<p>I'm meeting an orthodontist shortly after my advent at FSU. However, after glancing at the facebook pages of students, I've realized that only .0001 percent of people there have braces. Now, granted I can obtain the ceramic ones which are more translucent than the traditional stainless steal metal ones they won't be painfully obvious, but I'll still feel somewhat self-conscious.</p>
<p>Has anyone else had braces in college? If so, are they a pain in the butt to keep up with, ie. appointments and getting food stuck in them? Also, are they are rare as I think, or just a little less common than in highschool?</p>
<p>I don't know if facebook is a skewed representation of the population, but almost everyone (FSU's anyway) on there looks like a freakin model. Then again, my high school, a crappy magnet one, might have just been unsually ugly.</p>
<p>Everyone finds their best airbrushed, cutest pose, sexiest look, etc. for Facebook. If you want an accurate representation of what these people look like in real life, go find them in real life. Can't answer your braces question though, sorry.</p>
<p>I wore braces for 5 1/4 years, so I'm pretty familiar with all the ups and downs. It's not totally unheard of to have braces in college, but it's not a common occurance either. It's just something most people do in their early teens. I think, as with getting your wisdom teeth out, its easier when you're younger, but since you're only 18, it shouln't make much of a differece. </p>
<p>I'm not an expert, but I think that since you won't able to have regular appointments every 4-6 weeks, you'll be wearing them longer. Yes, the appoinments are necessary because when you go, they change the wire size and do tweeking once it's in place so that everything will come together as it is supposed to. And if you're at a school 1,000 miles from home and you break a bracket in September, (the metal piece on the tooth) it will cause more delays since it can't be fixed until Thanksgiving. It's an adjustment when they're first on, so things like that happen in the beginning.</p>
<p>As for food, avoid most candy. Sticky things will pull the brackets off, and really hard candies will break the wire. I went pretty much the whole 5 years without corn (on or off the cob) because it ALWAYS got stuck. </p>
<p>Melli's right about everyone's Myspace and Facebook pics: they are going to be people at their best (or worst, depending on what image you're going for). Don't worry too much about what their pics looks like, it's not them 24/7.</p>
<p>^Umm no take it from someone with braces and is 18 years old
Who honestly cares if you have braces...no one but you.
Alot of braces are smaller now adays then two years ago. Just get them over with.
Also find a place that close to school because you do have to go get the wire changed every 4-6 weeks.</p>
<p>If you want to get you teeth straightened and you delay, it will take 18 to 24 months later on, too. There are many adults with braces who wished they had orthodontia when they were younger. I would just get it over with.</p>
<p>get it over with now...worse than getting braces in grad school or getting them as a full-blown adult!
look into invisalign. it'll cost more, but if you're having a lot of misgivings then it may be worth it.</p>
<p>yeah, like the two above, just get it over with now. if you got to a really good orthodontist, it won't take that long. i got braces on junior year in HS and had them taken off in six months</p>
<p>Well, the length of time you wear them has nothing to do with your orthodontist, it's about what kind of shape your teeth are in. Mine were a mess! invisalign would still require regular appointments because from what know about them you get a series of retainer-type trays that go over your teeth. How would you move to the next one if you never schedule appointments? I could be wrong about the invisalign process, but I think that's how it goes. </p>
<p>And you don't wear the retainer forever. I can stop wearing mine completely by summer 2008. The process, like with you, will get thrown off because I won't be here. But retainer checks aren't half as often as braces checks.</p>
<p>I got braces about 3 weeks ago, so I had the same concerns that you have and I remember how much my attitude changed.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I was somewhat concerned about the appearance. A mouth full of metal is definitely not very attractive. However, I got the white ceramic ones for my top teeth and normal metal ones for the bottom teeth. The brackets (the squares that are glued to your teeth) are generally not seen. The top ones match the colour of your teeth, whereas the bottom ones are covered by the top teeth (unless you have an underbite; ask your orthodontist) and shadows. </p></li>
<li><p>Stuck food was a very significant concern for me. I thought it would be the most annoying thing ever, but I got used to it a couple of days after being able to eat solid food. Basically, my dental hygiene routine changed slightly. I used to brush my teeth in the morning and night regularly. Now, during and after I finish eating, I will use my tongue to dislodge large pieces of food (warning: you may slice your tongue slightly with the wire). If I want to continue eating something else with a different flavour (such as dessert), I will go rinse my mouth and finish eating. When I'm done, I quickly go brush my teeth like I normally do, except for the front side of my teeth, where I add a little extra effort (your orthodontist will tell you what to do). Once a day (after I finish dinner), I use this little brush (your orthodontist will probably give you a couple to start you off) to brush between the brackets where my toothbrush can't reach. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>That's it for now. I'll add more when I think of something else.</p>
<p>Braces aren't that uncommon among older folks anymore. When I was in sixth grade, my science teacher had braces. Nobody thought anything bad about that and in fact we thought it was pretty cool (probably since we were all getting braces in sixth grade--I got mine that year and like 80% of the school had braces in sixth grade).</p>
<p>my FRiends sister had braces from middle of senior yr and shes going into her 3rd yr of college now and she got hers off 6 months ago...she had hers thru college..And she had a weird combo: Ceramic braces on toP: COlored ones on the bottom they couldnt do ceramic both ways for some reason so THEY Did that saying hey they usually cannot see it unless u smile real big but my friends sister smiles reallll big! AND I MEAN It big enough to show all her teeth i love her tho shes auesome</p>
<p>Ugh I'm going to have braces through Freshman year. Luckily I'm transfering Sophomore year so people at my new school won't even know I had em :)</p>
<p>lol I eat everything but really hard things. I've broken them a couple times and pulled the backs out by accident a handful of times in a row (not lately thank god). o well</p>
<p>when you get them they put this giant expander in ur mouth to hold it open and then stuff ur mouth with cotton and such. Then put bad tasting stuff in and it takes a while. I just got new brackets on some back teeth and had to experience it all over. My advice is meditate, stare at the ceiling, or think of other things. Also don't laugh...my nurse this time was really funny and I kept laughing and putting the cotton outta place lol</p>
<p>I can't remember seeing anyone with braces, but it's not like I really looked either. Chances are most people have already had them and they're not going to really care whether you do or not. I got mine a bit late, around when most other people were getting them off, and I got them off the summer between junior and senior year of high school. The thing that most bothered me is that since I'm short and small anyway, they made me look extra-young, to the point where the people at the orthodontist office kept asking where my parents were and didn't believe that I was actually old enough to drive myself there. Most people wouldn't have that problem, though.</p>
<p>I do have a college age friend who has the invisalign things. I didn't actually know she had them until she had to take them out at dinner, but she says they're annoying because you have to take them out and put them somewhere every time you eat, and then put them back in after you eat and your teeth are all dirty. It won't work for fooling people into thinking you don't have them if you're ever going to eat around them.</p>
<p>Wow, Figgy, you actually managed to rip out the bands on your molars???? Smooth. If it helps, I saw people at my freshman orientation in June wth braces. I didn't think anything of it, just that they got them late.</p>