Oh, the joys of wearing braces...

Ok, so I am wearing braces on my 32 year of my life :( as I have overcrowding, for years I have been putting this off and now have decided to put a stop to this problem. Really a pity as I have excellent oral hygiene and my teeth are so healthy…

I have extracted 4 teeth, 2 at the top & 2 at the bottom, so that my teeth can all line up the way they should have naturally, grrrr that go my very healthy teeth. Not a good experience extracting teeth, I was so sore and you see the stitches that will come off on their own terms. For awhile I only had smoothies and soup, nothing solid, I was going insane, I needed to bite and quick.

I hate wearing these damn train tracks, particularly when I have to get them tightened once a month, it hurts for 3 to 5 days and you’re just so sensitive to eating that you lose your appetite…

Needless to say, I now spend 20 minutes longer in the bathroom to floss, brush with normal brush then with what I call a ‘Christmas tree’ brush then rinse with a mouthwash.

Flossing is with a ‘needle’ which I insert the floss and have to go ‘needling’ every single tooth, believe me, one needs this as more food stay in my train tracks than in my stomach.

Brushing with my normal brush is a breeze, but then I have to do it with the ‘Christmas tree’ too. I have to insert the small brush under the braces & brush well to ensure all food residue is out. The pain about it is that this brush has a mind of its own, it bends where it’s not suppose to, you really have to practice to be a pro on brushing with it.

The mouthwash almost kills me every time I rinse with it. Because my mouth surface gets rubbed by the braces, the mouth gets sore and even bleeds sometimes. It’s important to rinse as it will kill any germs and improve the soreness you are feeling in your mouth due to the train tracks.

Something else I don’t enjoy is the elastic bands I have to wear on each side from top to bottom. The elastics are so annoying, I have to have them on 24 hours and when you eat with them, all food stay stuck in between, so you have to take them off and on all the time – well I eat 6 meals a day!

To top it all off, I have to wear it for 1.5 to 2 years, grrrrr not happy, it better give me a perfect smile after so much pain & inconvenience.

I wrote this blog for two reasons:

1. I needed to get this out of my chest, as I don't enjoy the braces (if you can't tell yet)


2. Some people ask me how I look after my oral hygiene as it would prove to be time consuming and it IS, but that is my routine and it works for me!

Thanks for reading and allow me to let the steam out!