Soreness And Loosening Of Teeth

A common occurrence in the first time orthodontic patient is soreness or tenderness of the teeth after bracket and wire placement. This will usually occur a few hours after your initial appointment. The forces from the wires and brackets create the much needed pressure on your teeth to allow them to move and straighten. This may make it difficult to eat and talk but discomfort should start to subside within a few days. Exactly when the discomfort will dissipate is impossible to predict and differs for each patient. If needed, rinse with warm salt water a few times daily, or in severe cases Tylenol or whatever you normally take for pain, can be used for relief.

Initially the braces may feel rough against the cheeks, lips and tongue. You may place wax around the bracket until the irritation disappears, or the mouth becomes used to the braces. Eventually once you get used to the braces and proper tooth alignment occurs, this will no longer be a concern. If you happen to need more wax than what we have provided at your initial visit we can furnish you with more at your next visit, or check with your local drug store for wax or silicon ear plugs.

It may come as a surprise to some but there will come a time when your teeth feel loose. That is because they are. This is nothing to worry about though, it is a normal process. The teeth must first loosen in their bone sockets so they can be moved. This will occur several times over the course of treatment. Once active movement has ceased the teeth will become rigid again in their new corrected positions.