Advice for DS having braces fitted

[OnthePiste]

Hi my 14 year old DS is having top and bottom train track braces fitted this week. Any advice of how to get through the first week?

We have been advised to give painkiller and offer soft food-quite tricky when he is rather fussy and doesn't like "sloppy" food! Any ideas for a packed lunch? Are soft sandwiches ok? Any advice appreciated, he had quite a low pain threshold so thinking we could be in for a few tricky days until he gets used to it!

My DS is also 14 and has had braces since November. Admittedly he did have top fitted first then bottom a couple of weeks later. After the first day, he was fine and eating normally (and he doesn’t tend to suffer in silence!). He had painkillers at bedtime and before school for a day or two and he used the wax they give you to help with rubbing.
He had pasta for dinner on the first night and weetabix for breakfast the next morning. Soft sandwiches should be fine. I hope it goes ok for your DS.

Definitely ask for the little packs of wax, you can pull off a bit, roll it into a ball & push it onto the brace if it's rubbing. No one told me until I had multiple mouth ulcers & was in agony!

Regular pain killers & soft food. I found biting sandwiches difficult so used to break pieces off & eat like that.

Suggest he has a small mirror & a brush so he can check if bits of food get stuck whilst at school.

My DD has these. No major issues. It does hurt and it can get sore but the wax does help.

Hurts again for a couple of days every time they are tightened too. It's getting there though now. Should only need another 5 months.

Has made such a difference. I didn't even think hers were that bad but they look amazing now.

This has brought back a memory from my own train-track experience, pulling tiny pieces off a white bread honey sandwich.
Baked potatoes with beans/cheese/tuna
Chili con carne and rice, shepherd's pie, ice cream.
Nothing that needs biting/tearing and stuff you can kind of cut up small and mash in your mouth.

My BBC daughter had hers fitted in the last couple of months. She couldn’t eat a soft sandwich the first week. Lived on pasta, jacket potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice pudding and ice cream. Painkillers every few hours and wax for the brace. It was really bad for about a week, she had it tightened last week and only sore for a day.

Don’t know why it says BBC? Lol

Drink with straws, helps avoid the sensitive teeth. Wax wax and more wax on the bits that rub!! Nothing too hot or too cold.

I think I started a thread like this about 6 years ago! DS is now 20, has lovely straight teeth and no lasting memory of pain!

In our experience, it was painful for around 3 days the first time and then about 24 hours each time it was tightened. Jacket potatoes and pasta were our go to things, but I think everyone works out what they can eat - some people like rice with a “sauce” but DS always found that stuck to his braces too much. Don’t skimp on the paracetamol!

I think the one thing I overlooked was that ALL of their mates will be going through the same thing, which really helps. DS had been invited to a bowling party at one of those bowling/fast food places the weekend he had his first braces fixed and I emailed the mother to say he’d love to come but I wasn’t sure he as going to be able to eat the fried chicken stuff and she was a pro and said she would order a lasagna for him, which looked a bit grim but would be soft . When I went to pick him up I think around 75% of the other 14 yo boys had braces on.

Yeah, DD loathed rice full stop with the brace (bits get stuck in it).

I agree that it's painful for about 3 days after it goes on, and about 24 hours each time tightened. DD was advised to take pain killers before she went to appointments and think this did help.

Anything cold was good - yogurt, ice cream, milkshakes. They do just find their own way with regards to eating quite quickly. Even "hard" food was ok if you cut it into very small pieces.

Soft sandwiches are probably fine but bread is one of the worst for getting stuck in braces so make sure he has something with him to pick out the stuck food out.

Also agree about the wax.

Wotsits are melty and easier to eat than crunchy crisps.
Choc milkshake.
Macaroni cheese.
Banana.
Cottage pie.

DS has had his for 7 weeks and has his first adjustment next week. He'll have paracetamol before he goes and a huge snack. It's been tricky juggling a brace with a growth spurt. I agree with user that 3 days seems to be the painful part then it settles down.

hi um im a teen but i need like advicemy teeth frikin hurt and i cried all last night because the pain was really unbearable but i need someonce who has had braces to calm me down and help me not overthink please!

My son got his brace top and bottom at 13. He is quite a drama and low pain threshold however he had no issues at all. I was really surprised. Definitely use the wax as other posters have said If the brace rubs. His brace settled down after a couple of days but no issues going to school the next day, took him longer to eat his food while he adjusted.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

He has actually coped really well with no dramas ( apart from having to go back to get a wire re-attached. He took pain killer for the first 2 days and was fine after that. No wax needed or Bongela etc. His eating is slowly getting back to normal. They also look better than I thought they would.