Like most kids, Jordan Campbell had mixed feelings about getting braces. "I wanted them because I knew I had bad teeth. But I didn't want to have to take care of them."
Jordan was 13 when he got his braces, and he had a fairly rough adjustment period. "For the first week, they hurt so much that I felt like ripping them off! I couldn't eat anything. I couldn't even chew scrambled eggs " I had to just swallow them. I thought to myself, 'Why am I doing this?'"
Advil, a soft diet and patience got him through that tough week. "Also, sometimes the metal would poke into the skin of my mouth. My orthodontist gave me wax to cover those spots." Soon Jordan was eating a regular diet and the braces felt normal.
The week of pain Jordan suffered was actually unusual, says Amanda Maplethorp, president of the Canadian Association of Orthodontists. "Most people will experience discomfort for three days or so." Ibuprofen is the recommended pain reliever, and she says taking it before the appointment is more effective than waiting until the teeth have become sore. Also, an ibuprofen one hour before bedtime is a good idea, as the achiness can be bothersome when kids are trying to get to sleep. This discomfort can return, but usually only for a day or so, after each adjustment of the braces.
Jordan is right that braces take some looking after. "I had to take more time cleaning my teeth. There's a whole different brushing technique that I had to learn, and flossing was difficult." Without careful brushing, warns Maplethorp, the teeth may become stained between the brace and the gum. This is actually one advantage of getting braces in the teen years, as opposed to earlier " teens tend to be quite diligent about their hygiene.
Appearances count
Teens might be a little more self-conscious about the look of braces, but they usually find this is a non-issue. Jordan's experience is pretty typical: "I worried a bit about what would happen when I smiled and what people would think when they saw me with braces on, but it was no big deal," says Jordan. "Lots of kids at school wear braces. After a couple of months, I forgot that I had them and they sort of became part of me."
My son Jesse only had a couple of days of discomfort after getting his braces, but he had a different problem: He played the trumpet. "If you have to press an instrument against your lip to get the right sounds, then the inside of your lip can get quite sore," acknowledges Maplethorp. Jordan found the braces didn't interfere at all with his clarinet playing, but the trumpet, which requires a very tight embouchure, was a different story. Jesse managed by placing a strip of orthodontic wax along his top and bottom braces every time he played. We must have gone through more wax in two years than the rest of our orthodontist's patients put together, but his trumpet sounded good!
There are some issues that tend to carry more weight with teens, notes Maplethorp. Timing is one. Where there is some flexibility about when the braces go on, the teen should be involved in the decision. "Some kids like to have them put on in the summer, so they have time to get used to them before they start up school," she says. "Also teens can be emotional about getting braces on before a special event " a concert or big birthday party. They want to avoid that."
