Helpful hints after you have had your brace fitted

Will it Hurt?

Parts of the brace may rub on your lips, cheeks or tongue. You may also notice increased saliva flow, and a minor temporary effect on your speech. This is normal, and soon you’ll get used to wearing your brace and your speech will go back to normal.
Stick to a softer diet for the first few days.
If necessary, you may wish to take mild painkillers such as the ones you would normally take for headaches. Please read the instructions on the packet regarding how much you should take.
We will supply you with some orthodontic wax. If any part of the brace is rubbing against your lips or cheeks, tear off a small piece of wax, roll it into a small pea-sized ball between your fingers, and gently mould this over any part of the brace that feels sharp. This acts as a cushion, keeping your lip or cheek away from the brace components.

You may need to stick to a softer diet only for the first few days of having your braces if your teeth feel a little tender. After that you should generally be able to eat normally.
Having said that, we recommend that you totally avoid certain foods to avoid damage to your teeth or your braces. These include sticky, chewy or hard sweets (such as toffee, boiled sweets and wine gums). Avoid chewing gum. Do not bite directly into very hard food with your teeth.
Keep your consumption of fizzy cola drinks to a minimum, and generally keep these to meal times.
Cut up hard fruit and vegetables (e.g. crisp apples, carrots) into smaller pieces before eating them. Be very careful with crusty bread, nuts, spare ribs, corn on the cob and stones in fruit.
Above all think about what you eat and be careful.

If your brace is broken your treatment will take LONGER and it will be difficult to achieve a good result.
Avoid biting anything that is too hard.
Do not eat boiled/hard sweets, toffees, hard chocolate/toffee/chewy bars.
Do not bite your pen or pencil.
Be careful opening water bottles with your teeth. The plastic caps knock the brackets off.
Take care eating hard foods such as crunchy apples, crusty bread, etc. You can eat them but only if you cut them up first. Smaller pieces will be easier to eat and not as likely to damage your brace.

We will provide you with a free pack containing what you need to look after your braces. From now on you will need to spend more time cleaning your teeth. Neglect will cause swelling and bleeding of your gums, tooth decay and marking/staining of the teeth around the braces. – Brush after each meal.
Make sure the gum margins are also brushed even if they bleed when you brush them.
Change the brush every three months.
Use the interdental toothbrush supplied for getting in between the brace components and the tooth surface.
Use the flouride treatment we provide regulary.
It may also be useful to use disclosing tablets occasionally to check that you are removing all the plaque from your teeth.

If despite all your careful attention part of the brace becomes dislodged or damaged, contact the practice as soon as possible so that an appointment can be arranged either to repair the brace or to relieve any discomfort.

You can contact Whitehouse Dental Practice in the case of an emergency by calling 0121 747 2580 or 0121 250 4443.

For more information take a look at the Contact in Emergency page.