Braces-half my diet has been eliminated!

[SadieKate]

I'm sorry. Bubba started the PayDay thing and I didn't realize the pain issue. I have tried to mend my ways. Between your teeth, V's, Kim's and yellow's dietary complexities, and my failing memory . . . just wait until you're my age.

[jobob]

nooo, it's not a pain issue, it's just that I can't have chewy foods, especially caramel and nuts. Which for PayDay bars pretty much leaves the wrapper

I'm starting to fantasize about what I'm going to eat when I get these stinkers off ...PayDay bars, pecan pie, Xtra chunky peanut butter ... trouble is, if I'm not careful I might be Xtra chunky all over again

[jobob]

But RG, if it helps any, I was back to chewing pretty normally after a few weeks, and I'm back to eating most types of food now - the only major exceptions being the nut and caramel food groups.

A lot of foods fall into the "more trouble than they're worth" category at the moment, since tey're such a hassle to either eat or get out of my braces later - corn on the cob, barbeque ribs (oh I do miss them!!) . In theory I shouldn't have popcorn either but it's not much of a problem nowadays (except I have to do an extra round of brushing to get the detrius out, ewwww).

As for your here & now, I found it was much easier to eat salad when I chopped it up finely (think tortilla filling).

Jo, fantasizing about BBQ ribs and corn on the cob & pecan pie, arrghhhh

[annie]

You can eat popcorn, JoBob ????? That was the hardest food for me to give up. And I've tried to eat it........ the cleaning out of the braces afterwards is just not worth it!! (I have braces, upper and lower, and had an appliance in my upper mouth until just a few weeks ago.)

It has been 2 years and 8 months so far! And my estimate was for two years. So I no longer ask how much longer. I'll be done when I'm done. We are "fine-tuning" now. I may eat nothing BUT popcorn for a few days to celebrate the removal day!!!

As for pain, it does get better. Your mouth never feels "normal" but you get used to how it does feel and don't notice it so much. I've been very careful what I eat........ I've rarely had anything break. My diet is pretty decent and there's not any problem eating enough variety of foods to feel healthy. There are always a few days after an appointment when it hurts again, but it goes away. (Was in this morning - am eating soft foods tonight, but I expect by tomorrow, it will be much better.)

Even tho' it has taken this long - and is yet to end - I have NO regrets. Before braces, there was never a photo of me smiling with my mouth open. I refused to do it. I HATED the way my teeth looked. Now, even with the braces in, I smile, teeth showing, braces flashing silver, and am fine with it. Very much worth it.

Oh yeah ---- I like the "forced" diet part of it, too! Lost some unwanted pounds. Now to keep them off if the braces ever actually come out.

annie

[fixedgeargirl]

It's been a long time since I had braces, but the four years I spent in them are firmly burned into my brain. (Yes, four years, largely due to a lack of "patient compliance". Like a self-conscious 14 year old girl is going to wear headgear to school!) I remember the pain after a tightening. It does subside. Did they give you the beeswax stuff to put on the bands where they rub the inside of cheeks? It does behoove you to let some callouses build up at the contact points, but sometimes enough is enough and you can use the wax to smooth things out.

It does get better!!!

[DirtDiva]

Ack! Headgear! Thank goodness I only had to wear it at night! I totally cheered when the orodontist told me I didn't have to wear it anymore. It's been, hmmm, eleven years since I got my braces off and I still have scar tissue on the inside of my cheeks where the bits the headgear slotted into rubbed. As for the food groups, I ate them all and just got real good at sucking bits out of my braces afterward (a habit that took quite some time to break once the hardware had been removed).

[Kitsune06]

Ack! Headgear! Thank goodness I only had to wear it at night! I totally cheered when the orodontist told me I didn't have to wear it anymore. It's been, hmmm, eleven years since I got my braces off and I still have scar tissue on the inside of my cheeks where the bits the headgear slotted into rubbed. As for the food groups, I ate them all and just got real good at sucking bits out of my braces afterward (a habit that took quite some time to break once the hardware had been removed).

I second this completely, though the only reason I ended up breaking that habit was getting my tongue pierced.


That said, it never feels 'normal' and you'll have that sorta rough feeling along your cheeks and insides of your lips, but the anchors (around your molars?) will eventually feel fairly natural... except for tune-ups. Oddly, the entire experience made tongue-piercing a non-event for me.

Using a camelback while racing yesterday was quite an experience. I had to stick it waaaay back by my molars and try to gently squeeze... I wound up not drinking very much (only about 50 oz. during a 2.5 hour race) which isn't good.

I got really good at using my tongue to apply pressure to things like that, squishing it against the roof of my mouth. If you're wearing a bite-plate as with headgear, that might be interesting, but with the bare roof, it should work out for you. It gets scraped a little until it toughens up (the roof of your mouth, that is) but it's a very valuable skill.