Your day is finally here! It is finally time to take your braces off! Yay! But is it going to hurt?
Taking brace off is just like putting them on! It is one of your longer appointments. Your orthodontist will take all the braces off, then polish your teeth to make sure they are really clean and all the special glue that was used to put the braces on your teeth is gone. The appointment of taking the braces off involves a few steps:
- The process of removing the braces from the teeth: It is fairly simple and does not hurt. You might feel a little pressure as the braces are being peeled off. If you feel too much pressure, sometimes it helps to bite one a cotton roll while the braces are being removed.
- Polishing your teeth: Polishing your teeth takes some time as your orthodontist wants to make sure your teeth are clean and glue-free. Your teeth turn a little yellow during your braces treatment and it is mostly because brushing with braces is a little more difficult. Polishing the teeth also helps clean them a little.
- A 3-D model of your teeth (with a 3-D scanner) is done and that model is used to make your retainer.
- Your orthodontist might take the final photos and x-rays of your teeth on the same day. The photos are a good reference for a before-after comparison of what was done on your teeth and how much you have changed! It is also a lot of fun looking at your photos from a couple of years ago and compare them to today!
- And that is it! You will get to show off your smile and enjoy your brand new look!
Here are a few things you should expect after braces come off:
- You are not fully done! You have to go back in a few days to get your retainers. Retainers are mandatory to keep your teeth straight, otherwise your teeth will move back to their original position or get crooked again.
- Your gums might be a little tender or swollen and that is again because brushing is more difficult while you have braces on. Once braces come off, your gums will start shrinking and go back to their original size and you will be able to see more of your teeth. One thing to know is, as your gums are shrinking, you might notice that your gums bleed a little every time you brush for about a week! That is perfectly normal.
- You might have some white spots on your teeth. White spots only happen if your oral hygiene has not been good during orthodontic treatment. After braces come off, try to maintain a very good oral hygiene so that your white spots do not get bigger! For the first few weeks, if you maintain a very good oral hygiene, they might even get a bit smaller.