Metal Mouth Message Board

just got bottom brackets on and my mouth is all cut up.Very sore.The brackets dont bother me, but them rubbing against inside does.Wikll warm salt rinses help heal and make my mouth tougher to stand them rubbing?

Wax!!

And I think salt water rinses should help with the healing, I know they help with mouth ulcers so probably the same with cuts.....Someone help me out here....I'm still learning!!

Within a couple of weeks your mouth will have healed and will toughen up so the brackets shouldn't bother you for long. Just use wax in the mean time.

I'm sooooo not looking forward to next Wednesday, cuz then I'll be going through the same thing. Guess I've have to savor every day I can till then. Hope your mouth feels better soon!

For me the brackets irritated the inside of my mouth for about 2 days then immediately went away. Next I had scratches from the ends of the arch wire and the occasional pinch of my uppers and lowers which also created marks. I used wax for the poking wires and also on the troublesome brackets. This all lasted a good 2 weeks for me when all of a sudden it stopped. One thing I did was drink lots of water. Not crazy amount but I carried around bottled water and at restaurants I would have water instead of pop, ice tea, etc. I would also use salt rinses but I didn't do them often. Maybe like once a week for about 10min. I haven't used wax in over a week now, granted I've only been braced for almost a month. I feel the bottom braces causes the most problems.

So I say use wax, salt water rinses, drink lots of water (stay hydrated) and keep up with proper hygiene. It should improve. If you are still having problems, call your ortho. They are there to help. I've already list 2 brackets so far.

an old trick that I also would use if I had issues with gum inflammation or irratation is Chloraseptic. It will numb the area. Yeah I know you are thinking that it is only good for your tonsils, but it is actually good for sores in your mouth. I dabbed chloraseptic on my twins gums when they were teething, my son's gum when he wore an expander for eight months, and I use it on my teeth after I had my teeth cleaned (very painful for me . Try it along with some wax on the brackets until everything heals up.

I also found the antiseptic mouthwash Peroxyl works very well to help the healing process. It's just Hydrogen peroxide with a refreshing minty flavor. Don't swallow it though.

I found that the brackets with the extra little arm for elastics cut into my lips a lot. My ortho was able to bend those in a little bit so they don't cut into my lips as much. And as everyone else advocates... wax, wax, and wax.

Hope all gets better soon.

oh man I am so dreading bottom braces at this point. *sigh*

When i rinse with warm salt water,it burns like he!!.Am i using too much salt? I wish they would go away but i dont think so because the archwire ends a little shorter on the right side because of a tooth missing so it is in a bad spot.

thank you meryaten.No the wire isnt poking me.I looked.It is short.Just a nasty big sore on that side.I will try less salt.I hope my inside of my mouth will soon toughen up so i can stand this.Thanks again.