Life with Braces

Eating with Braces

What can you eat? Let's talk about what you should not eat! For the first day or so, stick to soft foods. Avoid tough meat, hard breads, and raw vegetables. Before long, you will be able to bite a cucumber again. But you'll need to protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for as long as you're wearing braces.

Avoid:

Chewy foods: bagels, hard rolls, pizza crust, beef jerky
Crunchy foods: popcorn, ice
Sticky foods: caramels, taffy, and CHEWING GUM! This leads to breakage & extended treatment time
Hard foods: hard fruits such as apples unless they are cut very thin, raw vegetables, peanut brittle, hard pretzels, crackers, corn chips and taco shells
Chewing on hard things (i.e. pens, pencils or fingernails) can damage the braces.
Broken appliances will prolong overall treatment time.

General Soreness

When you get your braces on, you may feel general soreness in your mouth and the teeth may be tender to biting pressures for one to five days. Ibuprofen is very helpful for relieving tooth tenderness following adjustment appointments. The lips, cheeks and tongue also can become irritated for one to two weeks as they toughen and become accustomed to the surface of the braces. Our special orthodontic wax can be applied to the braces to lessen this temporary discomfort. We also prescribe a special rinse that helps coat the mouth. We'll show you how!

Loosening of Teeth

This is to be expected throughout treatment. Don't worry! It's normal. Teeth must loosen first so they can be moved. They will again become firm in their new corrected positions.

Care of Appliances

To successfully complete the treatment plan, the patient must work together with the orthodontist. The teeth and jaws can only move toward their corrected positions if the patient consistently wears the rubber bands, headgear, or other appliances as prescribed. Damaged appliances lengthen the treatment time.

Brushing

It's more important than ever to brush and floss regularly when you have braces. Patients who do not keep their teeth clean may require more frequent visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning. If plaque accumulates around the braces, tooth enamel may weaken, causing unaesthetic white spot lesions. Adults who have a history of gum disease should see their dentist or periodontist more often.

Athletics

A protective mouthguard is advised for playing contact sports. We will supply a mouthguard to protect your teeth and braces if you wish. In case of an accident involving the face, check your mouth and appliances immediately. If teeth are loosened or the appliances damaged, phone our office at once for an appointment.

Loose Wire or Band

Don't be alarmed if a wire or band comes loose. This happens occasionally. If a wire protrudes and is irritating, use a blunt instrument (back of a spoon or eraser end of pencil) and carefully, gently push the irritating wire under the archwire. Simply get it out of the way. If irritation to the lips or mouth continues, place wax on the wire to reduce the annoyance. Call our office as soon as possible for an appointment to check and repair the appliances.

Emergency Care

As a general rule, an emergency appointment may be made when there is severe pain, a loose band, a broken wire or something sticking out that you can't take care of. It's important to know the names of the parts of your appliances. When you phone the office, it will help to be able to identify what part is broken or out of place.

Palatal Expander Instructions

To be directed by the doctor. If twice per day, turn once in the morning and once in the evening. If a turn is missed, do the next scheduled turn, turning once and continuing from there. Sometimes the expander is only instructed for one turn a day. We will instruct you.
To make a turn, straighten the key on the plastic bar. Insert it in the front hole of the appliance. Push down and back until the key hits the back bar and the next hole is visible. If a turn is not completed the next hole will not appear.
A space will likely develop between the front teeth. This space will start to close once we stop turning the appliance. If it does not close completely, we will close it when the upper braces are placed.
Check the appliance daily to make sure it is not loose. If it comes loose, stop turning and call our office to have it recemented.
The expander will be turned approximately one to four weeks, depending on the amount of expansion needed. We will usually see the patient on a bi-weekly basis. When expansion is complete we will seal the threads. The expander will likely stay in the mouth for 6 months so that new bone tissue can fill in the expanded area.

Retainer Instructions

Wear your retainers full time unless our office instructs you otherwise. Retainers are generally worn full time for the first 1-3 months after removal of braces and then worn forever at night. Teeth are in bone which is living tissue and the teeth will try to move again, especially if someone clenches or grinds (bruxes) their teeth at night. Indefinite retention is the only way to keep teeth in their corrected position.
Take your retainers out when eating, and always put retainers in their case. Most retainers are lost in school lunch rooms or restaurants.
Never wear your retainers when playing any contact sports or swimming.
Clean retainers thoroughly at least once a day with a toothbrush and toothpaste using warm but not hot water. Brushing retainers removes plaque and eliminates odors. Clear retainers should be cleaned with mild soap and water to avoid scratching.
When retainers are not in your mouth they should always be in a retainer case. Pets love to chew them.
Initially, you may find it difficult to speak. Practice speaking, reading, or singing out loud to get used to them faster.
Retainers are breakable, so treat them with care. If retainers are lost or broken call us immediately. If you have any questions or concerns about your retainers or they need to be adjusted, call us. Do not try to adjust them yourself.
Always bring your retainers to your appointments. Retainer replacement is expensive. With proper care they will last for years.
Keep retainers away from hot water, hot car dashboards, washing machine and napkins.

The Parts of Your Braces

Archwire

Wire running between braces which exerts pressure to move teeth.

Band

A ring surrounding an anchor tooth in the back of the mouth.

Bracket

A small stainless steel or ceramic brace glued to the face of the tooth. The archwire passes through the slot of the bracket.

A-Lastic

Clear, colored or silver "doughnut". These ties hold the wire in place.

Steel Tie

A very thin wire wrapped around one bracket holding the archwire into its slot.

Figure 8 Tie

A very thin wire looped around multiple brackets.

Palatal Expander

An appliance placed in the palate or roof of the mouth used to widen the arch.

Coil Spring

A small spring placed around the archwire to either maintain or increase space between teeth.

Hook

A part of the bracket or band used for attachment of the rubber bands.

Rubber Bands (Elastics)

A clear or colored band that is strung from the hooks between the upper and lower teeth.

Try out different elastic tie colors right now!