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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. You'll need to protect your orthodontic appliances when you eat for as long as you're wearing braces.
Avoid:
- Chewy Foods: Such as bagels, hard rolls, pizza crust, beef jerky
- Crunchy Foods: Such as popcorn, ice
- Sticky Foods: Such as caramels, taffy, licorice, Skittles
- Gum: Absolutely, positively, NO GUM
- Hard Foods: Hard fruits such as apples, unless they are cut very thin, raw vegetables, peanut brittle, hard pretzels, crackers, corn chips, Doritos, and taco shells
- Soda: Acid in soda will cause decalcification
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 and acetaminophen are 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'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 or other appliances as prescribed by Dr. Klein and Dr. Cook. Damaged appliances lengthen the treatment time.
Brushing
It's more important than ever to brush 3 to 4 times a day when you have braces. Patients who do not keep their teeth clean may require more frequent visits to the dentist for a professional cleaning. Adults who have a history of gum disease should see their dentist or Periodontist more often.
 Athletics
While playing sports, it's important to consult Dr. Klein or Dr. Cook first for special precautions. A protective mouth guard is advised for playing contact sports. We will supply a mouth guard to protect your teeth and braces if you wish. In case of any 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 Bracket, Band, or Wire
Don't be alarmed if a wire, bracket or band comes loose. Occasionally this happens. 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, clip or repair the appliances. Remember that treatment will be delayed, lengthening treatment time if broken appliances are left unattended.
Emergency Care
As a general rule, an emergency appointment is necessary when there is severe pain, a loose band, a broken wire or something protruding that you can't remedy alone. Please check our Parts of Your Braces section before phoning the office. It will help us visualize what part of your appliance is broken or out of place so it can be correctly identified.
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.
- Coil Spring:
A small spring placed around the archwire to either maintain or increase space between teeth.
- Elastic Tie:
Clear, colored, or silver "doughnut." These ties hold the wire in place.
- Expansion Appliance:
An appliance placed in the palate used to widen the arch.
- Hook:
A part of the bracket or band used for attachment of the rubber bands.
- Ligature Tie:
A very thin wire wrapped around a bracket holding the archwire into its slot.
- Rubber Band:
A clear band that is strung from the "hooks" between the upper and lower teeth.
Retainer Instruction
The following are a few guidelines that will help you get the most benefit from your clear Essix (clear) Retainer:
Wear the retainer 12 hours per day for one week. It should not be worn while eating so replace it as soon as you are finished.
After one week, it is to be worn 8 hours per day at night only. That's every night.
Clean with soap, water, and Q-tips. "Efferdent" or "Retainer Brite," the commercial cleaners, work fine too. DON'T brush the appliance with toothpaste. It dulls the brilliance.
If an edge of the retainer rubs your gums, trim with scissors or file and smooth with an emery board very carefully.
Store the retainer, in the case we supplied, when out of the mouth.
Store the second retainer we made for you in a different location, so that you will always have one retainer, even if the other is lost.
If a retainer is lost, call us immediately.
Wear the clear retainer during sport activities. It is an excellent, inconspicuous mouthguard.
If you miss a night or two (naughty, naughty) wear the retainer full time and bite down to seat if fully. The teeth may be a little sore but should realign. If they don't, call the office immediately. |
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