If your child has to get braces, you should know that the process begins far before any piece of metal is attached. There are several things you need to think about and plan for so that your child has as little stress as possible. With braces comes pain and adjustment in a variety of ways. If you plan ahead, you can limit the discomfort. Limiting the discomfort means less suffering for you and your child.
Talk about the braces. When I got braces, I was more excited than I was afraid. I was so embarrassed about my teeth that I saw the braces as a step up. Not all kids feel like that. Some are terrified after hearing the horror stories from their friends. Talk with your child about their fears and share your own knowledge in an effort to comfort them. Highlight the positive aspects of getting braces so that you can ease fears and create a state of positive thinking.
Plan meals accordingly. Whether the braces get tightened in the same day as the brackets get put on or not, your child is going to be in pain a short while after the braces are put on. Try giving him or her their favorite meal before the time comes when they are too sore to eat. Put some real fruit popsicles in the fridge and stock up on yogurt and other soft, cold foods.
Apply wax immediately. When your child gets braces, he or she will also get a small wax kit. This wax is to be used as a coating for the brackets. The inside of your mouth is not used to rough surfaces. It's going to need to develop a layer of protection, similar to calluses on a hand. Apply the wax immediately to minimize the immediate tenderness that can be the result of the brackets rubbing against the mouth. If you wait too long to do it, your child's mouth will be too sore for them to want to put any pressure on any teeth, including the wax application.
Be proactive about the pain. Take your finger and apply pressure to your front tooth. Hold that pressure for at least 10 minutes. Now, consider how that felt and multiply it by 32. Then, imagine the stress and pain of feeling that with no relief in sight. The pressure only really feels that bad for the first couple of days after the braces are adjusted, but the person feeling the pain doesn't know when it's going to end and neither do you. Prepare your child by giving them the pain reliever that you prefer before you leave the orthodontist's office. Use something that you would use for a headache or an earache.
Source: Personal Experience
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