It may come as no surprise that you will experience initial discomfort as your teeth move and your mouth gets accustomed to braces. Any discomfort you feel is normal, temporary, and will gradually become less severe.
The following techniques will help you adjust and improve your overall experience:
- Rinse with warm salt water to hasten the healing process.
- Place Ortho Wax over any parts of your braces that are irritating you. It will make them feel smoother until your mouth adapts.
- Over-the-counter pain medicine like Ibuprofen, Advil, and Tylenol can help.
- Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and alleviate dry mouth.
By the time you read this, your teeth have already begun to move. As teeth move, your sensitivity to hot and cold food and drinks may increase.
Paying attention to your diet can minimize discomfort, and watching what you eat throughout will help improve your overall experience:
- Begin with soft food until teeth tenderness is gone. Then, gradually incorporate more solid foods.
- Peel fruits before eating them. This will prevent peels from sticking in between your teeth or on InBrace.
- Avoid hard, sticky, and chewy foods like nuts, popcorn, pizza crust, granola bars, baguettes, caramel candies, taffy, beef jerky, and similar foods.
- Chewing gum is not recommended.
Oral Hygiene
It is very important to take care of your teeth and braces during treatment. The unique design of InBrace helps by letting you brush and floss as if you weren’t wearing braces at all!
Follow these helpful tips to keep your teeth strong and healthy during treatment:
- Brush and floss daily to prevent food getting stuck between your teeth.
- Using a Waterpik or any other water jet flosser is highly recommended, in addition to regular brushing and flossing.
- Pay close attention to thoroughly clean the area behind your lower front teeth.
- Using a proxy-brush or toothpicks may also be helpful, but use caution behind wires and brackets.
Communication
Orthodontic appliances take up space in your mouth and this can influence your speech. To return to normal speech, you’ll need to train your mouth. The best way to train is to exercise – we recommend speaking frequently or singing out loud. In two to three weeks, you’ll begin to notice that talking with InBrace is becoming less challenging.
What to do if a Wire is Broken
In the rare event a wire breaks, we recommend covering any part causing irritation with wax and contacting us immediately.
What to do if a Bracket is Broken
If a bracket comes loose and separates from a tooth, it may not bother you, but you still need to call the office and let us know. Your orthodontist might schedule you to make corrections immediately or add more time to your next appointment for the fix.