6 Common Questions New Patients Have About Braces

Questions to ask your Cypress texas orthodontist

6 Common Questions New Patients Have About Braces

If you are considering getting braces, it is common to have numerous questions and concerns. You may wonder if you can still enjoy your favorite food, speak the same, and continue to go about your daily life. You may also wonder how braces will feel.

Read on to learn the answers to the six most common questions that new patients have regarding braces. If there is a question that is not addressed below, feel free to contact Cypress, Texas Orthodontist, Dr. Benjamin Creed.

1. What Foods Can I Eat?

During the few first days after you get braces, it is recommended to stick to soft foods such as soup, smoothies, mashed potatoes, pudding, and purees until your mouth adjusts. Once your mouth adapts to the braces, you can still enjoy almost all your favorite foods, although there are a few exceptions such as taffy, nuts, bubble gum, and popcorn.

It is also suggested to try to be more careful with certain foods. For example, you may want to cut corn from the cob prior to eating it and slicing crunchy foods like apples or carrots into smaller pieces to make them easier to eat.

2. Will My Speech Be Affected by Braces?

Wearing braces does not have an impact on your speech. In fact, it may even help improve your speech since your teeth will be more properly aligned. Although regular braces should not affect your teeth, if you have a palatal expander appliance on the roof of your mouth it may take some time to adjust to it. Within a few days or about a week, you should be back to speaking like you normally did.

3. Can I Still Play Sports if I Have Braces?

If you participate in contact sports such as football or martial arts, you may worry about what will happen to your braces. Fortunately, you do not need to be concerned. For most sports, having braces will not make a difference. In sports that may involve hits to the face, you can get a specially fitted mouth guard to protect your braces.

4. Will I Have Difficulty Playing Musical Instruments?

If you play a musical instrument that has a mouthpiece such as horns, saxophones, or flutes, it may take a couple of weeks to adjust to your braces. However, you will be able to play as well as you did before braces in no time.

5. Will I Need to Brush My Teeth in a New Way?

Once you get your braces, you will need to set aside an additional few minutes each night to properly brush them. When brushing, make sure to pay extra attention to the spaces between your braces, wires, and brackets and your teeth. It is also crucial to floss them at least once a day.

6. Will the Braces Be Painful?

At Creed Orthodontics in Cypress, Texas, we do our best to provide patients with treatment that is comfortable and effective. While the majority of patients do no experience any discomfort, the feeling of braces can still take some adjusting to. It usually takes several days to a week to get used to the feeling of braces.