Getting brace off - nervous!

Chocoholic84

I'm getting my braces off today,and it's only now I'm starting to get nervous! I mean, these things are glued to my teeth....so I imagine it's going to hurt a hell of a lot!

Can anyone share their experience?

fizzy

Congrats Chocoholic!

I suppose it depends on the person, but it's not too bad getting them off. There's a fair bit happening in your mouth obviously enough, but it only takes about 10-15 minutes and I think the only part that caused me a bit of discomfort was near the end, when I think my teeth may have been sanded/polished off to give a better finish.

I've a major dental phobia, and did not find it too bad at all. I got my braces off after 3 years with no warning, so I just remember a huge shock rather than pain!

Congrats again on getting to the end of the road - it's well worth it!

PS just in case you think this too, your teeth can look very big at first to you when all the metal comes off, or as if they are not your teeth because they look so different. As my boyfriend put it, it looked like I had a "mouth transplant". This is all just perception after looking at metal for so long, and is quite normal. But nobody had told me that, and while I was thrilled with how my teeth looked from the off, I did worry a bit for a day or two that my teeth looked big/not part of me - v strange! But then I read on the net that this was common which made me feel much better. Sure enough, after a few days, my teeth seemed completely normal to me!

Big_G

Shouldn't hurt. The glue is designed to shear when a special tool is used to squeeze the bracket. Then the orthodontist will trim away any remaining bond left on the tooth. Easy.