Thursday, December 11, 2008

How to Use Dental Wax

When you first got your braces, your orthodontist probably gave you a container of dental wax. By using this product properly, you can spare yourself hours of needless pain and irritation. In the first weeks of orthodontic treatment, braces can rub the inside of your lips and gums until they are raw. This is extremely uncomfortable, but after a week or two the tissue heals and "toughens up." You may not believe it, but with time you will actually forget that you are wearing braces -- they will not irritate the insides of your mouth as much!

But in the mean time, while you are adjusting to life with orthodontics, dental wax is indispensable. It can help to protect those delicate tissues and help them heal. Using dental wax is very easy:

  1. Pinch a small quantity of wax from the strip -- enough to cover the bracket that is irritating your mouth.
  2. Knead the wax briefly between clean fingers to warm it slightly and make it more malleable.
  3. Smoosh it right onto the bracket that is giving you trouble. You can cover as little or as much of the bracket as necessary.

Remember to remove the wax before brushing your teeth, or it will gunk up your toothbrush! You can eat with dental wax on your brackets, but hot foods may dissolve it slightly -- or it may come off when you chew. Dental wax is non-toxic, so don't worry if you swallow some; it will pass right through your digestive system.

Most people apply dental wax between meals, after brushing their teeth. If you find yourself needing to apply wax constantly for weeks on end, you may want to consider trying dental silicone or one of the soft plastic wax alternative products we carry -- especially if you play a wind instrument or a horn!

At DentaKit.com we sell an excellent quality dental wax in packets of 10 containers for $9.99. Need a lot? A bulk box of 50 dental waxes is $29.99 -- that's a great value at 60 cents per container!