9 answers to your brace questions

He's out. Well, the top part. And the end of the bottom part is in sight. Far enough to call myself an orthodontic expert. Over the past few months, I received a lot of questions from other women who are considering finally doing something about that crooked tooth. So today: the FAQs and the honest answers.

Why did you choose this brace?

I chose an old-fashioned bracket brace because of the price difference with Invisalign (which I really, really seriously considered because it's much less visible and you can take it out for a presentation/when you want to kiss/take a photo) and because this goes much faster. I did get white brackets, which made it a bit less high school-ish.

Did it hurt?

I can be very long-winded or very brief about it, but yes, it hurt. I found it quite an assault on my life. Especially when I had braces on both top and bottom (the first few weeks I only had them on top), I felt like I was going through the ground with every bite. I lived on smoothies, creamy lattes, and in the evenings, wine for the pain and ice to get some calories in. But, as a friend of mine said: ’Pain means something is happening.‘ In New York, I saw a fit guy running with a T-shirt that said: ’If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.‘ And I just held on to that.

Did it take long?

I uncovered the orthodontist conspiracy. They always say it will take longer than it actually does. Then it always turns out to be shorter. I hear everyone around me say: ‘They said two years, but after a year and a half, I was already done.’ Same for me. I expected at least three months, and after two, the top one could already come out. So don't believe what ‘they’ say, it will probably be shorter.

No one told me this

That having the braces removed feels like your teeth are being tapped out of your mouth. That really hurts a lot. You think you've had it all, and then you get this dessert. Just like the placenta that still has to come out after your delivery. No one told me that either.

What should you always have with you?

I can now order toothpicks in six languages because I was in Saint-Tropez, New York, and Italy with braces, and this is the standard question. You want to immediately pick that food out from between those braces. It's incredibly annoying. And you can picture me with my toothbrush. After every meal, what am I saying, after every bite (which in my case were actually sips), I pulled out my Philips Sonicare.

The best tip

I got from my friend F. Stay away from the curry. But really, with a wide berth around it. Before you know it, you're walking around with yellow elastics. Curry soup is also not a good idea, I can tell you from experience.

Can you still kiss?

Technically, it might be possible, but sorry, no, I wasn't really in the kissing mood. Everything hurt, so even a small kiss on the lips made me cringe. I also limited the everyday three kisses to a minimum. It felt like a slap against my teeth, and that can't be the intention. ‘I don't kiss because I have braces’ became my opening line.

And furthermore

Make sure you have a dentist/orthodontist you feel comfortable and safe with. My savior is Sarah, mother of a girl in my daughter's class. In the hallway before the kindergarten class, she asks me to clench my molars together and open my mouth wide. Just a quick check. I love that. Although I'm glad she's not a gynecologist.

You should also know this

Everyone is going to ask you why you need braces. Because they had never seen anything like it. Nice of them, of course, but it felt like I was an absolute vain person (and in that regard, I already have a bad reputation) who didn't need this treatment at all. So I just said that every dentist in my area (and that is really true) always said that there are technical reasons as well as aesthetic ones for getting braces. I believe that was a satisfactory answer.

 
Would I do it again now that I know what it entails? Definitely. It was a slightly heavier process than I thought, but you really forget that immediately when the brackets come out and you look at a few straight white teeth.

 
More brace posts?

9 things you think about when you have braces
To brace or not to brace. And if to brace, which one should I choose?