Tips

The following are some tips I’ve learned from having braces and Acceledent, and things I wish I had remembered or known when I began the process:

1.       If you’ve been thinking about getting braces or Invisalign, start the process now! And get different opinions! The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll have perfect teeth and the sooner you’ll be happier. Most orthodontists offer free consultations, and it may take a few months to get an appointment. I visited 3 different orthodontists to get quotes and discuss treatment options starting almost a year before I got braces. The first one told me it would be very expensive and take years, which was disheartening. I decided not to bother after hearing that. A few months later I decided to get and 2^nd and 3^rd opinion, and found out it could be done quicker and less expensively than I previously was told. I picked the orthodontist I trusted the most, who had the most logical treatment plan. Even after signing the paperwork, it took a couple months to get an appointment to get the braces put on.

2.       Book your appointments early. Your orthodontist is probably busy like mine, dare I suggest maybe he even has too many clients. I’ve always booked my next appointment before leaving the office of my current appointment, or else I’d forget to call and do it. A couple times I was smart and even booked the next two appointments in advance. In general, with Acceledent, my orthodontist wanted to make an adjustment every 5 weeks. These adjustments happen sooner than non-Acceledent users.  There have been multiple times where I book an appointment the day I’m leaving their office and the soonest available appointment I can get is 7 or 8 weeks later (especially during the holidays). I think about those extra 2-3 weeks I had to wait between each appointment, and they add up! Maybe I could have gotten my braces off months sooner if I were able to stay on the time line.

3.       Use your Acceledent every day. Set an alarm on your phone and snooze it if you’re busy because it’s easy to forget. Charge it whenever you can, and especially as soon as you see it blinking yellow. You paid enough extra for it, and if you use it every day those braces will be off sooner! Your orthodontist will plug your device into a computer and can see how often you’ve been using it. Mine told me that all his patients who have regularly used it have gotten their braces off much sooner than their initial quoted timeline. He says he can tell just by looking as to whether or not you’ve been using it. If you’re not using it, you may not get that 5 week adjustment and will have to wait more time.

4.       Plug your Acceledent device into your computer and look at the output data regularly. If it’s inaccurate, your device is damaged, or you’re using it incorrectly, you’ll figure it out pretty quickly.

5.       Floss your teeth regularly and take care of them. I know it’s a pain, but wouldn’t it be worse if you finally get your braces off, only to find out that you have a cavity or gum problem and need to go through more pain? Flossing will also keep your teeth looking whiter. Plaque builds up fast with braces, and although braces aren't that attractive, they look a lot better over clean, pearly whites. Don’t bother with normal floss, it will take you forever. You can use waxed tipped floss, floss picks, or my favorite, floss threaders.

• Wax tipped floss comes in a pack of pre-cut pieces, each with stiff ends and is easy to thread through your braces, but it’s also expensive.

• Floss picks are easy to use, relatively cheap, a great concept, but kind of useless because you can’t use them in tight spaces. For me, they really only work on my top front teeth. My orthodontist gave me some for free and I use them on these teeth because they’re the quickest.

•  I received a free pack of floss threaders from my dentist, so you should ask your dentist if you can get some too. They’re easy to use and reusable (I’m still using the free pack from my dentist). Each looks like a giant plastic, pliable needle. You thread a piece of regular floss through the opening, like you would the eye of a needle and the plastic threader makes it easier to push underneath your metal pieces. Then you just floss like normal. You can re-use them, but after a while they may split in half if they get caught on something.

Floss picks, ~$3 per 75 pack

Wax-tipped floss, ~$6 per 30 pack

Floss Threaders, ~$3 per 35 pack (reusable)

And after you get your braces off...

You will be given a retainer to keep your teeth in line. Wear your retainer as recommended, which will most likely be every day or every night. 90% of people who talk to me about braces tell me the exact same story: they got braces as a kid, didn't wear their retainers and should be getting braces again now. All my friends who had braces as a kid tell me this, and it's true, their perfect smiles I remember in elementary school are now crowded and twisted teeth. My boss just told me the same thing about her teeth today. Her parents could only afford braces for 1 child, so she got them since she was the oldest, and her sister had to live with crooked teeth. But my boss never wore her retainer either, and now her teeth are crooked too.

I'm almost glad that I'm just getting braces now as an adult, because I know I'm more responsible than I was a a kid. And since I'm paying for braces myself, I know how important it is to wear that retainer so I don't have to pay for braces again.




Please contact me if you have any questions about my journey. I'm happy to answer any questions!