ELASTICS/ RUBBER BANDS 101 | Everything You Need To Know

Hello everybody, so today I'm going to be filming a video about, you guessed it, elastics. In my last video, actually no, it wasn't my last video, it was my last braces video, I said that I was going to make a video all about elastics and just kind of telling you everything you need to know. This is that video. Basically, in this video, I'm just going to be telling you everything that you should know about elastics, some life hacks, some tips, some advice, just all that kind of stuff all mixed into one. And hopefully, if you're getting elastics or you've got elastics, this video will help you out. Also, I'm freezing cold, so I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to just kind of put my dressing gown on. So, I got my elastics on the 7th of September, which was about two weeks ago. So, I've had them for about two weeks and I'm going to have them for another four weeks. And I'm just going to kind of tell you everything that I've kind of learnt since having them, to show you what the elastics look like. I'm only wearing one type of elastics and these ones are the Chuck 1.25 inches, 6.4 millimeters, medium to light. In Australia, we have them named after men's names. So, my one is Chuck, like Chuck Bass. I feel like this is honestly meant to be because Chuck Bass, I love you. Anyway, in America, I think yours are named after animals. I had some people comment that. If you have elastics, leave a comment down below what elastics you have and what they're called because for some reason, I find that really interesting. And whenever someone I see has braces, I'm like, what elastics do you wear? And then we're like, oh, I have Paul and I'm like, I have Chuck. I don't know, I just think that's so interesting. But, I get way too excited about this kind of stuff. Also, does anyone else do this? Like, I always find when I have my elastics in that I find myself going like this. I don't know, is that just me? And also, you can make this really cool guitar noise, which is like my new party trick. Who says you can't have fun with braces, am I right? Basically, they're these little rubber bands. I'll show you. That's what they look like. I don't know if you can see. Hopefully, it focuses. That's the size of it in comparison to my nail. But they do stretch a lot. As you can see, they go quite stretchy. The clear elastic bands are basically placed over the bracket with the hooks. And they are used to guide and just kind of move the teeth into the right position. There's actually a few uses for rubber bands. So, basically, they can be used to kind of correct your bite. So, if your jaw kind of goes in the wrong position, the elastics can be used to kind of realign your teeth and just kind of make sure your bite is perfectly in correlation with the bottom teeth. Some people have teeth like kind of up there in their gums. And the elastics are then used on that tooth to kind of pull it down and make sure that it's all aligned with all the other teeth. They are also used to close gaps, which is what mine was used for. As you can see, they're closing this gap here. I'll actually insert a picture or a video here from one of my other videos where I was showing the gap. And you can kind of see how the gap is closed up within two weeks. It's actually crazy to see the difference because it's actually closed up the gap a lot and it's only been two weeks. So, hopefully, in four weeks' time, the gap is completely closed and I can get my braces off. So, it is a few hours later and I just got back from having dinner and I look like poo. But I just realized I forgot to film showing you how I put my elastics in. I like to start from the top. I just find that that way it's a little bit easier. Basically, all you do is you take the rubber band like this and then you stretch it a little bit and then you just start from the top and then on the bottom like that. And there you go. So, when I was getting elastics, I didn't really know what to expect and I didn't really watch any videos on it. But when I got them on, it was completely different to how I thought it would be. It kind of feels just like pressure, but it doesn't feel like pressure on your teeth. It more kind of feels like pressure on your jaw. I did notice a little bit of soreness and tenderness on the teeth where the elastics were. For me, it hurt more of my jaw, which is weird. I've never heard anyone say that, but that's how mine felt and I don't know if I'm the only one that felt like that. But, yeah. So, when you get your rubber bands, your orthodontist will say like how long you have to wear them for and for most, I think you have to wear them for 24 hours. I know some people only wear theirs at night. I have to wear mine for 24 hours. So, basically all day, every day for like six weeks and I only take them out when I'm eating and when I brush my teeth. So, usually I'm really, really good with my braces and usually I stick to all the rules. I stick to everything. I don't break any rules. I do everything that I'm told to. I just kind of forget like when I go and eat breakfast, I'll take them out and then I'll just kind of go off and do something else and forget that I need to put them back in. That's totally my fault and I should probably just remember to put them in, but I just find that I'm really forgetful and just kind of go about my day without remembering to put them back in and then like two hours later, I'll be like, oh my god, no, I need to put my elastics in and I mean, it's fine. Hopefully, that's not a problem, but if my orthodontist is watching this, I'm sorry, okay? Don't hate me. When I'm going out with friends and stuff, it depends where I'm going. Like if I'm just going to the shops, I'll wear them, but if I'm like going out-out, I'll actually take them out and just leave them out because I don't know, I feel more confident without them, I guess. For example, last night, I went out and I didn't wear my elastics and I was out for like five or six hours and I know that's really bad and I know I should put them in, but I promise after I film this video, as of the 22nd of September at 3.53 p.m., I'm going to wear them 24-7 and I'm going to take them out when I eat and when I brush my teeth and then I'm going to put them straight back in. So another thing that I've noticed with my elastics is when I first put them in, my routine is I usually get up, have breakfast and take them out and then I'll kind of go in the shower in that kind of hour time frame, brush my teeth and then I'll put a new fresh set in. My orthodontist told me to wear the same set for 24 hours and only change it once a day, but I found that I changed them twice a day just because I feel like they get kind of gross. I don't know. I swap them out in the morning and then I also swap them out at night just before I go to bed. After I brush my teeth, I put a new set in. And I also feel like when you first put them in, they're a lot stronger and they feel more tight and as the day kind of progresses and as you kind of open your mouth and talk, they kind of loosen up a bit and I just feel like they're not working as well. So a few things I've actually noticed with elastics is they get everywhere. I find them in the most random spots and I always forget. So I take them out and I just kind of leave them there and that's so gross. And I always just kind of like leave them there on the table when I'm eating dinner, forget about them. And I literally find them in the weirdest places. Like I will just find one like in my handbag. Like how did it get there? I'll find one in my car. I'll find them like in a drawer. Like I don't understand how they get there, but they just seem to haunt me everywhere I go and I just find a random elastic and it's so weird and it's so annoying. But I don't know. It's just one of those things that happens. Probably like six months after I get my braces off, I'm still going to be finding elastics just kind of in my drawer or like in my carpet. I don't know. There's something that I wanted to address in this video is something that I've seen in YouTube videos and there was a few people saying that you should double your elastics up if you forget to wear them. So basically wearing two instead of one. Please do not double up your elastics because it's actually really, really, really bad for your teeth and it can actually cause too much pressure on your teeth and it can actually damage your tooth root. So please do not double up your elastics unless your orthodontist tells you to. Who wants damaged teeth? Because I sure don't. I just realized that I forgot to tell you the shape that I put them in. So basically I put them in this tooth here and this tooth here and then this one here and this one here. In my other video, I said it was a square, but someone corrected me and said it was a rhombus. So it's what my orthodontist did. And yeah, so I have to wear them in a rhombus shape. Let me know what shape you have to wear them in because I just find that stuff really interesting. I don't know. So another tip that I have is to just have these everywhere. So like get a little Ziploc bag or like a little box container kind of thing and just have them in convenient places where you usually kind of hang out. So like your car, your school bag, your purse, bedside table next to your bed. Have them everywhere. If you're going to a friend's house or something, make sure you bring them to your friend's house because when you're brushing your teeth, you might lose one or something. Really want to have some on you all the time just in case something happens and you need to get a new set. So everybody, that's kind of all the tips I have on elastics. I don't know if that was a really bad video. I feel like this video wasn't really that interesting. I don't know. I hope you all have a lovely weekend because it is Friday. Woop, woop, woop, woop. Bye, guys. I love you all.