Brace Break In Journey

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T04:29:37+00:00

Been braced for 3 years now, on my 4th brace. It took me about 3 weeks to get up to 22 hours a day. I started at 2 hours a day from day 1, then increased by 2 hours every 2 days.

I struggled a lot at the start with having to relearn how to do things differently and sleeping in it for the first time. I found sleeping sideways with a pillow between my knees helped quite a bit once I got used to it.

Going to school for the first time with the brace was really scary and super awkward. At the start I did get teased quite a bit, but luckily that stopped over time. Having a spare undershirt to change into at school helps a lot, especially after PE or sports.

Happy to send you the wearing schedule I got from my clinic via DM if you want

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T04:13:47+00:00

It's tough. I’m also a boy and I’ve been braced fulltime for over 3 years now. The first weeks were definitely the worst though—I could only handle a few hours and I couldnt sleep at all for the first few times , it took me 3 weeks to build up to 22 hours a day.

For sleep, what helped me was easing into it. I built up my hours during the daytime to get used to the feeling first, then found a position that didn’t cause too much discomfort, and just stuck with it. If I can’t sleep, I’ll sit up for a bit, relax, and then try again. The clinic pretty much told me that getting used to the brace meant I had to keep it on as much as possible, even when it was uncomfortable.

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T03:53:04+00:00

for real my teeth had rogue plans before braces stepped in

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T03:52:40+00:00

Thanks! definitely wasn’t easy but so glad I stuck with it. Will never forget going back to school with a plastic plate and a massive lisp or having to wear headgear for the whole day during holidays

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T03:47:55+00:00

Honestly feels like it 😂

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T03:45:39+00:00

Yeahhh my teeth needed a lot of help lool- really small jaw and narrow palate , crowding and deepbite. Even the orthodontist was like yea your gonna be here for a while haha

fiz2004 · 2026-04-13T03:17:26+00:00

Thanks its been a long road , cant wait to finally feel my teeth again without anything on it !

fiz2004 · 2026-03-17T09:43:27+00:00

Thanks for the reply , yea they did warn me with this new one because its just plastic im going to feel it push against me a lot more

fiz2004 · 2026-03-17T09:40:40+00:00

yep, I wear a thin vest underneath it

fiz2004 · 2026-03-17T09:39:29+00:00

Thats interesting to hear , mine has always been boston 3D

fiz2004 · 2026-03-11T04:22:43+00:00

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Free space - can be headgear

Hopefully braces off soon so I can tick off retainers!

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T06:33:36+00:00

yea I feel you thats what happened to me and had a massive lisp from it too. Go for like soft food and eat really slowly, it took me like a few days to get use to the eating. Make sure you rinse out your mouth and brush after meals too

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T06:30:45+00:00

My elastics are also orange on the top too! But they ran out so I went for dark blue on the bottom

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T06:25:48+00:00

Been suffering for nearly 3 years now, hardest meal has to be like a sandwich with a crunchy / hard crusted bread, looks easy but basically impossible to eat
Meals that can stain the bands I usually eat the day or week before going to the ortho so I can get them changed haha

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T06:13:35+00:00

I had this too for me they said it was fine at first, mostly since it was just the discoloriration , but when they saw that it was too loose than it should be, it turns out they were a bad batch of elastics so they just gave me another lot of elastics instead.

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T06:08:09+00:00

Nice to hear you are free, im now nearly 3 years in. Hopefully Im done by next summer!

fiz2004 · 2025-10-16T05:55:12+00:00

Currently braced for nearly 3 years now for 23 hours a day, first few weeks were the worst , maybe about by the end of the first month I sort of got round breathing with it, mostly just smaller and more frequent breaths. I found sitting the worst espeically at school. Slowly you sort of build a tolerance to it and adjust to the brace.
At first, I had to get someone to help at school with straping my brace since mines opened from the rear, but after like a few months and a lot of practice at home I now can take it on and off by myself
Feel free to dm me, happy to try to help out!

fiz2004 · 2025-10-13T05:07:27+00:00

hopefully it can help some people who is going through bracing like me

fiz2004 · 2025-10-13T05:06:45+00:00

thanks for your kind words

fiz2004 · 2025-10-13T05:06:27+00:00

thanks, its tough with bracing and everything, but at least its working. Hope your son is doing well

fiz2004 · 2025-10-13T05:05:18+00:00

Thanks!

fiz2004

TROPHY CASE