The truth about braces that the marketers don’t want you to know.
As a wrote this, I had just hit my one-month mark wearing invisible braces and the experience has been somewhat different than pitched to me by the friendly salesman during my initial consultation. So, I thought I’d share my wisdom to give you the tooth of the matter (sorry, not sorry).
My teeth were not all that bad in the first-place pre-brace, arguably I was being a little vain and self-indulgent when I decided to look into getting a straighter smile. The only real changes required were my top four front teeth and literally by only a couple of ml. But… the more I thought about the imperfection the more it played on my mind and I found myself running my tongue along the very slight overlap and it became a distraction. So, I found myself seduced by the sponsored Insta posts that came up on my feed and decided to click the ubiquitous ‘learn more’ button.
I decided to enquire about the new removable invisible brace and booked an appointment locally for a 3D scan. The experience was pleasant; great premises and super-friendly dentist who mapped my inner mouth, which after a week or so provided a detailed timeline to evidence my teeth transform into a veneer-perfect set of gnashers over the space of six months. As the changes required for my teeth were minimal, I was lucky enough to not require any work before wearing the braces, no teeth out, teeth adjustments or filing down and no attachments fitted to my teeth, which I’m reliably informed is a real pain in the ass. So far, so good.
I was prescribed thirteen sets of removable braces to be changed every two weeks which means no inconvenience having to go to the dentist regularly for check-ups and tightening like traditional train-track styles. It also makes the process considerably cheaper as it’s a fairly DIY process; I would have three local appointments, one to pick up all thirteen sets of braces initially and to receive a run-down of proper care instructions, one at the halfway point to check everything was moving as it should and one at the end of treatment to arrange final retainers. The total price set me back £1800 (not including the final retainer costs) which I spread interest-free for twelve months.
So, here are the truths they don’t tell you at the consultations:
- Taking your braces out to eat is annoying. If like me, you like to eat a lot, be prepared to brush your teeth aaaalllll the time. I ended up keeping a toothbrush in the kitchen
- It takes a long time to become accustomed to the foreign object in your mouth. You will be sore; you will likely bleed. There will be a discomfort
- Another delightful side effect is lisping; it doesn’t happen to everyone, but I certainly had it for months and I was really conscious of it
- Picture the following scene, you are at a lovely restaurant and your plate of wonderful looking food arrives… You attempt to discretely remove your retainers and a long drool of saliva trails sophisticatedly from your mouth. The saliva drool is inevitable, it doesn’t matter how demurely to attempt to remove them. Excuse yourself to the toilet or hide behind your napkin. Therein lies the bane of your social life for the next six months
- The mouth is an unhygienic place! Having retainers stuck against your teeth all day will produce unpleasant odors. Buying Steradent and using daily helps but be prepared to crave the next set of braces towards the end of the prescribed period. You will feel ick
- I went through a turmeric tea addiction when I first had my braces fitted and it caused my braces to turn radioactive yellow (another reason to crave the next fresh set towards the end of your run). As annoying as it sounds, you also need to take your braces out to drink anything that’s not water
- Aftercare; I started the process thinking I could finish the treatment and wear an overnight retainer to negate any movement (I was hoping to apply some bleach every now and again too- perfecto) but the reality for me was that even after finishing the full six month treatment I would still have to wear a retainer in the day or have a permanent wire fitted at the back of my teeth, or they would just move straight back (or not so straight as the case may be)
Braces can be costly for sure; but for me, the most important consideration when choosing whether to take the plunge with a brace is patience. You will brush your teeth like an OCD lunatic, you will have a drool trail at the most inappropriate moments, and you may develop a very fetching lisp so. If you’ve read all the above and are still ready to start your journey to the perfect smile then, nuances aside, you won’t regret it. Just make sure you avoid the turmeric tea!
