Years ago, braces were considered an item for the rich, and mostly for kids....
COVER STORY
Uneven teeth? Afraid to laugh? People who have teeth that deviate from the standard of what society considers “normal” usually hesitate to even smile because of their imperfection. Luckily, there’s a way to straighten teeth that don’t “conform to normal” so that you can smile and laugh as often and as confidently as possible!
Years ago, braces were considered an item for the rich, and mostly for kids. But, today, the number of adults seeking treatment is drastically increasing, and most of them are from the middle class. Hence, I sit on my desk today and write this article, whether or not you or anybody around you plans on getting braces.
The doctor
Before you do anything, know the most crucial part. The doctor who puts on your braces for you is called an orthodontist. Orthodontists are dentists who’ve done four years of training in this field. If your dentist isn’t an orthodontist, don’t get treatment from them! Braces are a very serious issue, and “no treatment” is better than “bad treatment”. Check your dentist’s degree and ask them to show you their finished cases before you sit on that chair and let them glue those brackets onto your teeth. Braces are a money earning source, so a lot of non-qualified dentists, and even technicians (who aren’t even dentists to begin with), will trick you into getting treatment from them. They won’t care about your health. Treatment done at their hands will ruin your periodontium, occlusion, and other fancy words that you’ve never heard of. Then you’ll have to open up your mouth and wallet again for re-treatment from another dentist.
Why should I treat my teeth?
Straight teeth are easier to clean and less prone to problems like cavities, calculus deposition, gingivitis and periodontitis.
What to expect right after getting braces?
1. The first thing to expect is pain. The application of braces will hurt, and there’s no way around it. The worst pain comes right after an appointment and gradually disappears during the week.
During the first week of treatment, you might find yourself dying to rip your brackets off. Eating will be near impossible. Your brackets will feel like they are made of sadness and torture.
On the first day, you’ll be like, “It hurts, but it’s not that bad.”
On the second day, you’ll go, “Holy cow! Aargh!”
And then the pain will go away, till your next appointment. Don’t get scared. The pain is mild to moderate, and can be easily managed, like you might manage a broken leg or migraine... just kidding! It can be managed just as you might manage any headache with Panadol. You rarely have to resort to crying.
2. The second thing to expect is, more pain! But this pain is from ulcers. When the metal in your mouth rubs against your lips, cheeks and tongue, it may rub your skin off. This leaves a gapping white hole which is very painful. It’s not as horrible as it sounds, and treatment is super easy. Ortho Wax! Solves your problem immediately, so no worries here! Just remember to carry this wax around with you, because there’s a high chance you might eat your wax too while you’re eating. So it may need replacing.
3. Expect a lisp. People with braces have this peculiar “brace-face voice”. They sound like they’re talking while holding a lot of saliva in their mouth. I’m sorry, but it’s like that. If you’re a brace face, or planning on becoming one, then don’t worry, you’ll get used to talking like that. And people will get used to hearing you talk like that.
4. Expect food in your brackets every time you eat. You’d expect food to go down your throat, but it won’t, because it will be stuck in your teeth. And people will get disgusted. Tip: never laugh out loud after eating. Your laugh will silence the entire room... and you will not like it. So make sure you have friends who point out when you have food stuck in your teeth. For the sake of your own dignity, always carry floss, mirror and a toothbrush.
5. Apart from food, you’ll have random stuff getting stuck in your teeth. Like your hijab, sweater, hair, etc. A pillow might stick to your braces during a pillow fight. My face mask would get stuck to my brackets all the time because I had protruding teeth.
How much do they cost?
That depends. Government hospitals provide really cheap treatment. Private hospitals provide treatment that’s more expensive than government hospitals, but cheaper than private clinics.
If you go to an orthodontist’s private clinic, expect much better and much expensive treatment. Above one lac. In a private clinic, breaking a bracket and getting it re-glued to your tooth will cost around 1.5 grand. Just looking at your bill, you might go, “Holy Ca’moly! You think I have enough money to take care of myself?” Whether or not you have that kind of money, you’ll have to pay.
What age?
It’s for all ages. Except extremes of ages. We’ve had patients who’re 40 and getting treatment. Although treatment time is increased in older patients.
Is hygiene maintenance hard?
Yes. Very hard and very important. You have to brush after you eat. Braces attract plaque like free Wi-Fi attracts us. They’ll stick to it within a few hours. Then your mouth will look ugly and it will stink. So please, brush your teeth. You’ll be doing yourself, your friends, and your orthodontist a favour.
What to avoid?
You only have to avoid three things.
1. Skipping appointments. This will irritate your orthodontist. And if you opt for getting treatment in a hospital, your dentist may not even try to hide they’re displeased. Although in a private clinic, the orthodontist may just laugh it off, hiding their blood tears.
If you keep skipping appointments, your treatment time will increase and you probably won’t get the desired results.
2. Don’t eat very hard foods. You may break a bracket, and again, that will increase treatment time and cost. We once had a patient who ate barbeque, the hard kind, and broke all his front brackets!
If you’re getting treatment in a hospital, don’t throw away your loose brackets. Your doctor will probably re-use them instead of asking you to buy new ones. Your brackets are tied to your wire, so that when they break, they remain attached to your wire. This prevents a shoot out and brackets flying out of your mouth like bullets when you eat something very hard, like barbeque, and simultaneously break 10 brackets.
3. Don’t get hit on your cheeks. Believe me. My kid cousin punched me once and... I’ll tell you a guy’s story instead. It’s better. He got head-butted as a joke and then there was blood everywhere. He said he tried so hard to play it off and not cry at the gym.
I want treatment, but I don’t want braces
A common request. If you don’t like the exotic metal ki dukkan in your mouth, or if you don’t want to risk public humiliation by being caught with food stuck in your brackets, or if you don’t want to wake up with your pillow case being stuck to your teeth, or if your in-laws have broken your heart by saying they don’t like your teeth, then you’re in luck! There’s this new kid in town and it’s called, Invisalign. They’re invisible braces. They are shaped just like your teeth, so they don’t pose any of the problems that conventional braces pose.
But there’s a catch. Only a handful of cases can be successfully completed with Invisalign. And this modality is only available at private clinics, where it’s even more expensive than conventional brackets, and treatment time is also increased. There’s more. Only a handful of orthodontists are specialized in this modality, so you’ll have to locate them first.
Sounds like a lot of trouble, but believe me people, they’re just what you all had been asking for!
After treatment is complete
After your treatment is complete and your brackets are removed, guess what happens. You will never believe it! Your teeth will go back to the way they were before treatment began! No joke! Even if you do surgeries, there will be a relapse.
This is a very serious issue, since it downright kills the point of getting treatment in the first place. To stop this phenomenon, your dentist will ask you to wear a retainer, which will be a bulky thing that you put in your mouth when you sleep, or a wire glued to your teeth. You will probably toss the retainer away, or not report to the doctor when the glued wire comes off. A few months later, when you look at your teeth in the mirror, you’ll scream when you see your teeth dancing all over the place.
Wear your retainer. Wear them at night time, for a lifetime!
“There is only one way to completely avoid relapse. At the end of treatment, remove the braces, polish the teeth, make study models and take photographs. And then take the patient out the back door of the office and shoot him.” - Dr Tom Graber DMD, South African Dental Congress. August 1992
