Damon Braces: Stories

I have gaps in my front teeth and I have debated with myself about whether to do this for the last year. I am 32 years old and didn't know if at this age I wanted to just accept the way my smile was or do something about it.

I picked the Damon clear system because I am a professional who does a lot of public speaking. I didn't want the braces to be the first thing people noticed and I liked how clear the braces look, especially from a distance.

I am most concerned about the pain people talk about, I am curious about what level of pain it will be for me. I don't normally take pain killers but I did buy some Advil 'just in case' I need it. I am having the braces done today because this is the start of a week and a half vacation for me. I am hoping that by the time work starts back up I will have worked out any 'speaking' issues and that the pain will be gone and I will be used to the braces.

I will keep you posted on how things go.

Day 1: I have had the braces on for 7 hours now. Getting the brackets on my teeth only took about 15 minutes and total time from brackets to the the bands/and wire about 30 minutes. It was very gentle and the only discomfort for me came from the tongue holder because of the small size of my mouth it cut into my bottom gum, that was the worst part.

So here I am 7 hours later, I ate a piece of soft bread when I got home and it was really awkward to chew, I did not chew on my front teeth at all, and it was kind of gross how much of your food gets stuck in your braces. However, after I was done eating I brushed my teeth and all was back to normal. I have used some wax already as I was advised from other users online to you the wax as soon as I felt some rubbing.

Talking is no problem, no lisp for me. I do feel like my lips are sticking out a lot but in the mirror it doesn't look that bad. I do find it difficult to smile with my mouth closed which is what I was used to doing before the braces so this is new to have to smile with my mouth open in order for it to look like a good smile (I hope that makes sense).

Pain on a scale of 1-10 I am at a 2-3, I have a headache but that is probably from them working in my mouth I never go to the dentist where I don't leave without a headache. My teeth though a 2-3. I am taking some Advil just to keep any potential soreness at a manageable level.

I have no desire to eat anything solid at this point, I am having cream of wheat and a protein shake with a banana for dinner. So far I am not at all disappointed or discouraged. The pain is a lot more manageable than I thought it would be.

So far, so good.

2/8/2013
It is now officially been about 36 hours since I received my braces. I continue to be amazed at the lack of pain, after reading so many others reviews about getting braces I really thought there would be more pain.

Sometimes I think that one of the reasons that I'm not in a lot of pain is that most of my teeth are straight so I don't think there's as much massive changes going on as there would be if my teeth had more alignment issues.

More so today than yesterday I am struggling with my 's' sounds. I will be glad when my talking returns to normal.

I have a couple of teeth in the front that are a little sensitive but I'm able to brush my teeth and touch them without immense pain.

My mouth feels a lot dryer than usual but I figure that once I'm used to the braces it won't feel that way.

I feel a little self conscience when I am speaking to people at work, but I am faking confidence with the braces until I am not faking it anymore.

It has now been a week and 2 days since I got my Damon braces on and I am surprised at how quickly I have gotten used to having the braces, well to an extent. I am pain free now and can eat most foods, at this point pain when eating isn't a problem but learning to eat with braces is still an adjustment. When I eat I can feel the food getting all impacted into the braces and that can feel annoying.

I have to brush my teeth after eating anything that could remotely get stuck in the braces because I hate the feeling, and because I don't really want to store food in my braces for later.

Talking with the braces has become easier though at times my mouth feels drier than it used to be.

The biggest challenge for me at this time is smiling. When I smile I feel like I look more like I am grimacing than smiling. I feel like my mouth just doesn't move right around the braces. I find myself covering my mouth when I break into a grin and I am trying really hard not to do that. I don't want to get into that habit, have my teeth fixed and the braces off and be in the habit of covering my smile.

I have heard a person gets used to smiling with braces. I hope they are right.