In fact, now that my tongue has adjusted to my uprighted molars (which is where that hook was hiding before), I barely notice my Incognito Braces again. Really, the only time I do is when I eat.
Remember, you can ask me questions any time! Here are a few of the most recent questions I’ve received:
Do you ever wish you could take your braces off?
I really forget I’m wearing them, so I don’t need to take them off, nor do I want to.  The only time I ever thought about it was after my first wire change when I was a bit surprised about the adjustment. I love knowing they’re always on, so they’re always working.
Do people ever notice your braces?
If anyone notices them, they don’t tell me! When I laugh really hard, I know they’re visible…but most people don’t laugh like me!
Here's a pic of me from 2008, I think. Notice my wonky teeth...but I thought they were straight!
 Do other people see a difference in your teeth?
When you look back at pictures of where my teeth were, and where they are now, you can REALLY see the changes!  I have a much broader smile now, and when you look in at my lower teeth, they’re more upright, so they look MUCH better. Would someone who hasn’t seen me in 10 years notice my teeth are different?  Probably not…but remember, I had braces on the outside as a kid.
How do you get the food out of your braces?
This is a hilarious question.  I like it! So, first I use my tongue to loosen up the food a bit (some things just get stuck in your brackets…not just bread, but lobster, ground beef, veggies, etc.).  I basically just push it forward and backward around the wire in between each bracket.  Then I suck it out if I can. I call this “seconds.” When I give up on it, I then use my hygiene tools to clean my braces.  I was going to take a video to show you…but it may be too gross to watch. It’s not that bad to do, though!
What hygiene tools do you use the most?
For on-the-go food removal, I love my tree brush. It does a great job at getting the food out from between my brackets.  I don’t go anywhere (not even Germany!) without my electric toothbrush.  I wish I had a little one to put in my purse!  It seriously changed my life. Every morning and night, I use my water toothpick to rinse out any debris around my brackets. You’ll feel fresh and clean!
4 day into being a barb wired mouth girl.
I’m SO looking forward to the day that I won’t notice the hook anymore… Questions: would the amount of wax slow down the treatment process?
Hi Jessica,
Did you get Incognito Braces? The day WILL come when you don’t notice it! Don’t worry!
I asked the exact same question when I started wearing my braces…here’s a synopsis of what I was told.
Since you just started out with your treatment, the most important thing is to be comfortable. I used quite a lot of wax for the first week….maybe first week and a half (seems like a while ago now!). If you’re just putting the wax on the hook (where your elastics will go later to get rid of an overbite), then it won’t affect your treatment. If you’re putting wax on the brackets where the wire is, it can affect it. I’d worry more about this in two weeks or so because by then, your mouth should be pretty much adapted to your braces. Do you have Gishy Goo? It’s made by Opal. I love it!! It is a two-part wax that you can combine and apply exactly where you need it. I used the thicker wax (looks/feels like candles!) at night only.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!!
-Jacqui
Just got my incognito on and I canNOT chew. It freaked me out when I took my first bite of soup. PLEASE tell me I will be able to chew again? The thought of not chewing food for the next 1+ years is freaking me out…and posts I’m seeing on the internet about chewing is not all that reassuring!
Hi Erin,
First, I’m excited that you got your braces! Congratulations! Honestly,
you’re going to LOVE them when you adjust. The first week or so is a bit
rough, but it gets better!!! When you’re able to chew, it’ll be such an
amazing accomplishment, and then soon after, you’ll forget they’re even
there.
Things that helped me through my first week were:
1) Put wax on every bracket at night; it smooths out the brackets and lets
your tongue heal
2) Use Gishy Goo on the brackets that scrape your tongue the most during
the day (mine were the lower back brackets)
3) Numb the pain on your tongue with Orajel
4) Don’t be afraid of pain killers (I didn’t need it, but some people do)
5) Stick to non-chewable foods for about 7 days (at the beginning, I ate a
lot of chili, shepherd’s pie, curry, soup, etc.). Anything on a spoon,
really!
Honestly, it gets worse before it gets better, but it does get better!!
You just have to prepare yourself for a couple of days with a sore tongue.
You’re going to notice that flipping food in your mouth hurts for the next
few days, but your tongue will toughen up really soon.
I hope this helps! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.
There is lots of info. in my blog to help, too!
Stay strong and smile often!!
-Jacqui
Hello Jacqui!
First, LOVE YOUR BLOG!! You were definitely one of the people who encouraged me to research this method in the first place, so thank you!!
I love my i braces and have had them on since september 27th, so three months, and they have shifted already! But like you said at your 3 mos, I have noticed that my peg lateral (kinda like a baby tooth in the front of my teeth) has become so much more noticeable with a small space due to the shifts. -_- how quickly did you notice new spaces closing when your teeth were moving to their new positions?
I can not speak very well with my Incognito braces. Granted I did just get them five days ago but are there any speech exercises I could do?
Hi Mari,
Congratulations on getting Incognito Braces! There’s definitely an adjustment period for everyone when you get your braces, but in my experience, it was well worth it!
I have lots of tips and tricks in my early blog postings, so be sure to take a look around, but a few things that helped me were:
1) Talk Slower – I’m a fast talker, and I definitely found it easier when I spoke slower
2) Wax – put wax on the brackets that are bothering your tongue the most. It’s incredible how quickly my speech improved when I started doing that! I also recommend putting wax on every bracket at night so your tongue can relax (at least for the next few nights….you won’t have to soon!)
3) Rainbow Passage – Did you get a gold Incognito Braces pamphlet when you were bonded? It has something called the Rainbow Passage written in it. I read it every day to help perfect my speech (Ss and THs took me a bit longer to master than five days, but everyone’s different!!)
4) Tongue Twisters – I just Googled different websites, and found some passages to practice that focused on the sounds I was having trouble with
That should be a good start. If you have some time, there’s a search engine within my blog, so you can put in some keywords and find relevant posts pretty quickly. I also put my posts into categories on the right, so you can check out the videos and perhaps tips & tricks for other ideas.
Just to let you know, I felt really confident with my speaking after 10 days, but most people take about two weeks, so don’t worry! Just take time to adjust.
Hope this helps!! Feel free to contact me any time with questions. Good luck, Mari!!
Jacqui