Braces

[RupertTheBear]

My 15 yo DS is having braces fitted this afternoon. They are quite extreme in that he is having posts screwed into his mouth for the braces to be fixed to. I just feel so bad for him- although we know it will be short term pain for long term gain. I'm about to do a shop run to stock up on things to help him- I have painkillers, mashed potatoes, yogurts and porridge on my list already. Is there anything else I should get?

They don't really screw anything in don't worry. They can't. There is nothing that can be screwed into. Fixed braces are glued on with similar stuff to white fillings. They may use bands or brackets glued on to each tooth then an elastic band or wire is used to hold the wire onto these.

Unless he is having a new thing done I've never heard of? I've worked in dentistry 22 years and in orthodontics for 8 of those.

But they will feel tight at first so soft food is definitely the way forward!

I wasn't at the appointment- my DH took him so I heard all this second hand so might have it wrong. DH is sure they said they would screw posts into his gums then fix the braces to those. I really hope he got it wrong!
He has a really bad overbite- we turned down their preferred option which was to break both his jaws to realign them!

You can't screw into gums honestly. It would go straight into your jaw bone. (Like a dental implant which is done as a surgical procedure)
If he is having fixed appliances (train track style braces) they are normally glued into each tooth with a bracket. Sometimes at the molars they use bands for anchorage. You can also get various other specialised things for different issues such as a bar across the palate to expand the arch or bite blocks on molars to raise the bite. But general fixed braces and glued on.

Oh and just to say, if he doesn't get the result he/ you would like from the braces, jaw surgery, while brutal can in some cases have amazing results. But you're right it is much more traumatic and the recovery period is long. For that you pretty much have things screwed into your jaw bones to hold them in place. But not for braces.

Soup, jelly, ice cream - anything liquid from to be honest! Hope he gets used to them quickly 😊