By some incredibly fortunate confluence of events I find myself in the following predicament: This coming Thursday, the day after tomorrow, I will voluntarily subject myself to the pain and torture provided by my friendly local orthodontist in hopes of perfecting my smile and correcting my bite. After receiving a message from a business contact and friend, I followed up on a great opportunity and I now have a lunch meeting to interview for a wonderful job.
The braces go on Thursday, the interview is on Friday. It’s a lunch meeting. At a barbecue restaurant. I just know I’m going to wind up looking like a drunken, drooling idiot. So, how bad should I expect this all to turn out, anyways? At this point I’ll be happy if I don’t spit on him accidentally during lunch. And don’t even get me started on the worries about lunch in my teeth!
So I turn to you, fellow dopers. Lay it on me. Help me realize the nightmarish potential of this encounter. Will I be able to spit out a few coherent syllables? Will I be lucky if I can even get my name out? Should I stick to a milkshake, or can I risk a salad? I need to know!
I wore braces twice; the second time as an adult. The braces themselves don’t take an awful lot of getting used to; but when they’re tightened, they make your teeth and gums extremely sore. If you don’t want to reschedule having the braces put on, maybe you can ask if they’ll cement them on and band them (to get rid of the sharp edges, then schedule an appointment for a few days later to have the guide wires put in. Unless you’re getting a bite plate or palate spreader, you probably won’t have trouble speaking or drooling issues with just the braces. I don’t remember having any more trouble then normal when speaking with braces on; I just didn’t feel like moving my mouth much for a day or so when I’d have them adjusted.
Also, if you do have them put all on; you will not want to put anything in your mouth. (You just won’t want to, it’s not that you’re recommended to not eat.) Chewing is pretty painful for a few days after you have your wires tightened, so having a lunch meeting will probably not be a fun experience for you.
Well speaking from experience your mouth is going to be too sore to chew anything even remotely tough. For the first week or two after I had to push food against my teeth instead of actually biting down. I wouldn’t reshedule (if they are anything like my ortho they are booked rather full) I’d just stick to soup or maybe some sort of soft pasta that you could nibble at. The interviewer would probably just chalk it up to nerves.
Use dental wax over the brackets and wires and Anbesol (or like OTC product) to deal with the gum and inner lip pain.
The teenager didn’t eat anything solid for three days after he had his braces put on. And he doesn’t eat anything for about 24 hours after he has them tightened. He had lots of shakes, puddings, applesauce and popsicles. You can’t really have a popsicle at lunch though. Take the advil (or whatever pain releiver your doctor recommmends) before you are already hurting.
As for food in the brackets and wires, everything sticks, bread, meat, and lettuce seem to be the worst looking.
Your teeth are going to hurt too much to eat anything really solid, anyway; after I got mine my teeth hurt for at least the first two weeks straight. Then every time they were tightened after that, they’d hurt for several days. I’m not saying, “Ha, ha! You’re in for it!” but do know that when your orthodontist mentions “discomfort,” he/she really means “PAIN!”
If you can reschedule the braces, that might not be a bad idea, but if you can’t reschedule for weeks and weeks, I’d go ahead with it. Anybody who has had braces will understand, and anybody who doesn’t is an ass. Really.
BTW, getting them put on didn’t hurt much, though watch out for that glue – it tastes TERRIBLE! And good luck with the interview!
Thanks for all the advice! I hadn’t thought about anbesol yet, I’ll have to pick some up!
I’m thinking on just ordering a milkshake or some soup, but I don’t want to seem like a fussy eater. I think he’ll be understanding if I explain the situation, though. I’m still worried about getting used to talking. I tend to have difficulty as it is, unless I really concentrate on enunciating clearly (mostly due to my bite, which will be corrected in a matter of two years, huzzah!) and the position I’m applying for will be mostly talking up legislators and clients.
So, let’s see: pain-killers, check. No solid foods, check. Topical analgesic, check. Dental wax, mucho check. At least it’s on a Friday, and I’ll have the weekend to crash. ::sigh::
Braces are the most widely used medieval torture weapon in existance. And they make you pay for it!
I had the full metal job when I was 13 (about 10 years ago). It took a few days for the pain and swelling to subside enough for me to eat substancial solids. Also, kiss peanuts goodbye; the time it takes to dig them out of the Infernal Contraption is way too long. Oh, and having leafy greens snagged in them, leaving a nice string of vegetation stick halfway down your throat.
Drooling/spitting wasn’t a problem for me. I did find that I would ocassionally bite my lip/tongue though.
To put it in perspective, I’ve had fillings done a few times. I didn’t begin to tense-up and panic at the dentist until my braces.
If your employer is understanding, they should accept the fact that you might be a bit doped up and tired at the interview
Eat something that you can handle before the interview, and then brush your teeth thoroughly. At the interview, stick to soup or something, and explain that you just got the braces yesterday, so you might be talking funny.
You can minimize a little of the pain and speed some of your recovery time by making sure your dentist uses The Wand. This is a computer controlled solenoid injection pump that reduces swelling and the after effects of novocaine injection.
Most of the undesireable side effects of dental injections are the result of too fast an inject rate which separates tissues in the jaw. Much of the drooling and post-operative numbness is due to overdose of the anesthetic. A lot of this is avoidable. I cannot overstate how much less pain and suffering the use of this device is responsible for. Your gum line will hurt enough without having to worry about a sore injection site (or three).
Definitely explain it to the interviewer. They should be totally understanding about it, and it could lead to some good ice-breaking conversation. The initial portion of the interview is usually the most awkward for both parties anyway. The new braces will give you something to talk about.
And it’s fine to order soup or anything you feel comfortable with. Ordering something that won’t tear apart your mouth with new braces does not make you a picky eater.
For me, my mouth hurt more in week right before I got my braces, due to the spacers they put in. After the agony of those, the braces were almost a relief. Maybe my braces took up less space between my teeth than than the spacers.
Did any of you get braces and not have to have spacers?
My appt. on Thursday is to get the braces put on, but they never mentioned having to get spacers to me. I’ve heard that that’s usually the most uncomfortable part, but I’m curious if maybe they’re just going to put the spacers on Thursday instead of the whole she-bang.
Don’t worry about embarrassing yourself. Braces show that you’re willing to take that extra step and endure great pain, hardship and personal expense to achieve a fairly intangible goal, something highly sought after in new employees.
Sorry. Just working on my interviewing skills. Rumor has it I’m going to be laid off in a couple weeks.
JETGIRL, I’ve never had braces, so I do not know if they perform anesthesia to do so. I’m assuming that they do.
It seems as though you have needle fear. This is one of the very best reasons for you to want The Wand. You feel literally nothing! It is one of the best patient oriented advances in this department since the invention of the toothbrush. My dentist agreed with me how it was a complete boon for pediatric dentistry as well. Please be sure to inquire about this with your own dentist, you’ll be glad you did.
It’s not so much that I have needle fear. I can handle needles and other sharp & pointies as long as I can see where they are and what they’re doing. Getting stitches in my knee was one of the neatest things I’ve ever seen. (And I am tattooed, btw)
However, I’ve never actually had any dental work done before at all. No cavities, crowns, root canals, nada. Zip, zero, zilch. Just my regular cleanings. So I really don’t know what to expect other than what I’ve read.
As far as I know, there’s no need for anaesthesia (although I could be horribly mistaken!), but that wand thingy sounds excellent for when I get my wisdom teeth extracted.
I don’t remember having any anesthesia when I had my braces put on. It didn’t really hurt while they were putting them on, except when they accidentally stuck me with wire; it’s afterward that the pain came on.
I had braces way back when I was in fifth grade. First thing I got was the bands around my molars, and a night brace. I might have gotten braces on my bottom teeth then, or shortly later. Shortly after that, I broke one of my front teeth right down the middle, needing a root canal and metal pins. (NOT fun. The temporary coating falling off on a regular basis before the root canal and pin made me overreact, especially when it happened while eating. Compared to the trauma from breaking my tooth, going to the orthodontist was a breeze.) Because I didn’t have a “real” tooth to cement the little metal thing to, both of my front teeth got bands. What hurt the most was adjusting the wire, and going to stronger strength rubber bands, and I was only on the two lowest strengths.
The only painkiller that even touched the pain for me was Anacin, which is aspirin with caffeine. Tylenol didn’t do a single thing.
And yes, eating can be painful. When I saw the orthodontist, my parents made sure to have spaghetti for dinner.
And I have a story that tops bad orthodontist scheduling stories. I scheduled an appointment for my birthday, and did not even understand the concept of rescheduling then. My orthodontist celebrated the occasion by playing “Happy Birthday” on the air gun.
