BRACE YOURSELF - FOR STRAIGHT TEETH `WIRED' PATIENTS LEARN T

St. Louis Post Dispatch

(c) 1996 St.Louis Post-Dispatch. All rts. reserv.

08009089 BRACE YOURSELF - FOR STRAIGHT TEETH `WIRED' 
PATIENTS LEARN TO BE PATIENT St. Louis Post Dispatch (SL) - 
Monday, January 9, 1995 By: Barbara Yount
    Post-Dispatch Special Correspondent Edition: FIVE STAR  Section: 
ZONE WEST  Page: 02 Word Count: 826

MEMO: High School

TEXT: The  stainless-steel  odyssey  to  straight  teeth - also known as 
braces - begins in an orthodontist's office.

   It  is  a two-year trek in which patients give up some of their favorite foods 
 for  a  mouth  of  brackets,  wires and elastic bands and ultimately straight 
teeth.

   Mike, a sophomore at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 
says his  braces  "are like a chain with this giant rubber band that pushes 
your teeth  together,  and  then there's little wires in between the braces, 
and metal brackets that pull your teeth together."

   Laura  Whitt, a senior at Parkway West High School, says she had to 
wait until her sophomore year to get braces.

   "They  finally  ended up pulling six baby teeth," Laura said. "We have a 
picture of me with no teeth. It was kind of embarrassing."

   About  85  percent  of those who require braces have completed 
treatment before high school, says Derrill J. Heiland, an orthodontist at 
West County Orthodontics in Chesterfield.

   Jessica  Post,  a  freshman  at  Lafayette  High  School,  is among that 
majority. Recalling those days, Jessica says, "At lunch everyone was 
pretty disgusted.  You  have  to  take  the  rubber  bands out before you 
eat, and they're all coated with saliva."

   The  biggest  disadvantage of wearing braces, students say, is giving up 
favorite  foods.  The  no-no  list  includes:  popcorn, gum, carrot sticks, 
tortilla chips, Bavarian pretzels, hard and chewy candy, nuts and ice.
   These  foods  are bad because they cause the tiny brackets on each 
tooth to pop off and also they are more likely to become stuck on teeth.

   Kelly  Muys,  a  sophomore  at  Marquette  High  School, says that 
since getting  braces  "I  brush my teeth more - constantly because little 
things get stuck."

   Besides food, other things can make the brackets pop off.

   "I was chewing on my water bottle on the way to softball practice, and a 
bracket  popped  off,"  Jessica  said. "When I went to the doctor's office, 
they kept saying, `OK, which of the forbidden foods were you eating?' "

   Mike gave up nail biting after popping two brackets.

   "It was a bad habit, but I can't do that anymore," he says.

   Most   patients  dread  the  monthly  visits  to  the  orthodontist  for 
adjustment of their brackets because of the soreness afterward.

   "I got my braces tightened right before Thanksgiving," Laura said. "That 
was bad, because I couldn't eat much."
   On  the  other  hand, Mike says, there's an upside: You get out of school 
for the appointment.

   A  trend  in  the  past five years, Heiland says, has been multi-colored 
elastic  bands  that  allow  patients to coordinate colors with holidays or 
school events or even to camouflage their braces.

   Michelle  Mueller,  a  sophomore at Parkway West High School, said, 
"For homecoming  I  wore  red  and  blue bands, but other than that I wear 
white because it makes my teeth look white and the braces less 
noticeable."

   Mike wears hunter-green elastic bands because, "I like the color, and it 
hides the braces."

   Laura  said, "At Christmas I wore red and green bands, and on the Fourth 
of July I wore red and blue."

   Students  who  wear  braces  have mixed views on whether to cast a 
wide, open-mouth smile for photographers.

   "I smile a lot more," Laura said. "My teeth are prettier."
   She  says  braces  did  not  stop  her from beaming a big smile when her 
senior portrait was taken because the photographer cleverly air brushed the 
braces away.

   But, Kelly says, "I don't really like to smile for pictures anymore."

   The  best  part about wearing braces, students agree, is the end result: 
straight teeth and a great smile.

   "I'm  looking  forward  to  straight  teeth,  a  pretty smile and no gap 
between my front teeth," Laura said.

   Jessica  said,  "When the experience is over, you feel like you've lived 
through something. It's a great sense of accomplishment."

   Here's  what  high-school  students  say  is  good and bad about wearing 
braces:

   Good

   1. Eventually, you'll have straight teeth and a great smile.
   2.  You  choose  the color of elastic bands to match special holidays or 
events or you can choose a camouflaging color.

   3. You get out of school for orthodontist appointments.

   4. It's a handy conversation item: "Oh, when is your next appointment?"

   5. You give up dental flossing but can use toothpicks.

   Bad

   1.  No-no foods include popcorn, gum, tortilla chips, taffy, beef jerky, 
Starbursts, nuts and ice.

   2. Mouth soreness after monthly orthodontic visits.

   3.  Impaired  speech, like having a lisp, when first wearing the elastic 
bands and the retainer.

   4.  Headgear, which 5 to 25 percent of patients wear at night to correct 
an overbite, is uncomfortable.
   5. Giving up chewing on things such as pencils and pens and biting nails 
or you risk popping brackets.

CAPTION: PHOTO

   Photo  By  Kevin  Manning/Post-Dispatch - Dr. Derrill J. Heiland of West 
County  Orthodontics  in  Chesterfield  adjusts  the bands on the braces of 
Michelle Mueller, a sophomore at Parkway West High School.

                Copyright (c) 1995 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch