Dry mouth and sores inside lips

[hansencat]

Hi, No matter how much water I drink, my mouth is always dry - so much so that my top lip seems to stick to the brackets. Is this normal? What can I do?

Also, I've got lots of little sores inside my lips where the front brackets are rubbing against them. I'm using wax at night but its not really feasible to use wax on the front teeth during the day. If I continue to use wax where I have sore places am I preventing the skin from toughening up? Will I have to use wax for the duration of the treatment?

[BellaBraces]

My mouth and lips are noticeably drier since I had my braces put on. I wake up several times at night with a very dry tongue. I am getting through a ton of lip balm.

I would have thought you are fine to use wax as and when you need it. If you are not able to use it during the day you are exposing the skin to the braces enough to toughen it up in time. Try a medicated mouthwash for some relief.

[hansencat]

My mouth is particularly dry at night too. Lip balm does seem to help a bit during the day.

[Noelle09]

I am now on month three with braces and I struggled terribly with dry mouth the first month or so. My mouth was so dry it felt like it was full of cotton 24/7. My favorite product is a mouth wash and mouth spray made by Oasis. Biotene makes a dry mouth spray too but it tastes aweful. I carried the Oasis mouth spray in my purse and sprayed it in my mouth a thousand times everyday and used the dry mouth mouthwash whenever I could. The dry mouth with will go away eventually! Also, anything with lemon helps dry mouth too, so grab some sugar-free lemon hard candies to suck on or add some lemon to your water. I wouldn't worry about toughing up your mouth, use the wax as much as you need in the beginning, your mouth will eventually get used to the brackets. I think I had just about every bracket covered in wax the first couple of weeks and now I haven't touched the stuff in probably a month or so. Good luck!

[hansencat]

Thanks for the advice Noelle09 - I'll try the dry mouth spray.

[Sita]

I'm the same. The inside of my mouth toughened up pretty quickly but I bite the inside of my mouth a lot so I get sores from that and my mouth dries out making it so much harder for them to heal. I use a honey paw paw lip balm for my lips and have started using biotene dry mouth gel during the night which has helped a lot.

In terms of wax, the dental therapist at my orthos office told me that in the beginning I should use the wax as often as I need to, especially as night. She suggested that once my mouth started to toughen up I should try and use it only at night and to think of night time as "healing time".

[gapsbegone]

I find I often end up cracking my bottom when I stretch it putting wax on the back brackets.

[BellaBraces]

I find I often end up cracking my bottom when I stretch it putting wax on the back brackets.

[gapsbegone]

lol bottom lip that is!

[Toby93]

I have noticed that I am constantly using lip balm and Chapstick. I think that the braces are "stretching" my lips out and they just feel dry all the time. I thinks it's weird that I can go weeks after an adjustment and then overnight I wake up with a new sore from a bracket.

[hansencat]

I seem to bite the inside of my mouth whenever I eat, so its constantly sore. I've been using Colgate Peroxyl mouth wash for sore mouths and I find it very effective.

[Snowglobe32]

Try Breathsavers. They work to help with the wet/dry mouth.

For irritations, I like Benzodent. It is similiar to orajel except it is a paste and it sticks really well. Apply it with a q-tip.

I had an irritation from an elastic the other day, I put it on at night and it was so much better the next day.