Braces – Carlingford Dental
Are braces painful, awkward, or the cause of some other types of trouble? Well, they are a little painful at first and do take some getting used to. But the results are well worth it. And if we have braces in our late teens we can benefit from straight teeth for the rest of our lives.
Getting braces is a big commitment. We will have to change our dental routine and alter our diet a little. It helps to be well-informed.
New Braces – Carlingford Dental
Braces are often worn for about 2 years. For most of this time, they won’t really be uncomfortable, and you often forget that you are wearing them. But for the first few days, they will be painful as they are putting a lot of pressure on your teeth. The metal brackets and wires will also tend to irritate the soft tissues of the mouth. This will subside quite quickly.
Eating soft food for the first week or two after being fitted with braces will help minimise and reduce the pain. The teeth will ache if we try to chew. And the chewing action will be unfamiliar as we are not yet used to the braces.
Unfortunately, the braces will need to be tightened every few months. This will cause a few more days of pain, but this soon subsides.
We can help the situation by:
- Rinsing the mouth several times per day with warm salty water.
- Holding a cold compress or ice pack against the mouth.
- Eating cold foods and liquids.
- Chewing sugar-free gum helps some people. It increases the blood flow.
- Massaging with the fingers also helps improve blood circulation, speeding up the healing.
- Pain killers, paracetamol or ibuprofen, provide relief for a few hours.
Before Braces – Carlingford Dental
It is not uncommon to have some orthodontic work done before fitting the braces. We might have a few teeth extracted if there are too many teeth in the mouth. Or we might need to use an expander to widen the upper jaw. More commonly we might have spacers put between the teeth a week or two before the braces are fitted.
We will have a professional cleaning and scaling before being fitted with braces.
After Braces – Carlingford Dental
The braces will usually come off after about two years, depending on the degree of correction required. But this is not the end of the process. We will need to wear a retainer for a time to prevent the teeth from moving out of their new positions. Expect to wear this retainer for at least a year. In some cases, the retainer continues to be worn at night on a permanent basis.
Carlingford Dental
Braces will correct most dental issues, and give us straight teeth that last a lifetime. Talk to the dentist about your situation.
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