Elastics

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#1 Post by **heidic** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:11 am

So I was just lucky enough to ge elastics, actually have had them for almost over week to bring my front teeth back as they are a little further away from my bottom teeth than necessary. Any way i was told to wear them 24 hours a day, but its hard to eat and stuff w/them so i take them off to do so, is this okay, will progress be halted? Also was wondering if I double up on the elastics which ive done a few times at night, will my teeth move faster, or is that more harmful than any good may come out of it?
Thanks

#2 Post by **WiredforSound** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:46 am

I just got elastics this morning and my Ortho told me to take them out to eat and brush my teeth. Other than that to leave them in. He said NOT to double up as that will do damage.

My Ortho said the more you wear the elastics the faster your teeth will move but if I stopped wearing them for a few days then my teeth would move back and we would have to start over again.

Good luck with your elastics.

#3 Post by **heidic** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:44 am

Thanks for the reply, guess no more doubling up for me! Geez cant do anything to move this darn process along. ughh, so annoying already>

#4 Post by **BrightLights** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:42 am

I was told to wear them all the time to. I forgot to ask if I was suppose to take them out to eat. But I do take them out to eat for about an 1/2 hour during lunch. And sometimes if I go out for a few hours with friends and dont wear them.

#5 Post by **kirjax** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:59 am

I have been in elastics since day 1. I was great at first doing what I was supposed to but in the last few months have slacked off majorly. But my ortho has never said anything to me. Half the time she doesn't even know what configuration I'm wearing them in. She usually asks me!! A few times after wearing them for awhile I'd wake up with really bad jaw pain or my bite would feel off so I'd tell her and she'd tell me to stop wearing them and then I'd usually get told to wear them a different way. Right now I'm only wearing them from upper canine to lower canine and only at night. I manage to do it a few nights a week but if I'm really tired I have a tendency to forget to pop them in. But I'm not worried. I figured if I was doing it all wrong she'd tell me cause I always hear her telling others that she can tell they're not wearing their elastics lol. I guess I'm doing fine enough that my teeth are moving.

Anyways, I suggest wearing them just like the ortho says. But don't feel down if you feel you need a break. I mean I don't recommend it cause once you do take that break then it turns into more and more breaks lol. But taking them out to eat and brush is fine. In the beginning I was told to eat with them in to not take them out. And I did even though it was really weird to do so. But I wanted to do it all right. After 16 months in elastics it just gets to the point where your really tired of them and ready to say goodbye!

#6 Post by **PfectPitch** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:59 am

If you want to get done with treatment on time, wear them as instructed. And who doesn't want that! I've had a few meltdowns where I had to give myself a short break from them, but except for eating and playing my musical instruments (was told specifically to take 'em out for that!) I have them in as directed. It does make your bite feel different every day, but eventually I guess it will get where it needs to be.

#7 Post by **TigerLily** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 11:35 am

I am in elastics as of Saturday.

I had been to the ortho 5 weeks previously and moved onto a stronger archwire and she said I'd probably be able to move onto rectangular archwire at my next appointment in mid October. I was due to go into elastics later on in the year.

I had an emergency appointment as I had a loose wisdom tooth as well as poky archwires (which I had been living with for over 2 weeks whilst travelling in South America - tip - don't ever go to a '24 hour dentist', that was one scary set of pliers he got out, in the end I said, 'it's ok it doesnt hurt anymore!).

Luckily, the loose wisdom tooth wasn't periodontal disease as I'd managed to convince myself after reading on the internet (must stop doing that!), the tooth had just got loose due to my bite changing. I left my emergency appointment with rectangular archwire top and bottom and my first elastics. She also did quite a bit with my wire ties. The elastics are on each side and a triangle each side - they go from my first molar on the top to the first and second molar on the bottom.

Ouch it hurts. My jaw hurts so much. I am not even noticing the rectangular archwire etc. I have been taking Nurofen every few hours.

It's been about 75 hours. How much longer.

#8 Post by **KARESS** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 4:54 pm

My triangle elastics are upside down

Everyone on here who has the triangle ones are right side up
I wonder why he did mine this way.

#9 Post by **BenB** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:59 am

Elastics

#10 Post by **TigerLily** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 1:31 pm

Well, they seem to work...my archwire started poking me after 5 days, got into the ortho after 7 days and she said poor me she could see where I was being poked. I said I couldn't believe it as she'd taken such care to clip and file down the wire and she said my teeth were really moving due to the elastics.

Glad I persevered through the pain!

Though, two days later and the archwire is digging again. I am worried I'm going to seem like a high maintenance patient.

#11 Post by **Carolinahigh12** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:18 pm

I am currently in "moose" elastics and have been using them everyday for almost 4 months. At first, I would take them off when I ate, but that got a little to hectic because I snacked alot between meals, so I would forget to put them back in. So my first adjustment after wearing the elastics I had zero movement. I decided right then and there that I would rather go ahead and get my movement that I need to move forward in my treatment. So with that being said, I started to wear my elastics everyday, all day; changing them once a day at night during my final brushing. I would only take them off in the morning when I brush my teeth, but other than that you never saw me without them on. I went back in 2 months, and I had MAJOR improvement in my bite and alignment.

So from personal experience, I would advise to wear them literally 24/7 even when eating.. To me wearing them while eating took away the soreness from the movement, and allowed movement to be almost painless... If I go without my elastics, my mouth feels so strange and my molars start shifting back to the old position.

I would say try eating with then on, and it may actually help you wear your elastics more faithfully.

#12 Post by **KARESS** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:22 pm

changing elastics every 3 hours help
if you wear the same elastic all day..its loose so its not really working.

#13 Post by **KARESS** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:37 pm

no pain
no gain.

#14 Post by **TigerLily** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:30 am

Hmmm....I'd rather wear them as my ortho wants me to.

If she thought I'd get better results with changing them every few hours, she'd say so, after all I take them out at mealtimes so it wouldn't be much difference between putting them back in or putting new ones in.

One of the things my ortho said to me early on was she didn't want things to move too quickly because of bone loss so I'd rather not take any risks!

#15 Post by **TigerLily** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 10:37 am

Thanks. These elastics really seem to be working.

But I am definitely in a fed up of braces phase!

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When will it stop hurting? :-(