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Hey,
So my first 5 weeks in braces were painful..not mild discomfort as the ortho keeps saying...but painful...i still can't even gently bite down on soft food so i am literally swallowing my food with no chewing. I went to my first adjustment apt and he took the power chains off my top teeth (extraction gaps) and it took some pressure off, and he said he would let my teeth settle for a month. I said to him I had had excruitating pain up my front top tooth (felt like nerve pain) but I think he though I was exaggerating and he said as i'm older it will hurt more.
So he didnt change my wire of anything, all he did was change 5 elastic tiesa on the top few teeth, and i'm not exaggerating but it was unbelievably painful...is that usual?!?! if i wasn't 28 i would have cried in his chair! the pain went all up into the roots of my teeth. since he took the power chains off the top - the pain going up my front top tooth has gone, and i think i'm being paranoid but i'm worried i'll be that person who ends with with root resorption! he tells me my teeth are healthy and i don't want anyone on here to scare me and say i should get an x-ray of my roots for my top teeth...but maybe some reassurance its all normal....
has anyone else experienced this level of pain when getting their elastics around the brackets changed?
thanks
i swear if the ortho says mild discomfort to me one more time i will explode with frustration!
My experience is a little bit different than yours but I thought I'd share. I'm just on day 2 and went back for correction of my bite block things and when he rested his hand on my front teeth it hurt so bad! I felt it all the way up like you mentioned. I would believe it's just a part of braces. I LOVE food so I'm already eating chicken pieces and kids energy bars. It's very painful but the more I do it the easier it is. Maybe just try to eat regular foods and your teeth will toughen up? Hope it gets better soon.I have the Damon system so I don't know if that makes a huge difference either. Good luck!
~Ash
i had my first adjustment after 5 weeks about 2 weeks ago now, and when he changed the lig on certain teeth it really hurt to the point i said "argh!" and he goes "i thought so!" like he knew which teeth were going to hurt. I was pretty much tensed up the whole time in the chair and just wanted it to be over! my top very front tooth is quite sensitive, has been hit with drinking glasses a few times as it sticks out, and that was the one that really hurt when he changed the lig, maybe cos i just expected it to, so it felt more painful for me than the other ones he changed the ligs on. i get so scared he is going to pull teeth out sometimes! lol. but just gotta lay there and trust that its all ok! lol
once he had done his thing, the teeth felt pressure and sore but that has gone now, only tender when i hit the teeth together and like you still cannot bite into anything and continue to jsut swallow food whole rather than chew cos I find it realy hard!
i am sure its just normal adjustment pain and maybe your tooth was not really settled into its moved spot for that 5 week period. hopefully the pain goes away for you soon!
Hmmm - I haven't used my front teeth for the last 6 weeks or so. I chew little pieces on my back molars that at this stage are not braced. Heavens knows how I will chew once they are!
It took me about 6 weeks or so to even be able to chew on a piece of bread when I first got mine on and my first adjustment was torture. Then I was in agony yet again for another couple of weeks after it. Those first weeks though were seriously bad. It felt like all my teeth were so painful that they might just all fall out of my head (and I kind of wished they would!). I couldn't even let my top teeth touch the bottom one's (as I've said before on here) without lightening bolts of pain shooting out my eyes and ears.
Hang in there! For some of us it's normal and others (the lucky ducks) don't feel a thing. It does get better though!
Goodness, I feel so bad for you all. You're all making me feel a bit guilty about having virtually no pain. Actually, my ortho is quite puzzled about it. She keeps asking "Doesn't this hurt, even a little?" And my answer is always the same - no. Well, I hope it gets better for you. Maybe as time goes on adjustments become less painful?
My ortho and his assistants are always warning me about all the pain that will follow (larger arch wire, power chains added, and so forth), and seem a bit disappointed when I report that it really was not that bad. With the addition of the power chains I began to feel the torquing and whatnot throughout the entire period between visits, but it was not really painful. As I told the ortho, "No brain, no pain."
Pain is highly individual, and when you add the charm of orthodontics I think it is not unusual to have such a range of responses. Acute pain was one of my clinical interests and I don't think you need to suffer with orthodontics. This is unacceptable. If you are feeling severe pain, he needs to dial back your treatment. Perhaps it will improve with time if he starts slower and then advances to what he thinks is acceptable.
Dan
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. -- Buddist saying
djspeece wrote:My ortho and his assistants are always warning me about all the pain that will follow (larger arch wire, power chains added, and so forth), and seem a bit disappointed when I report that it really was not that bad. With the addition of the power chains I began to feel the torquing and whatnot throughout the entire period between visits, but it was not really painful. As I told the ortho, "No brain, no pain."
Pain is highly individual, and when you add the charm of orthodontics I think it is not unusual to have such a range of responses. Acute pain was one of my clinical interests and I don't think you need to suffer with orthodontics. This is unacceptable. If you are feeling severe pain, he needs to dial back your treatment. Perhaps it will improve with time if he starts slower and then advances to what he thinks is acceptable.
In my case, pain has been limited to during procedures. My teeth don't hurt or ache between procedures. But during it's like !
I believe pain is truly subjective but I also agree that if it is hurting as much as you say it does to ask for a thinner wire/slower plan of action. It may slow down your progress but there is no point in being in constant pain. A tip that has help me to try chewing on straws for all your teeth. They have the elasticity that seems to help my teeth get use to their new positions. In the beginning it may hurt but go slowly and it seems to help things settle in and become more stable. Good luck and feel better.
I have had very little pain but I have also only been able to bite with my incisors during the last 8 weeks (I'm a little over 4 months in). I can use my incisors about a week before my adjustment and then BAM, it's time for an adjustment and I can't use them again!
I am always sore right after I leave the office, fine for a few days and then YOWZA, the pain/soreness starts.
I am always near tears and holding my breath when my ties/ligs are replaced. And replacing the powerchain? Sheesh. Not comfortable at all.
djspeece wrote:My ortho and his assistants are always warning me about all the pain that will follow (larger arch wire, power chains added, and so forth), and seem a bit disappointed when I report that it really was not that bad. With the addition of the power chains I began to feel the torquing and whatnot throughout the entire period between visits, but it was not really painful. As I told the ortho, "No brain, no pain."
Pain is highly individual, and when you add the charm of orthodontics I think it is not unusual to have such a range of responses. Acute pain was one of my clinical interests and I don't think you need to suffer with orthodontics. This is unacceptable. If you are feeling severe pain, he needs to dial back your treatment. Perhaps it will improve with time if he starts slower and then advances to what he thinks is acceptable.
My ortho, dentist and assistants are always warning me too (thick wire, springs etc) and they seem a mixture of puzzled and/or disappointed when I really don't feel any. My ortho ends up talking to herself a lot usually saying "I wonder why?"
I like your expression " the charm of orthodontics"!
djspeece wrote:My ortho and his assistants are always warning me about all the pain that will follow (larger arch wire, power chains added, and so forth), and seem a bit disappointed when I report that it really was not that bad. With the addition of the power chains I began to feel the torquing and whatnot throughout the entire period between visits, but it was not really painful. As I told the ortho, "No brain, no pain."
Pain is highly individual, and when you add the charm of orthodontics I think it is not unusual to have such a range of responses. Acute pain was one of my clinical interests and I don't think you need to suffer with orthodontics. This is unacceptable. If you are feeling severe pain, he needs to dial back your treatment. Perhaps it will improve with time if he starts slower and then advances to what he thinks is acceptable.
My ortho, dentist and assistants are always warning me too (thick wire, springs etc) and they seem a mixture of puzzled and/or disappointed when I really don't feel any. My ortho ends up talking to herself a lot usually saying "I wonder why?"
I like your expression " the charm of orthodontics"!
Yikes, Ciara. That is verging on troubling. My assistants are extremely sympathetic and apologetic but Mr. Ortho is like *shrug.*
I'm sure the level of pain experienced is related to how messed up your teeth are. When I had my first round of braces as a teenager, I was in SOO much agony during and after each adjustment as the pain seemed unbearable at times. I used to dread going to my Ortho appointments and would sometimes cry from the pain afterwards.
Aside from the first few weeks in braces my second round of them has been almost painless. I actually look forward and enjoy going to my adjustments. My teeth will be sore afterwards as expected but I wouldn't call it painful. I've had wire ties on a few teeth along with power chains so far. I may be singing a different tune if I need elastics again, etc...
thank you so much for all your replies you have all made me feel SO much better about treatment....i no longer think my teeth will fall out!!! - having heard how your experiences are quite similar pain wise. It's interesting how some of us get the agnosing pain and others don't have pain! I hope those who do have pain that yours also will settle down Kind of relieved to know I'm not the only one who still has to just swallow food w/o biting
Will try chewing on the straw thing
Thank you for your reassurance - i can let the anxiety of it all settle
Like some others I am not looking forward to my next apt in three weeks but at least I know when it feels like he is pushing my teeth through my head it's perfectly normal
the pain went all up into the roots of my teeth. since he took the power chains off the top - the pain going up my front top tooth has gone, and i think i'm being paranoid but i'm worried i'll be that person who ends with with root resorption! he tells me my teeth are healthy and i don't want anyone on here to scare me and say i should get an x-ray of my roots for my top teeth...but maybe some reassurance its all normal.... 
thanks 
!
you have all made me feel SO much better about treatment....i no longer think my teeth will fall out!!! - having heard how your experiences are quite similar pain wise. It's interesting how some of us get the agnosing pain and others don't have pain! I hope those who do have pain that yours also will settle down 