Life of a braces girl

Have you been living with braces before? Did you ever wonder about how do people with braces live their life? This post might solve some of your curiosity about living with braces. Let us get started!

The first time I get my braces was in January of 2017. The reason for me to try getting braces was that one of my lower teeth was dislocating progressively towards the back of another tooth. It tried to “hide” behind the other tooth and this might cause me to have some problems while trying to brush it. Not brushing it properly might lead to decay. To avoid tooth decay, I decided to get braces immediately.

First, I went to the hospital to get an X-ray for my teeth so that the dentist was able to observe the alignment of my teeth and decided on how to put on the braces. It was my first time doing an X-ray, it is quite weird and awkward when the technician asked me about my last menstrual period. After getting the X-ray result, I went back to the dental clinic and discussed the treatment with my dentist. Luckily, there was no much adjustment needed, so no tooth needed to be plucked out.

Picture of me with braces

After about 2 weeks, the treatment plan had been decided, I went to the dentist for full mouth teeth cleaning and get filling for six of my teeth since we need to have clean teeth before introducing the braces to avoid any further decay. It was torturing when I get filling for six of the teeth straight away and I need to open my mouth for more than one hour. Here, start my journey of braces life. I did not feel the feeling of pain when the dentist put on the braces during that moment. However, after about 9 hours, I felt pain in my whole mouth. It was hard for me to eat solid food and I can only drink porridge or water. The most torturing moment was I can’t even fall asleep at that time because my teeth were too painful associated along with headaches.

One week later, I finally get used to it and started to eat rice and meat. I need to change new braces every month and the dentist would tighten and adjust the braces according to the alignment of my teeth. It was really painful after the dentist tightens the braces, but it only affected me for around two days. The fun fact while changing braces was, the dentist will let us choose the colour of the rubber that holds the braces. The correct colour should be chosen as they will change colour according to the food that we consumed. For example, if we choose pink colour rubber and consume curry after that, the colour of the braces will change to orange colour, it was quite ugly. So, I more likely to choose darker colour rubber and avoid eating food with sauces.

Some of the braces colour

The consequence of wearing braces is I was unable to eat some of my favourite foods such as broccoli, enoki mushroom and corn as they will be stuck between my teeth and the braces. Other than that, I can’t eat sticky foods such as “Niangao” and bubble gum because they might stick to my braces. Hard-textured solid foods such as almonds and peanuts will also cause the wire of the braces to fall out from the braces and this happened to me many times. It is quite troublesome because we need to go back to dentistry to replace the wire in place. I was studying in Kuala Lumpur at that time and it is quite hard for me to go back to the dentist located in my hometown, Penang.

My orthodontic treatment was two years, but it ended after 3 years because my tooth always returned to the misaligned location every time after the braces were removed. So, the duration of treatment also depended on the performance of your teeth. For the first 6 months after the removal of braces, I need to wear a transparent retainer every day except while eating. After 6 months, I still need to wear the retainer every night while sleeping for my whole life; otherwise, the teeth will go back to their original place. However, I did not regret it because I am able to brush all my teeth now and show a more confident smile.

After braces removal

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