I Wore Braces Behind My Teeth—Here’s What You Should Know

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I kept a secret for eight months. Hidden behind my bottom teeth were the stealthiest braces the world has ever (not) seen. Unless I spilled the beans to someone—half the time to marvel, half the time to complain—nobody was the wiser. The teeth-straightening technology is called InBrace, and as a beauty editor and a mom whose teeth rotated and gapped during pregnancy (thanks, hormones), I was eager to test their power. I was also in the best of hands, thanks to New York–based orthodontist Scott C. Schwartz, DDS, who is an InBrace master.

Even though I was far from the most compliant patient (turns out, it’s key to stick to the appointment schedule), after eight months, I had perfectly straight teeth. And now, like a mom who tries to prepare her newly pregnant friend for life with a newborn, I’m compelled to impart the highs, the lows, and the why-did-nobody-tell-me-thats.

First, here’s the difference between traditional braces, aligners, and lingual braces like InBrace

Compared to the hefty, rigid piece of metal that striped my teeth in high school, InBrace—made of “shape memory alloy”—is high-tech and downright dainty. The thin, featherweight, flexible wire undulates in a pattern of narrow and wide zigzaggy curves that may seem haphazard but are customized and purposeful. A computer program analyzes a 3-D scan of your teeth to create the unique-to-you wire that snaps into brackets glued to the back of your teeth and pushes each tooth in exactly the right way (the wire has memory and wants to return to its straight nature, taking your teeth with it). This translates to teeth that should move more efficiently than they do with other alignment options. “I offer all of them, and in my experience, InBrace is the least painful and quickest,” Schwartz says.

He goes on to explain that a traditional metal wire is rigid; attach it to brackets and it uses brute force to push the teeth. Like a punch, it hurts a lot at first, and then dissipates. Aligners take a similar path: They start tight—applying a heavy force at first—and then loosen up. You see some movement quickly, but then nothing happens until it’s time to graduate to the next wire, band, or tray. Overall, the force of the InBrace wire is more like the steady weight of a hand; it’s there, but, mostly, you notice it only if you think about it. (Except during the first two weeks—read on for more about that.) This is also why traditional braces call for monthly tightenings at the orthodontist’s office and aligners are swapped every two weeks at home. InBrace requires a new wire, fitted at the orthodontist’s, every two to three months. (In my case, I had six visits: a consultation, the fitting, three wire changes, and then removal.) Prices range from $3,000 to $10,000, depending on the type you choose and where you live.

Note that not everyone is the right candidate for these options; things like the size of your teeth and the space between them can affect which is right for you. And not everyone responds to InBrace the same way, which leads me to…

The highs and lows

“After InBrace goes on, everyone has a two-week adjustment period,” Schwartz says. “Then, most people love their experience.” Whether you’re part of the majority or would describe your feelings as far less than amorous, the first few weeks are tough. For starters, you’ll have a lisp. The more you practice speaking, the faster it’ll go away. Schwartz handed me a printout of the Rainbow Passage and suggested I read it aloud often. Most of the time, my speech was fine, but I still lisped occasionally for about a month.

You’ll also find that your mouth is very sore, especially for the first couple of days. Drinking something warm relaxes the wire a bit, giving you a brief reprieve. Advil helps. You can eat anything, but obviously something like a soup or a smoothie goes down a lot easier than biting into, say, crusty bread.

Speaking of bread, it—and pretty much all other food—ends up lodged in your braces. And Edward Scissorhands has nothing on how well your braces can shred a salad. The huge positive: No one can see any of it. Over time, you’ll get used to a few remnants of food sticking around after you eat. Then you’ll beeline to a bathroom to brush and floss.

The last pain point: Your tongue—which is in prime position to poke and press into the braces—can get cut up and develop a sore. The initial injury hurts, sure, but it’s the re-injury, the accidental rub, the salt in the wound, so to speak, that happens whenever you eat or talk or move your tongue. It makes calm, easygoing people want to stomp and curse and pout (it’s me). As with everything else, this happened less and less often with time. And I’ll note that I am but one reviewer. According to Schwartz, there are people out there who experience a little pain the first few weeks and then spend the rest of their journey ecstatic. In the words of Gwyneth Paltrow, I wish them well.

Products that really help

Once you have a sore, you can try warm saltwater rinses to ease the healing process, which runs its course in a few days. Ideally, you’ll learn to prevent them in the first place. For recurring pain, proceed right back to the orthodontist’s office and ask for Soft Flow, a silicone covering that smooths out sharp areas on the brackets. At home, press bits of wax onto spots that poke or, better yet, try Ortho Dots, which seem to stay on better than wax.

The best way to get food out of your braces is to floss. Because of InBrace’s unique curvy wire, you can still slide floss between your teeth. I also became a huge water flosser fan. I’d fill the reservoir with lukewarm water, aim the high-pressure stream at my brackets, then be amazed/horrified at the food bits that emerged. Afterward, my teeth felt next-level clean. I had a Waterpik on my bathroom counter at home and a mini travel size by Moon in my handbag. I also loved how well the Philips Diamond Clean electric toothbrush reached into and around each bracket.

After eight months, Schwartz unclipped the InBrace wire and removed each bracket. His parting gift—besides the perfectly lined-up teeth and extra-wide smile—was a retainer and a reminder to wear it. “Our teeth have memory, and while they won’t necessarily go back to their original spots, they’ll begin to rotate or gap again, especially as our bodies change throughout our lives,” he explains. “This is why I tell patients to wear their retainer at night for a lifetime.” I’m on it.

Ultra Countertop Water Flosser

The Water Flosser

DiamondClean Electric Toothbrush

OrthoDots CLEAR

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