spacers: how long did your pain last?

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#1 Post by **junkee** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:37 pm

i'm due to get spacers soon. I will have them in for about 2 weeks before getting my expander. I just realized that on the 5th day of the spacers i have a big family event to attend. Will my teeth still be sore on day 5 of spacers? Will i be able to eat normally? I'm sure the celebration will involve lots of food. I really don't want to explain my orthodontic ordeal to relatives i hardly see.

#2 Post by **amandad09** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:09 pm

In my experience, unfortunately, my teeth hurt when eating the entire duration of my spacers.

#3 Post by **junkee** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:42 pm

amanda, thanks for your reply. Did your teeth hurt to the point that you could not eat any solid foods at all? btw, i read your blog... sorry to hear about your expander woes.... hopefully you'll be talking back to normal soon.

#4 Post by **amandad09** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:32 pm

I honestly didn't really try anything more solid than a breadstick and a few curly fries. Those weren't without tenderness but I managed enough to eat some. I wouldn't have eaten anything really crunchy at that point. Still wouldn't really.

I am sure that there will be plenty of things at your family event that you can manage to eat. I've eaten Lasagna, Arby's sandwiches, fish sticks, fries, pizza, a burger on grilled bread. Some things are better off in smaller pieces but not impossible to eat.

Try not to worry about it too much! You'll be fine.

And thank you for the sympathy about the expander. I've just gotta adjust and venting helps

#5 Post by **kaydee** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 11:39 pm

Hello, I found my spacers themselves didnt actually hurt in normal day to day life but they certainly were quite tender to eat with and I found the tenderness got worse as the days went on. I only had my spacers in for 5 days, but if you are having yours in for two weeks they may very well open enough of a gap and the spacer fall out (my ortho said this was possible and not to worry about it) So if it gets to that point it probbaly means the teeth have done enough moving to create the space for the bands and hopefully wont give u grief. Mine were almost instant relief when they came off but of course then I had the braces to deal with that night that put pressure on a different part of my mouth (my front teeth rather than my back teeth)

Good luck, you should be able to eat relatively soft stuff like chicken etc with spaces in, maybe just dont tackle a tough steak.

#6 Post by **Jewles** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:55 am

I had mine on for a week before getting braces and it hurt to eat the entire time, and then the braces took over and it still hurts to eat

#7 Post by **Rachel B** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:19 am

My spacers hurt until they came out.

I couldn't eat anything very solid at all and it wasn't pretty watching how I smooshed it up in my mouth.

I went out for a family dinner when I had mine and had to have soup and ice cream

Sorry!!!!!!

#8 Post by **kirjax** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 11:49 am

I have to agree with most. My spacers hurt me until they came out. I couldn't eat anything more then applesauce or soup. Trying even noodles was really hard unless they were just swallowed. They truly were the biggest pain in the you know what out of the whole being brace process. So I don't want to rain down on your party but it will be unlikely you'll be able to chew many things....however some folks have said that spacers were not so bad for them so maybe you'll get to be one of the lucky few! Good luck!

#9 Post by **acd** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:44 pm

I had spacers three different times for a week each time and each time hurt differently. My first round were in my upper teeth and they were uncomfortable but never actually painful. Four months later I got them in my lower teeth and these hurt the entire time, though my lower teeth were much more crowded and jammed together than my upper teeth. The final time was when my second molars were to be banded and these didn't hurt a bit or even feel uncomfortable.

#10 Post by **thisisme** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 1:17 pm

I had spacers for 7 days. The only time they hurt for me was when I bit down on hard food. However by day 4, if I remember correctly

, I could eat just about anything. It differs a lot from person to person. I hope you get to eat what you want!

#11 Post by **pegasus2425** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 4:48 pm

I will have my spacers in for a total of 3 weeks, it has been 11 days as of now. The worst of the pain was gone in 2 days with the help of Advil. After that, it still hurt to eat anything hard like corn chips, but if you're careful, you can eat what ever you want. Just remember to take OTC pain meds on a 4-6 hr schedule so the pain doesn't have a chance to come back.
Also my advise is to have the tech show you how to put the spacers back in if they come out seeing as how you'll have them so long. Mine started to slide out in about 4 days, so I just pop them back in, it's really easy and that way you won't be in spacers longer than planned.

#12 Post by **sdawdy** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 am

Spacers....yuck....

they hurt the entire time....however, i didnt change my diet at all...yes it took me longer to eat things...but oh well i got to enjoy it more....and the same with my braces...nothing has changed!!!