Well done. You’ve just had your braces fitted!  Braces can be quite uncomfortable when they’re first fitted. Don’t worry. It is only temporary. After a couple of days, we would expect that discomfort to disappear. To make thing easier for you, we recommend you stick to a soft diet for the first few days and allow yourself to adjust to this new phase.

To keep your teeth clean and healthy, avoid any breakages and minimize your treatment time, here are a few points for you to consider.

What To Expect While You’re Wearing Braces (Especially in the First Few Days)

1. Lip Soreness
At first, your teeth and lips are going to feel quite sore. Since each person responds differently to various interventions, you may only get that sore for a few days or up to about a couple of weeks or so.

2. Pain
As mentioned before, every person is different, which is why someone may experience pain once the braces are fitted that reminds a headache in severity. In this case, it is advised to take the usual medicine you use for headaches, such as your Paracetamol or Ibuprofen, or any other.

3. Small Bite Issues
If you have had bite guards placed at the back of your mouth, biting may be a bit difficult for you at first. Again, it may cause a small discomfort that will go away in a few days, so just be a little patient and it all goes well.

4. Rubbing on the Lips
The reason you had braces is that your teeth were irregular somehow (spaced, gappy, crooked, etc.). The braces may cause pressure points in order to move your teeth to the ideal position, and might rub on your lips. If the wire is rubbing against your gum, you can use the wax we provide you with, which comes in strips in your brace kit, to avoid ulcers. Break a little bit off and mould it with your fingers into a ball-like shape. Then, press it over the rubbing bracket and wire, and that’s about it.

Tip: If you are going to have a hot drink or something to eat, take the wax off first, because it will come off while you are eating or drinking something hot, and place it back after you are done.

How To Keep Your Teeth Clean And Healthy

To maintain a good level of hygiene, brushing your teeth AND gums at least twice a day for 3 minutes is highly recommended. Don’t just focus on the brackets. Make sure you brush your gums as well. You can use TP brushes (either yellow or blue, depending on the required size) to clean in between the brackets where regular brushing won’t allow you to reach and get rid of all the trapped food that could form tartar in the long run. Your dentist or hygienist will help you pick the right size for you.

A mouthwash is also a valued helping hand. We recommend an alcohol-free product with fluoride. Rinse out with that after you have cleaned your teeth and make sure you DON’T remove any excess with water. We want it in your mouth.

If you notice any redness or swelling, keep us posted. It is important to keep regular visits with the hygienist to ensure everything is clean and healthy and that plaque around the teeth and any of the brackets is effectively removed.

DO’s and DON’Ts of Eating

Look after the appliance by not eating hard, crunchy, or sticky food, such as chewing gums, crispy baguettes, toffees, and hard sweets, because they might break the bracket and make it pop away from the tooth. We are not saying you can’t eat, for example, your favourite chicken wings. But, we do prefer you tear the chicken with your fingers or a fork and eat it, rather than biting into the chicken wing itself!

As for fruit and vegetables, cut them into small pieces or peel them if necessary, and enjoy them! As long as you are not biting into an apple, you are always free to have as many as you want, if only you cut them up into small pieces.

When chewing and eating, take your time, especially if you have had bite guards placed on the back. You won’t be able to chew on as much surface as you were before, anyway. So take a little bit longer to eat your food.

Avoid biting your nails, pens, and pencil tops or opening bottles with your teeth. These actions may cause breakages. If you are wearing a clear brace such as the Six Month brace, then your brackets and elastics may stain over time; they just discolour. Note that foods such as tea, coffee, red wine, and curry, as well as smoking, will cause stains on your brace for a very long time. If you want curry, then do so a night before you have your elastics changed!

Upon any problem regarding your brace, be it a dental pain, a bracket that has come out or a or a bite block that has come off, book an appointment to have things checked out for you. If you want to know more about the options you have, when it comes to braces, feel free to contact us.