The biggest step to your great smile is getting on your braces. So what’s that like? Getting your braces on is the longest appointment – most people are a bit nervous – that’s normal. Orthodontists love putting your braces on because they know you’re going to find it easier and more comfortable than you expect.

Your appointment will be about an hour and a half – a bit longer if they’re taking orthodontic records.

The actual time putting on your braces is only about twenty minutes or so. Most of the time are showing you what they’re going to be doing, – the care of your braces, cleaning your teeth, and the things you can do to make your brace go as quickly and comfortably as possible. Bring headphones or earbuds with you to listen to your music while they’re putting on your braces – they need one of your ears open slightly so they can give you a few instructions, but you can drift off into the music.

So when they’re ready to actually put the braces on your teeth, they put a contraption into your mouth – think of it as a cheek and tongue guide for keeping your teeth clean and dry for the braces to stick. It does the work to keep your cheeks and tongue away from the braces and your teeth so you can completely relax. You just drift off, listening to your music, maybe lying on a beach somewhere while your braces go on.

Your teeth are cleaned, dried, and prepared for the glue with a solution painted on your teeth.

They rinse it off and dry the teeth again – paint another solution on your teeth and then just place a brace on each of your teeth with the glue. It’s easy. The glue does all the work – they position the brace and light up the glue with a bright blue light to set it. They’re done. They take out the cheek guide and you rinse your mouth and get back to normal – well the new normal with braces.

Your braces feel very odd at first – your teeth don’t feel pressure until the wire goes in, and your teeth won’t feel smooth like they did before. The braces feel rough on your cheeks at first. It takes a few days to get used to the braces on your cheeks. They also give you some wax to mold around a brace – to make it feel smoother. You’ll quickly feel normal again – it may take a few days or a week or so. You’re going to love to see your teeth start to move and you’ll be looking forward to showing off your great smile without the braces.

With your braces on, they’ll put in the wire to start guiding your teeth.

Your teeth won’t start to feel the pressure until later in the day or in the evening. Your teeth feel the change in pressure so at the beginning that’s what you’ll be feeling. They will get used to that gentle pressure and no longer feel it, but your teeth will keep moving. Rinsing with cool water or drinks can make your teeth feel better while they get used to the new pressure and Ibuprofen – Advil for example – is the best thing to take if your teeth are sore. Gently chewing on a soft piece of gum can also help.

Another feature of your braces can be what we call a bite turbo.

This is often placed on a back tooth to keep the upper and lower teeth apart while they start to move. This allows the teeth to move faster and more comfortably. Your bite will feel weird at first, but you’ll get used to that too. Finally, they show you how the elastics work. These are light little elastics that you hook onto the braces. Almost everyone with braces will get little elastics or rubber bands that you put on your braces to work with your wires to guide the teeth. These elastics are small and gentle to match the light wires we use, but again – a change in pressure for your teeth so it’ll take a few days to get used to them too.

So after showing you a few points on the care of your braces, eating with braces, and keeping your teeth clean, you’re done!

It was much easier than expected. They’ll get your cell number or your parents’ cell numbers so they can text you and so you can text them. It’s the best way to keep in touch to keep your teeth moving to a great smile as quickly and comfortably as possible.