# My son is getting braces tomorrow **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735 "2010-01-13T01:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/21 "2010-01-13T21:14:00Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Make sure he brushes and uses mouthwash. No corn on the cob. God, this makes me laugh. Corn on the cob is my favorite food and I refused to give it up when I had braces (I didn’t get them until my 20’s). I could only eat it in the privacy of my own home when I was alone because the end result is like something out of Deliverance. But you do have to be very, very careful when biting into it. Luckily I never did any damage. ---
**Author:** ![MissMossie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/22 "2010-01-13T21:27:45Z")
My favorite food when I had braces was watermelon. My step-mother would keep a bowl full of icy cold watermelon chunks in the fridge for me when I got my braces tightened and I would eat them by smashing them against the roof of my mouth with my tongue. It numbed my mouth which felt great. Hot stuff, like soup, exacerbated the dull, throbbing pain I had after getting them tightened. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/23 "2010-01-14T02:36:44Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > My #1 piece of advice: When he gets them removed, and if they install a brace behind his teeth NEVER have it removed. I had one spanning the front 4-6 teeth on the bottom. Freshman year of college my ortho said, “Oh - you don’t need this anymore. I can take it out if you want.” Guess what? You DO need it. My lower teeth have since crowded up a little. My teeth still get huge compliments at the dentist, but two on the bottom are “standing sideways” a bit. It’s annoying. I had that wire on I think for about six or seven years after my braces came off (they came off in grade nine). It was a long time… My teeth are still fine. The only one that went a little crooked was a back molar, but no big deal. I have a lot of people that comment how straight my teeth are - even other dentists. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/24 "2010-01-14T02:44:56Z")
Another trick is a dose of ibuprofin (Motrin, Advil) _before_ the appts if they’re doing any tightening. Get the anti-inflammatory and pain relief going first. When’s he getting the glasses to complete the adolescent tri-fecta? Thank goodness we aren’t awkward 12 year olds forever. Well, some of us might be, but most of us grow out of it… ---
**Author:** ![Picard\_Kills\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Picard\_Kills\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Picard_Kills_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/25 "2010-01-14T03:59:45Z")
That is good that it doesn’t hurt him now, but wait until tomorrow, or the day after. That’s when the pain will set in. Don’t tell your son, but before my orthodontist would tighten the braces, she would apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/26 "2010-01-14T21:14:42Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Not to worry you unduly, but… it’s my understanding (not knowledge) that when kids get braces that young they often need multiple treatments, or just keep them on for a really long time. This is owning to the new teeth that keep coming in for quite some while. And if they’re crowded when they’re eight. Let’s just say I’m glad I have our orthodontist bill and not someone else’s. Okay, you’ve worried me unduly. He’s got an appointment soon. There goes his college fund. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/27 "2010-01-14T21:21:41Z")
> [@Ceejaytee](#): > > Okay, you’ve worried me unduly. He’s got an appointment soon. There goes his college fund. I had the same issues, they just yanked my baby teeth out to make room - I mentioned this in the wisdom teeth thread, but they started coming in behind the baby teeth, in a second row. I had more teeth yanked than actually fell out on their own, usually 2-4 at a time. Braces didn’t actually go on until I had my adult teeth in. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/28 "2010-01-14T21:24:47Z")
I had ten baby teeth yanked when I was 10 because they wouldn’t come out on their own. Before that I’d had a Frankle device for several years (AWFUL), afterwards they put braces on my bottom teeth and a Lars device on the top ones. Also awful. Eventually they put braces on the top ones and I had rubber bands. I first got the Frankle in second grade and had the braces off my freshman year of high school. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/29 "2010-01-15T05:50:59Z")
braces ain’t too bad on the install What will hurt like a mofo is when he has to have them “adjusted”. Basically, braces drag your teeth into a new position. They drag your teeth through your jaw, wounding you, then you heal with your teeth in a slightly better position. I had braces for years. A minor annoyance most of the time, but for about three days after every adjustment it was murderous pain. Even the slightest pressure was agonizing. Liquid diet for these days. We won’t go too deeply into the time when an overly zealous hygienist actually ripped them off my teeth. Said hygienist got a bit overexcited in tightening them; actually planted a foot on the dental chair for leverage and managed to tear the fool things off my teeth. Hurt like hell. Plus then I had to go through the “fun” of having them reinstalled. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735/30 "2010-01-15T18:39:09Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > braces ain’t too bad on the install > > What will hurt like a mofo is when he has to have them “adjusted”. > > Basically, braces drag your teeth into a new position. They drag your teeth through your jaw, wounding you, then you heal with your teeth in a slightly better position. > > I had braces for years. A minor annoyance most of the time, but for about three days after every adjustment it was murderous pain. Even the slightest pressure was agonizing. Liquid diet for these days. > > We won’t go too deeply into the time when an overly zealous hygienist actually ripped them off my teeth. Said hygienist got a bit overexcited in tightening them; actually planted a foot on the dental chair for leverage and managed to tear the fool things off my teeth. Hurt like hell. Plus then I had to go through the “fun” of having them reinstalled. See, mine never hurt that much after being tightened. When I got new hardware - yes - but not the basic tightening. They just felt…well…_tight_. Maybe that’s a different in dentists? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-son-is-getting-braces-tomorrow/524735.md?page=1)