 ABOUT BRACES > LIFE WITH BRACES
General Soreness
When you get your braces on and after adjustments, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and teeth may be tender to biting pressures for three to five days. If the tenderness is severe, follow the dosage recommendations on the box of your favorite over-the-counter pain reliever.
Loosening of Teeth
Tooth movement is really a normal physiological process that allows your orthodontic correction to occur. The tooth loosens naturally to relieve the pressure applied by the appliances. There is temporary discomfort while this is happening, but it goes away. Chewing sugarless gum sometimes aids in "working out" soreness. Once your teeth are in line for that terrific smile, your retainer will hold them in place while the bone surrounding your teeth returns to its normal, stable, supportive condition.
Care of Appliances
To successfully complete the treatment plan, the patient must work together with our orthodontic team. The teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if the patient consistently keeps their appliances clean and follows directions. Damaged appliances lengthen the treatment time. As always, we are here to serve you, so please don't hesitate to ask any questions about properly caring for your appliances.
Brushing
It's more important than ever to brush and floss regularly when you have braces, so the teeth and gums are healthy after orthodontic treatment. If teeth and gums are not kept clean during treatment, the gums can swell making it even more difficult to clean. Plus, teeth are more difficult to move through swollen tissue and treatment may be delayed. Continued neglect of these areas will lead to decalcification (white spots), tooth decay, and even periodontal disease.
- When to Brush: If possible, brush your teeth within five minutes after you eat. If it's not possible to brush, swish with water to loosen food particles and chew sugarless gum to stimulate saliva flow and help reduce the damaging bacterial plaque acids that form on food particles left behind.
- How to Brush: Brush in small circles and between the wires and gums on the upper and lower to loosen and remove the food particles and to massage the gum tissue. Brush the outside, inside, and chewing surfaces of all the teeth. And don't forget to brush your tongue.
- Check Yourself: Look in a mirror very closely to see if you have missed any places. Check the little half-moon spaces of tooth between the brackets and gums and the space between the molar tubes and gums. If you see any missed areas, clean them immediately.
- Flossing: Even though it takes extra effort to floss with braces, you'll need to do so at least once each day. Use a floss threader to pull the floss under your archwire. Then wrap the floss around each tooth in the shape of a "C" and scrape along the teeth. Pull the floss out and repeat the process. We want to help you be a good flosser; if you have any difficulties with floss please let us know.
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