In pain... need advice!!

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#1 Post by **jgrrl22** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:50 pm

Hey all! I just got braced this past Friday, the 25th. Overall, I'm doing fairly well. Lots of pressure on my teeth and hard to eat most things... stuff I expected. However, the hooks & tubes attached to my top 2 molar bands are scraping the insides of my cheecks so bad I almost can't stand it. If I smile or rub my lips together (like when rubbing in chapstick) the irritated spots get caught on the hooks which makes it even worse.

Is this normal? I know it takes a while for your mouth to "toughen up" to the braces, but to be honest I guess I expected more irritation from the brackets themselves and not from the hardware sticking off my molar bands. I'm trying to avoid using wax if at all possible, but it's getting hard because the insides of my cheeks are so cut up.

Any advice from anyone who's had this problem???

#2 Post by **jgrrl22** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:09 pm

Thanks for the advice, Meryaten!!! I'll make sure to put on some wax ASAP!!

#3 Post by **jennielee81** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:10 pm

I ditto everything Meryaten posted above with a MAJOR ditto for USING WAX! Don't avoid it, you'll be miserable for so much longer!!!

You're not being weak, or a baby if you glob some on the offending brackets every time you need it.

Hope your mouth is feeling better really soon!!

#4 Post by **Boolajoojoo** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:29 pm

I second the wax. It doesn't make you weak, hehe. Those hooks on the molar bands are little bugggers. I still have to use wax on those hooks occasionally. Sometimes they don't bother me, sometimes they do. (right now they are bothering me) I think eating with the wax on is personal preference though. I always take the wax off to eat. Food and saliva make it so that it doesn't bother me when I'm eating and if I try to eat with the wax on (or I just forget that its there) it comes off and I end up chewing it up. I can make the wax last longer if i take it off before eating, and I'm going to have to take the wax off anyhow to brush right after.

#5 Post by **Chris1960** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:27 pm

Yeah. I've tried to fight not using wax but that was pointless. I've talked to people that have stayed wax for the entire duration.

Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:37 pm

I never used wax. I just had something against using it. But, do help yourself and use it as much as you need to.

Hope you get better!

-mariah

#7 Post by **jennielee81** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:40 pm

I am curious, Mariah, what particulary do you have against wax?

I see a few on here who don't like to use it and always wondered why.

Not being insulting or mean, just sincerely curious.

#8 Post by **browneyedgrl** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:47 pm

Hi jgrrl22,

I also 3rd the wax!!! I been braced for 2 1/2 weeks and wax has been a lifesaver. My buccal tubes shredded my cheeks and I wore wax until it healed and now it's not an issue. I'm still having issues with the hooks on my upper cuspids and use wax at night as well as benzodent.

Feel better!!!

B

#9 Post by **4113n** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:01 pm

im hardly a fan of the wax, but i second being hydrated !

#10 Post by **berries** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:42 pm

jennielee81 wrote:I am curious, Mariah, what particulary do you have against wax?

I see a few on here who don't like to use it and always wondered why.

Not being insulting or mean, just sincerely curious.

Not Mariah here, but wax drives me crazy. It helped for the first month or two when I was having a hard time adjusting to being braced. I also found it to be a godsend when I took a cross-country trip in a rattly car and the braces rubbed against my mouth for two days!

But for everyday use, I find wax to be a nuisance. Maybe I have an extra-slimy mouth or something. Wax just doesn't adhere well to my braces. I've tried all sorts of things to get it to stay on, and I've tried different kinds of wax. No matter what I do, it misbehaves in various ways: falls off in big chunks, crumbles into small chunks, shifts, sticks to every part of the braces except the part I want to cover.

So now that I'm used to chafing, I'd really rather not deal with wax anymore.

#11 Post by **jgrrl22** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:00 am

Thanks to all of you for the words of encouragement! Today is my first day back to work since getting braced Friday morning. I was nervous about how my co-workers would react to my new "tin grin" but everyone's been really great... some going as far as to say the braces make me look even cuter. LOL (I think they're just being nice).

Anyway, I have some wax firmly in place over the offending hooks & buccal tubes and it makes a WORLD of difference! Since I talk on the phone all day for my job, I can't have my cheeks catching on hooks all day. Thank god for the wax makers!

#12 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:44 pm

I LOVE WAX! Hahaha I used and ate tons of it. Probably ate more than actually stuck to the hardware. Our ortho's gave us wax in our kits for a reason, to use it! I still have a stash of wax in my purse, bedroom, cleaning kit, all of my travel bags, you just never know when they'll start to rub.

#13 Post by **berkshirebraces** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:43 pm

Late in replying here - glad you went for the wax. I didn't use it at first (I got braced on Tuesday 1/22). I went to work right after my appointment and didn't wax because at the time, all felt fine. I talk all day at work (ha ha both professionally and personally) and by the end of the day..O M G! It just plain out hurt. I came straight home and gobbed it on.

I didn't want to wear it because I didn't want people to see the globs in my mouth. Silly me! I am almost a week from getting braced and happy to say, I don't need it much any more (just a little tonight for some odd reason). I also used an oral rinse that my ortho gave me (Colgate Peroxyl) and I believe that helped a lot.

Hope you are feeling better

#14 Post by **FITeach** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:54 pm

jgrrl22, I was just about to post the exact same thing you wrote.
I just got braced Friday and my mouth is KILLING me.
I've been putting wax on but I think I need to put it in about 5 different spots. I went back to work today (school teacher) and let me tell you,
I was the talk of the school. So many different students came in my room asking me to smile. I even got a few compliments.

I will take all the advice that was given to you.
Thanks everyone.
This website is a SAVIOR!!!!

#15 Post by **kirjax** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:51 pm

Against wax?

screw that!

Anytime anything is poking me I put wax on it. I may not need to keep it on there for a long time but I certainly am not shy about using it. It's better then my mouth being cut up!

It's true your mouth takes some getting used to it but even now after 9 months every now and then the molar bands bother me or a bracket gets caught on my lip or even some of the wire scrapes the inside. I think until the braces come off your not fully going to not have any discomfort but it shouldn't be as bad as when you just get braces on.

But USE the wax!! That's what it was given to you for!! And don't be shy about asking your ortho for more!