Tips for Taking Care of New Dental Braces

The first weeks of orthodontic braces can be exciting, frustrating, and sometimes painful. Even if you try your hardest to do the right thing, braces can cause soreness to your mouth.

As your teeth begin to move, it's normal for your teeth to ache and for your jaw to feel sore to some extent. You might get canker sores when the brackets rub the insides of your lips and cheeks. Fortunately, there are many over-the-counter treatments available to reduce the pain and irritation from braces. Some of these include Rincinol PRN, ComfortBrace Strips, OraChill, and OrthoDots. In a pinch, good 'ol dental wax also helps.

Some of the common problems that can occur when you have braces include: 

Bracket Comes Loose: To fix this problem, apply a small bit of orthodontic wax to the bracket. You might also want to apply a little between the braces and the soft tissue of your mouth. Call your orthodontist to have the bracket replaced at your earliest convenience. 

Bands Come Loose: This is a more serious problem, which your orthodontist needs to fix. Try to save the band for repair, if you can.

Protruding or Broken Wires: Poking wires are very common. You can use an eraser from the end of a pencil to move the wire to a less painful spot. If you are unable to move it, apply orthodontic wax or OrthoDots to the tip. A poking wire can sometimes tear up the insides of your cheeks and may get infected. To prevent this, rinse your mouth with warm salt water or antiseptic rinse. Call your orthodontist -- most of the time, you can just drop in to get the wire clipped, without an appointment. 

Loose spacers: Most people only wear spacers for one week to 10 days. They're not comfortable, but they're necessary to make room for orthodontic bands. If a spacer comes loose, call your orthodontist, because they will need to be repositioned or replaced. 

Avoid Problem Foods: It will be difficult to bite foods like hamburgers or burritos with your front teeth. It's better to to cut your food into small pieces and chew slowly and carefully. Avoid hard and chewy foods that can break your hardware, stringy foods that can get caught in your braces, and sharp foods like tortilla chips. Take corn off the cob. Avoid nuts, hard carrots, biting into apples, chewing on ice, and bubble gum.

With a little patience, the first weeks in braces will fly by. In time, your braces won't hurt as much. But after each adjustment, you could develop some soreness and new canker sores. Just repeat the steps that you took previously, and you'll feel better in no time.

Keeping Your Braces Clean in the New Year

It's a new year, so resolve to keep your teeth cleaner! When you have braces, it can seem daunting to keep your teeth clean enough, but it's essential. If you let too much plaque and debris build up on your teeth, it can cause bad breath and decay.

Do you have to brush your teeth after every single meal and snack? Realistically, you will probably not be able to. But if you commit to brushing after most major meals, you will keep your teeth reasonably clean. When you can't brush, swish your mouth several times with water. This is especially helpful after eating sweets or drinking sugary beverages.

Brushing teeth that have braces is not hard. At first you may find it more time consuming than before you had braces. But as the weeks go on, you will fall into your new oral hygiene routine.

1. Rinse with warm water a couple of times to dislodge any food particles.
   
   
2. Use a gum massager or dental pick to dislodge any particularly stubborn particles that are badly stuck in your brackets.
   
   
3. Now you can use a small amount of toothpaste and brush your teeth. It is best to use circular, vibrating motions around the gum line. Angle your toothbrush above and below the brackets. Scrub each surface of every tooth with 10 strokes of the toothbrush. This should take several minutes -- be as thorough as possible. Don't forget to also clean the surfaces of the molars and to also brush your tongue!
   
   
4. Rinse again with water several times to remove food debris.
   
   
5. Floss your teeth at least once a day, then rinse again. Floss threader needles, or threader floss which has a stiff end make it easier. It can be extremely frustrating and time-consuming to floss your teeth when you have orthodontic braces, but the more you practice, the easier and faster it will become. It's great to use a Waterpik-type device, but as most dentists will tell you, a Waterpik is not a total substitute for dental floss. So, as much as you may hate to floss, it is necessary, especially when you have braces!

When I had braces on my teeth (I wore them for three years, when I was in my early 40's) I found several products extremely helpful, and we sell them all at DentaKit.com:

• Orthodontic toothbrush (v-trim with angled handle): $2.65 each
• Swedish Pop-up Folding Cup in a variety of colors: $4.50
• Pick-a-Dent Dental Pick (36 picks per pack): $16.50
• Tip-a-Dent with dual rubber gum massager tip and brush tip (10 pack): $19.99
• Glide Threader Floss (bulk 150 pack): $31.50
• SturdyFloss with bendable stiff tip (100 pack): $13.99

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!