Defective Elastics???

[MelissaMUA]

So, I've had my top brackets on for about 8 weeks now, but just 2 weeks ago my bottom brackets were put on.....When the appointment was done they gave me some elastics to wear 24/7 unless I am eating or brushing. I got two packs of elastics, the first pack I went through were very tight, and I saw a difference in my teeth immediately. But my second pack, not so much. They were the same bands, but they were very stretchy, to where if I yawned they would just stretch with my mouth, and I didn't notice my teeth moving as much with those ones. So, I went to my orthodontist yesterday to pick up more elastics, and they are way tighter than my "defective" pack. My teeth are killing me today. Has this happened to anyone else, and will it majorly effect my treatment? I don't want that to be a wasted week because of a bad pack of elastics.

[katsface]

They might have just been old. The latex gets more stretchy and has less pull the older it gets. My ortho specifically saves older elastics to give to patients that he wants to use extra gentle force on. I would mention it to your ortho, but I still wouldn't worry too much about it.

[TMJJill]

My orthodontist switched from latex to latex free elastics after a patient had a bad reaction.

I swear the latex free ones weren't good. They constantly snapped on me. I'd go to sleep with 6 elastics and wake with 1 intact. My orthodontic office said there wasn't anything wrong with them, but it drove me nuts. They finally ordered their old kind to make me happy. I know not all elastics are equal.

[MelissaMUA]

Thanks guys! I notice a huge difference in my teeth with the newer rubberbands. I won't worry too much about it, but I am definitely going to let my orthodontist know about it.

[furious george]

I always request the latex vs. the non-latex ones too.

They tend to assume I'll want the non-latex because they are clear, but the fact is...the latex feel stronger and they also stay attached to my brackets better.