The anticipation was worse than the reality most times—she’d be dreading an adjustment, then two days later she was back to chomping on pancakes (well, sort of).
Funny how that works, right? The dread always seems to outlast the actual pain. Out of curiosity, did your ortho ever mention rubber bands or other appliances for her underbite? Sometimes those can speed things up, but they’re definitely a hassle. Wondering if that’s part of your journey or if you’re just doing straight braces.
I get what you mean about the build-up being worse than the actual adjustment. That was my daughter every single time—she’d work herself up, then after a day or two, she barely noticed anything had changed.
On the rubber bands thing, I’ve actually heard mixed stuff. Our ortho pushed them pretty hard for underbite correction, but honestly, they were more of a pain than anything else. My kid kept forgetting to put them in or lost them at school... It ended up dragging out her timeline more than helping. I know some folks swear by them for speeding things up, but in our case, compliance was just too much of a hassle.
Did your ortho ever bring up those spring-loaded appliances? We considered one, but it sounded even more intense than rubber bands. Sometimes I wonder if just sticking with plain braces would’ve been simpler, even if it took a bit longer.
Yeah, those rubber bands are like the socks of orthodontics—always disappearing and never where you need them. My nephew went through the same thing, and honestly, the only thing he was consistent about was losing them in his backpack. The spring-loaded appliances looked straight-up medieval when our ortho brought them up... We chickened out and just stuck with regular braces, even if it meant a longer haul. Sometimes I think the “simple but slow” route is just easier on everyone’s nerves.
The spring-loaded appliances looked straight-up medieval when our ortho brought them up... We chickened out and just stuck with regular braces, even if it meant a longer haul.
I get the hesitation—those appliances do look intense at first. But honestly, I tried the “medieval” route after years of dragging my feet with regular braces, and it sped things up way more than I expected. It was awkward for a bit, but I actually found it less stressful not having to remember rubber bands all the time. Sometimes the weird-looking stuff ends up being less hassle in the long run.
I totally get why you’d hesitate—those things look like torture devices at first glance. But do you ever wonder if the longer time with regular braces is actually more annoying in the end? For me, remembering all the rubber bands was a nightmare. How’s your progress going so far?
