbles since the braces came off than we had when they went on – partly because there’s no end in sight for the fixed retainer or the removeable one. In fact the orthodontist gave us a sheet saying it should stay on forever (not helpful!) In reality I assume we’re looking at another couple of years of the fixed one – which means the three monthly fluoride applications continue. And they aren’t at all fun.
But so far, it’s been worth it.
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