Metal Mouth Message Board

If pain = progress, wouldn't no pain mean no progress or slow progress?

Maybe its because im still very early in treatment (got Damon Braces on the 11th) and in a thin/weak wire, but im also kinda surprised that since in already in Zebras (which I have looked up and are rated at heavy force, 4.5 ozs to be exact) they aren't causing any pain

Well I say no pain, but if I clocked the pain I felt during the whole day it probably wouldn't add up to 30 minutes (its like at times I feel a moment or two of pain and then nothing for hours)

But then again I do feel like my tongue can feel that a tiny gap between two teeth (that can't be seen with just my eyes) has gotten bigger since I got braces (it feels huge to my tongue, but maybe my tongue is deceiving me) so I don't know

I think it's a bit of a myth that orthodontics has to be painful. It's true that everyone has a unique experience and perceives discomfort differently but throughout my treatment have experienced no pain at all. There have been times when it's been a bit sore for a couple of days particularly after an adjustment but skilled orthodontists will select just the right amount of force to enable the bone remodelling to take place without causing damage to your teeth. I found the first few weeks just felt tight, the soreness only really started a few months in once I was in stiffer wires.

We have patients that experience no discomfort at all after initial bonding and others that say their teeth were sore for up to about 2 weeks later. Some feel nothing after each adjustment and others feel sore for a few days after. Each person's experience is going to depend on their biology, pain tolerance, movements desired, etc.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate:

1. Some people have their wisdom teeth extracted and no issues right away. Others are swollen for up to a week. Some of the teeth were impacted and required bone removal whereas others were taken out after being erupted. The skill of the doctor and method of removal will also factor in.

2. No pain, no gain is not true, particularly for our patients using AcceleDent. Their teeth are actually moving faster using Invisalign and AcceleDent than without it, and many do not feel any discomfort at all.

I haven't had as much pain as I thought. My tongue did swell due to an allergic reaction to something when they put my braces on and now I have to take Benadryl and that was painful, but as far as actual brace pain...No. When I do get a bit of pain it's from the rubbing and I pop some wax on and it's fine. What I get is twitching. It's not painful but weird. It feels like my teeth are twitching - like a twitch you get under your eye. It's a very strange experience. So far things have not been as bad as I expected. Although, I have been warned that once they put my powerchain on that could all change! I think you can have gain without pain...

I haven't had excruciating pain and have been worried about it myself because I associate pain with progression. Every person I know who has gone through treatment said that the pain was unbearable and that I wouldn't handle it because I'm an adult. It's one of the main reasons why it took so long for me to finally get braces (the other reason was because I wouldn't be able to keep them clean).

Once I got them, I was in pain and unable to eat solid food for a little more than a week but as long as I wasn't biting hard, the pain wasn't even that bad. When I got power chains and a wire change last month, I was back at square one for 3 days. Besides those times, I've been able to eat fine after adjustments with minor soreness. I got new power chains and another wire change to stainless steel rectangular wire last week and only had some soreness the same day.

I did talk to my ortho about my concern that I don't think I'm experiencing enough pain and that I was afraid it meant a lack of progression. She said I just have a high pain threshold and it has nothing to do with progression.

Its nice to know that there can be progress without pain since ive had hardly no pain yet and of course when you spend Money and time on braces you want to know you are making progress

I should see a lot of progress at some point when im starting out with such a bad anterior open bite

Good to know I wasn't the only person here who felt they weren't experiencing enough pain. I have a 13 year old niece who started treatment at 12 who's having a much harder time with treatment than I am and I'm more than double her age. Pain is definitely subjective. Age doesn't always matter if you have a different threshold.

I got full metal top and bottom on 8/17 and I haven't had any pain either. Minor discomfort while chewing and a little rubbing of inner lips and that's it. I too was worried...

Pain is different for everyone. I happen to have tolerance for pain so I've only experienced soreness...thank goodness!

I had no pain except when I'd bite my cheek. I did have discomfort chewing the first couple of weeks, but other than that no pain, even with elastics.

I keep getting told its because I am highly motivated that my perception of pain has changed. I was comparing my braces pain now to 20 years ago...

I remember the pain going on for days and days and days. Now it seems like 2 or 3 days of tenderness and I'm good to go.

Now I will say with a new archwire paired with new TADs I have been forced to soft food/liquids for a week. Weight loss is fine by me though!