Preventing coffee stains on a power chain

Message

#1 Post by **Lillers** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:55 pm

Okay, here's the deal. Today I got a power chain placed across my four upper middle teeth. I'm actually pretty happy about this, as the gaps in that area (which hadn't been there prior to the braces) have been bugging me.

The ortho's assistant said that the major staining culprits were mustard, curry, and red wine. I love all these things, so it's going to be tough to say no to them, but doable. Lesser offenders (in terms of staining potential) include coffee and tea.

What I'm really having a hard time with is the thought of giving up coffee. I can live w/o a pot a day, but not even a cup first thing in the morning? I could become a threat to myself and others

Has anyone been able to drink a moderate amount of coffee and keep their powerchains white? Maybe if I brush right afterwards?

Failing all of that (she said in desperation), does anyone know if green tea stains?

As ever, thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Website · #2 Post by **Kell** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:07 pm

I had clear powerchains for a couple of months. I drank coffee with a straw while I had them and didn't have any staining at all. I have to have my coffee and the straw really wasn't that bad. I don't eat much that stains other than red tomato based things. I just tried to brush right away after eating things that might stain and that worked well.

#3 Post by **Lillers** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:24 pm

Coffee through a straw -- brilliant! I'll do it tomorrow morning. Thanks!

LOL, I was just contemplating having some tomato soup, but I guess that's a no-no too. Not to mention the left-over chilli I made yesterday.

Oh, well. It'll all be worth those wretched gaps closing up.

Oh btw... Ouch! I see what people mean about power chains hurting. Between that and my lower archwire being replaced, I'm the Ibuporofen poster child right now.

#4 Post by **ssfw** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:17 pm

Hi lillers,

I wanted to say I agree with the other posts regarding using a straw. I very seldom drink coffee and have cut tea out of my diet until my braces are off. I had an iced coffee today and used a straw - I was also afraid it would stain my powerchain on my upper arch - my powerchain is across 12 of my teeth, but have had no pain/discomfort, I didn't see any staining from the coffee. Regarding your chili and tomato soup have you thought about just using your back teeth if anything needs to be chewed and just using the back area of your mouth to eat these things. Things seems to work for me but I do skip certain foods to avoid discoloration on my ligs/powerchain. The other day, I was eating some mints that had a red-colored shell, similar to an m&m shell (I can't remember the name of them - they use to be called pep-o-mints but there's another name now), some of the red color got on my ceramic bracket and I'm thankful I saw it so I just rubbed the bracket with some water and it was fine - I had not even thought about this when I was eating the mints.

ssfw

#5 Post by **Lillers** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:55 am

So I took a risk and had some of that chilli last night - yum! - and made an effort to spoon it to the back of my mouth as I ate. Then I rinsed my mouth and brushed with a whitening toothpaste right afterwards, and I'm happy to report, no staining. Yay! Also just finished my first coffee through a straw.

Still not going to tempt fate with curry, though, as much as I love it. Luckily my ligs are wire, so I've been able to eat pretty much what I want until the chain was put on yesterday. The cool thing is, I can already see a difference -- the biggest gap is definitely smaller, and this is only the next day. So hopefully, the chain will get taken off at my next adjustment and I can get back to chowing down as per usual.

#6 Post by **katmc_tx** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:05 pm

lillers, as crazy as it sounds I have been drinking wine through a straw. I mean you cant have pasta without it

. And sure people look at me like I'm

nuts but hey I get to enjoy my food/adult beverage

and not worry about it staining my teeth or powerchains. So pull out your straw and enjoy!!!

#7 Post by **Lillers** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:19 pm

Sweet! Thanks, katmc_tx -- I'll give that a try.

#8 Post by **ssfw** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:36 pm

Hi lillers,

Glad you enjoyed your chili. In case you eat chili or something similar again - if brushing your teeth is not convenient, I think swishing your mouth with water will help too.

Have you thought about choosing a color of the powerchain that will not stain easily? Powerchains come in various colors like ligs.

ssfw

#9 Post by **Idislikebraces** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:12 pm

This kinda has to do with this..lol
So my ligs had been getting pretty..funky...so our toothpaste ran out nd we bought some more but this time we bought
Ultra brite Advanced Whitening..
So i used it nd brushed going around..then finally did the spitting nd wat not..lol
nd..BOOM!! my ligs were clear again!
so i def. recommend this to ppl!

#10 Post by **Lillers** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:50 am

ssfw wrote:Hi lillers,

Have you thought about choosing a color of the powerchain that will not stain easily? Powerchains come in various colors like ligs.

ssfw

The thing is, the power chain was just sort of sprung on me the other day, and I didn't even know I'd have colour options. If I have to wear the thing for longer than a month, I may ask for metal at my next adjustment. That's what my ligs are and I've been pretty happy with them.

#11 Post by **Lillers** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:52 am

BTW, does anyone know why my quote thingie (above) didn't work?

#12 Post by **bckydgardnr** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 12:22 pm

I switched to silver powerchains because I couldn't give up the coffee! But, my ortho has also been using zinc string under the power chain which turns yellow as soon as you breathe on it.

I made the mistake of getting green tea the other day thinking how bad could it stain. BRIGHT YELLOW!!! So your question about green tea...it's bad, very bad!!! LOL.

Gardnr

#13 Post by **Lillers** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:18 pm

OMG, Meryaten! I just checked out that link under your "brains" signature thing. LMAO!! I can see that you have a healthy appreciation of warped humor, so you might want to check this out. Caveat: yup, it's pretty distrubing....

http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm

watch them (if you still want to after episode 1) in sequential order.

#14 Post by **lildave** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:44 pm

I have had power chains for about 5 months all in all. I like you am addicted to coffee and drank normally, no straw or anything of that sort. I didn't notice my chains stain at all! I wear grey usually and I have no problems with them staining. I'm also an avid Chai Tea drinker and that's black tea but I've yet to see them stain from that either!! I hope this helps and enjoy your space being brought together!! At least your pulling together now and not apart!

#15 Post by **Lillers** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:21 pm

Hey, lildave â€“â€“ are your grey powerchains appreciably more noticable than white ones?

I'll see how my white chain is looking by the next adjustment, but as of now (knocking on wood) it's still white, and I've had tomato-based pasta sauce and all kinds of no-nos. (I just brush right after.) Not going to take any chances with curry though, as much as I love it.