I'm allergic to my rubber bands!

[chicklets]

Hi all. I've been away from the forum for quite a while. I hit my 1-year anniversary with my braces at the beginning of April, and I'm hoping it won't be too much longer.

Last visit in early April, my ortho put a power chain on my uppers and put me in rubber bands -- 2 on my right and 1 on my left. Although they were a little annoying having to take them out ot eat, etc. there really was no problem with them at all.

After 3 weeks with the rubber bands, I awoke one morning with the sides of my mouth completely raw! I thought maybe I had bitten the inside of my cheeks while I was sleeping. I left the rubber bands in for that day, but by the end of the day, my mouth was getting ulcerated. I removed the bands for 4 days to recuperate. I did not call my ortho since I was sure I had just bitten the inside of my mouth.

After the 4 days, I put the rubber bands back in and within 24 hours, my mouth became totally raw again!!! I was in so much pain I could barely talk and my upper lip where it was touching the rubber band where it connected to the bracket looked like I had a Botox injection -- swollen, and NOT in a good way.

I removed the rubber bands again and called the ortho. Two days have passed, and I had an appointment this morning to see him. He says I must have an allergy to latex. Very odd since I'm not allergic to anything that I'm aware of, and his latex gloves have never bothered me. And why I was able to wear the rubber bands for 3 weeks with no adverse effect and then all of a sudden get the allergy, what's up with that?

My ortho is going to order latex free rubber bands for me. I guess he has no other patients with this problem. Am I that odd? I go back in 3 weeks for my regular checkup, so he'll give them to me then. I should be completely healed by then too.

Has anyone else ever experienced this or know if this is that rare? My ortho seemed baffled. It's also odd that my ligs and power chain does not bother me. Are they made of a different kind of rubber?

[jennielee81]

Wow, that sounds painful!!!

The gloves don't bother you as they're not shoved up against your mouth for hours upon hours.

As for why it took 3 weeks, we can develop allergies after the introduction of the allergen. Sort of build a reaction to it. As an example, my daughter ate shrimp periodically for the first 10 years of her life without any problem, then one night when she was 11 we had shrimp alfredo and she went into anaphylactic shock!

Hope you're feeling better!!

When you get the new elastics, remember to drink plenty of water so they don't give you a similar irritation.

[Miss Smiley]

I'm in the same boat for both rubberbands and shrimp. I grew out of the shrimp thing, now I'm a shrimp-a-holic. Rubberbands, I am using the non-latex ones from GAC and haven't had any problems except they break faster than the latex ones so I have to be sure to carry tons of spare parts in my purse. My ortho said that he hasn't had any patients with latex allergies actually affected by ortho rubberbands and that I was his first. He said there were patients who were allergic to nickel in the braces but that was it. Now he stocks non-latex elastics and has been giving them out to patients more. He just double the number of bags because of the pre-mature breaking factor. Good luck with yours!

[leftyme]

Thanks for making me think of this! I have a definite latex sensitivity with um, another item made of latex so always have to use the non latex variety of those...

Will definitely ask for non latex rubber bands when that time comes in my treatment.

Thanks for posting!

[purpleteeth]

Sorry to hear this. I have heard that a true latex allergy to the elastics is rare, as I am allergic to latex and the office cannot use latex with me --- except for in my elastics, however I do have constant shaffing (not sure how to spell it) and almost constant irritation. I wear 6 at a time and my mouth/ lips stay rather raw and uncomfortable.

I was swallowing mine in the beginning because I kept on biting through them in my sleep

I have never asked for non-latex before. I am not even sure if my office carries them... hmm....

[chicklets]

Oh, thank you all for your replies!

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. I just found out that a friend of mine, who does NOT have braces, also has a latex allergy, and she cannot even allow her dentist to touch her face with the latex gloves because she'll break out in a rash. That sounds super-sensitive.

Purpleteeth, you really should order the non-latex type. If your irritation is like mine -- burning, raw feeling, and swelling, there is no way I could tolerate that for a week let alone the length of my treatment.

Leftyme, you gave me a chuckle.

It's now almost a week since I took out the rubber bands, and my mouth has nearly fully recovered. That is taking a long time. I'll see my ortho in about 2 more weeks and keep you posted.

[Luella]

Just another tip about latex allergies- and every other kind of allergies- they can go from a rash one day to anaphylactic reaction the next. One of the doctors I work for had a patient when he was in the army that almost died due to an anaphylactic reaction to latex- and she had never had any reaction to latex in the past!

[chicklets]

Hi all. I've been away for a while. Just wanted to update you on my latex allergy issues.

I did really well with my non-latex rubber bands -- no irritation whatsoever. I will say that the non-latex rubber bands are not as strong and seem to snap easier -- forget a good yawn.

It's now 4 months later, and I have graduated to only wearing my rubber bands at night. I had REALLY hoped I'd be done by now, but my ortho wants to make sure there is no shifting with only wearing the bands just at night. I tried desperately to pin him down to an end date, but he just laughs at me.

I go back in 6 weeks, and I am praying to be done by Christmas. I'm just ready, you know?