Eugene answers Sue’s questions 7 days into her Six Month Smile
Six Month Smile Q&A
Q: What sort of food will I be able to eat – Day 1, day 2, day 3, etc?
A: Your cheeks and lips are bound to feel tender for the first two weeks after the braces are fitted and it’s best to avoid hard, chewy foods in an attempt to minimise the movement between the soft tissue and the brackets. Avoid biting into an apple or tearing away at a lamb chop in an attempt to limit the frequency of brackets de-bonding / dislodging. Cut these types of food first.
Q: Will my mouth swell and look distorted?
A: There can be sharp edges here and there. These can easily be adjusted at one of your review visits and you’ll be provided with plenty of wax to cover any such areas in between your two to four-weekly visits. We’ve not had any incidents of swollen, distorted mouths, immense anger or psychological impact, but this may be because most patients don’t tell us. It can be embarrassing for a while, however, the vast majority of patients have considered this likelihood before treatment starts and after looking at photos of what the braces will look like on other clients.
Q: What are the psychological impacts of not being able to eat easily?
A: You may feel like you want to give up but this feeling is transient and will evaporate after your second visit when you start to see your teeth straightening.
Q: Will I feel as though my teeth are going to fall out?
A: Soon after the braces are fitted some of your teeth will become slightly mobile. This is because your body’s inflammatory response is reacting to the pressure of the braces on your teeth but this is normal and necessary to get your teeth moving.
Q: How do I apply the wax without looking as though my teeth are melting, or covered in chip fat?
A: You can apply the protective wax by warming it between your fingers and pressing a small ball of wax over the area that’s rubbing.
Q: Why do I feel as though I’m laughing like a horse?
A: Your lips will feel like they’re protruding for the first week, but this is usually more to do with how you see yourself than with how others perceive your smile.
Q: Will I want to give up on Day 2?
A: Hang on in there, but if you can’t then the brackets can easily be removed in 90 minutes and we can look into alternative methods of straightening your teeth.
The Value of Wax
If you have braces, you may find that they rub against the insides of your cheeks or lips. Sore spots on the inside of your mouth can develop because of this, especially in the first days and weeks.
The best way to treat this is simply by applying a little dental wax to your braces. The wax helps to make a barrier between your lips, cheeks, tongue and gums – it’s easy to apply but we’ll talk you through it during your appointment and give you a supply to take away. Basically it makes the whole process a lot more bearable – and after a couple of weeks, you should find you don’t need it at all.
Sue’s Six Month Smile: Day 3
Sue – Starting the Six Month Smile journey
Welcome to my first blog – they’re going to be short, hopefully sweet and will accompany a regular vlog showing me undergoing Eunique’s 6 Month Smile treatment.
I’m not a huge egotist who wants to share my amazing dental journey with the world. It’s more a case of dispelling the mystique that surrounds braces, particularly for an older age group (I’m 53 – can’t believe I’m sharing that with the world).
Why now?
Well, firstly, to stop the pain that gappy teeth brings (food gets caught each and every time I eat, it’s immensely embarrassing). Secondly, to ensure I keep my own teeth for as long as possible (caught food leads to gum disease) and thirdly, for once in my life, I’m in a financial position to place my teeth first and can clearly see the benefits. I grew up in a family where false teeth and Steradent was the norm; Dad lost his teeth at 50 and seemed to accept the loss without complaint. Seems madness now but back then, tooth decay was inevitable (at least for a Glaswegian) and you just got on with it. Fortunately, times have changed, the 6-Month Smile treatment has been developed to correct teeth movement (at whatever age) in a relatively short space of time and the cost is do-able if I give up shoes and party dresses for a while.
My braces are fitted on 30 September so that means by end March 2017, I should be smiling. Touch wood.