How did you deal with your first day in braces? Poll inside

That’s funny, I had a similar mess with the water flosser - felt like I needed to mop the floor after. Honestly, I stuck with the threader too, mostly because it’s cheaper and I didn’t want to buy extra gadgets.

“once I figured out the threader, it actually felt kind of meditative”

I get what you mean about the threader being meditative, but honestly, I just couldn’t stick with it for long. For me, the whole process felt awkward and I kept poking my gums or dropping the floss. Maybe I’m just clumsy, but it actually made me more anxious than calm.

I did try those little interdental brushes - like the tiny bottle brush-looking ones? At first I thought they’d be expensive, but I found a generic pack at the drugstore that wasn’t too bad. What I liked was how much quicker they were compared to threading floss under every wire. Step one: poke the brush in, step two: wiggle it around, step three: done. It took some trial and error to find a size that didn’t feel like I was jamming a tree trunk between my teeth.

Still, I keep both around. Some days the threader works, other days I just want to get it over with. Not sure if that’s a “hack,” but it definitely helped my nerves on day one when everything felt overwhelming.

Switching between floss threaders and interdental brushes is honestly a smart move. I see a lot of folks struggle with the threader at first - it’s just not intuitive. The little brushes are great for quick cleaning, but you nailed it: finding the right size makes all the difference. If you ever feel like your gums are getting sore, sometimes a waxed floss with a smoother threader can help too. First days with braces are rough, but you’re definitely not alone in the trial-and-error phase.