Traveling with Braces: the Good, the Bad, and the Uncomfortable

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever had braces.

Keep your hand raised if you’ve ever had to travel with braces.

Okay, now raise your hand real high if you’ve ever had to endure braces while backpacking through SE Asia. Or trying to scuba in the Great Barrier Reef after your braces have just been tightened. Or exploring Latin America only to discover you can’t fully enjoy elote, empanadas, Mexican candy, OR REALLY ANY KIND OF TORTILLA.

Traveling with braces….is an experience on its own. So today, I bring you the two amazing bloggers (who happen to have braces).

Dana from The Wandering Donut

Caroline from Pictures and Words!

 

Oh, and me, The Awkward Traveller.  (Yes, I am interviewing myself too. Just…go with it.)

Let’s give a round of applause to our 3 lovely interviewees!

 

Going in alphabetical order, Caroline, you’re up! How long have you had your braces?

Caroline:  2 years exactly!

And what country are you from? Do you think your country is slightly obsessed with teeth appearance?

Caroline: In the US – definitely yes!

Dana? What about your country? Where are you from? Do you think they’re also pretty obsessed?

Dana: Australia. It is nowhere near as obsessed with teeth appearance and having to have braces young as the United States. I am very lucky that adult braces especially are more accepted here and I do not feel as judged. I probably could have gone my whole life without getting my teeth fixed, not that they were awful in the first place, but then I started working on social media and did feel more pressure.

And how long have you had your braces so far?

Dana: One extremely long year as a braceface.

You guys are troopers! Kay, what about you?

Kay: WELL, I mean, I’ve only had my braces for about a month…BUTTT I just transitioned from a year and a half of Invisalign (spoiler: Invisalign didn’t work for me *cry emoji*). I’ll talk about both during the interview. Like Caroline, I’m also from the United States, and yah, we’re pretty obsessed with teeth appearance. A majority of people here who will ever have braces usually get them before they turn 21. So, it feels a little weird – at least for me.

Do you ever plan your trips around dentists appointments, or the other way around?

Dana: Not specifically because changing a single date of an appointment is never a big issue. However, it has limited me in the long term travels that I would like to do more often. As I have appointments every 12 weeks it meant I was not able to travel for times longer than that.

Caroline: Other way around – my ortho office knows I travel a lot, so they’re used to it.

Kay: I agree with the limiting part of dentists appointments. I can’t imagine you can just…fly off to Europe for a year long roadtrip without somehow finding a dentist. For my Invisies, I had an appointment about every 4 weeks, and now every 6 weeks with my braces. It’s fine to be off by a week or so, but then it only delays my progress so…while I don’t necessarily plan around dentists appointments, I have to be mindful of them.

 

What’s the most difficult part about having braces while traveling?

Caroline: Having to brush after every meal. Also, I tend to be so tired at the end of the day that going through the whole hygiene routine is such a drag (and I’ve sometimes passed out without doing it). And don’t forget about the fact that food gets stuck EVERYWHEREEEEE.

Dana: Depending where I am travelling to, it does jump back into the judgement from other people. I definitely feel a lot more self conscious with braces but that is no where near as bad as being limited on all of the amazing food I want to try. I can’t say I followed my orthodontists rules 100% in terms of what food I shouldn’t eat but there are just some things I had to miss out on. The worst was just after they were tightened so my mouth was still very sensitive so eating certain foods was a big struggle.

Kay: Yup, they basically covered everything. First of all, eating with braces SUCKS. AND EATING IS THE MOST DELICIOUS PART OF TRAVELING. You are restricted on what you eat, and even if you CAN chew it, half of it gets stuck in your wires. Second, teeth pain is THE WORST pain. How are you supposed to enjoy sunrise at Mount Batur in Bali when you want to tear your jaw off? Also, traveling with Invisies is no fun either. Picture yourself at a Taiwanese night market and having to choose between eating with your Invisaligns in (bad idea) or jamming your disgusting fingers in your mount to take them out (also bad idea). It’s a lose-lose situation.

 

Okay wow….so…it’s probably safe to say there are some downsides. But what about the positives of traveling with braces?

Caroline: uhhh, not that I can think of HAHA.

Dana: It is a conversation starter.

Kay: Huh. I guess if I’m ever stranded somewhere, I can use them to reflect light at passing airplanes.

 

Let’s go back to the food topic, since food is such a big part of experiencing a new culture. Does having braces make it harder for you to enjoy local food?

Dana: Yes! Food is one of the main reasons I love to travel and to have had some of the magic taken away from me has been tough.

Caroline: I can see how it can be hard, but I haven’t come across this problem yet. But I have the clear brackets and the bands that go around them stain literally highlighter yellow when I eat curry (or anything with turmeric on it), so I’m putting any destination that has a curry-heavy cuisine (Thailand, India, etc.) on hold until my braces come off. In fact, I keep saying that I’ll probably head to Thailand first when they come off, haha.

Kay: Honestly, I’m still mad about tortillas getting stuck in my wires. Also, traveling after just getting your braces tightened is so disheartening. You really can’t enjoy anything you eat. Hopefully there’s soup.

 

That’s so sad! What would happen if you ate the wrong thing? Have you ever had a mouth emergency while traveling with braces? (wire problems, insane tooth pain, etc.)

Kay: Somehow, I’ve so far managed to avoid it! The only thing that usually happens is that they get stuck on the inside of my sweater or tug on my lips when they’re dry (gross lol). I’ve lost my Invisaligns before on vacation though.

Dana: I am pretty lucky because I have never had any mouth emergency with my braces. The closest would be going out for dinner and forgetting a toothpick hahah

Caroline: I popped off a bracket on a molar on the first day of a 10-day Europe trip. There wasn’t really anything I could do (I couldn’t even get wax on the end), so I just lived with that damn think poking me for the rest of the trip. I finally told my ortho about it way after the fact, and he said that if it ever happens again, I should just call any local orthodontist wherever I am because they can easily just clip the wire. So there you go.

 

Ummm…OUCH! Sounds like it takes a lot of extra attention to detail! Speaking of…Do you REAAALLLYYY floss after every meal?? On vacation too??

Kay: lol

Caroline: I never floss after every meal – just every night before bed. I have sometimes been so tired after a being on-the-go all day while traveling, and just passed out without doing it. My dentist and hygienist are still impressed with my hygiene, so whatever.

Dana: I’ve barely flossed because it is so time consuming and boringggg. I do use those pickster things after every meal though because I hate the feeling of something stuck in my tooth or more accurately in ALL OF MY TEETH.

 

Oh man, I bet you guys always have to do the “is there something stuck in my teeth?” game after every meal, haha. Have you ever felt self-conscious about traveling with braces? Or about your braces in general?

Caroline: Not really. They’re definitely visible but not that noticeable. And honestly, my teeth were such a mess before braces and I was so self-conscious then…and now they look 10000000000x better, so I’m all about embracing it!

Kay: Um, maybe a little, but usually only if someone points out that I have braces. Dana was right, traveling with braces usually brings that up. And when I’m eating as well, because I forget my manners and just start pulling broccoli stems out of my teeth. It’s not a good look.

Dana: Yes yes yes and it sucks. It’s not that I want to but it happens.

 

Thanks ladies! You’ve all painted a very…vivid picture of what traveling with braces is like. Now let’s hear from the studio audience! How many of you have braces? Is your country obsessed with braces? Did you ever have to travel with braces? Leave some of your stories below! Or, if you have any questions about traveling with braces for our interviewees, drop a comment!

Also, definitely give these awesome bloggers a follow!

Caroline, Pictures & Words

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Dana, The Wandering Donut

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oh yah, AND ME! Kay, The Awkward Traveller

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