Wax Issues...

Message

#1 Post by **serendipity** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:42 pm

Please help, I just got braces yesterday and I can't use the wax. I know the bracket has to be dry and so I used a towel but when I put it on it just slides right off. How do I get it to stick?

Please help - what am I doing wrong?
~Serendipity~

#2 Post by **Barbiedoll** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 5:50 pm

I had problems as well. Mush the wax around untill it's soft and make sure everything is dry. Your teeth, brackets, fingers, etc., I switched to silicone. It stays better for me. Hope this helps. I'm sure you will get more suggestions.Try everything and see what works for you. Good luck.

#3 Post by **spragers** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:07 pm

Try using a pigger piece of wax. It should be pliable (like Play-doh) and fairly easy to smush with your fingers. The wax my ortho gave me initially was hard as a rock, so I bought some "fresh" wax from Walgreen's.

Worst case scenario - eh, so you eat a little wax

#4 Post by **TuZZi** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:08 am

Ok, I can help with this.... I'm a wax pro.

Depending on what kind of wax you have, you either have to have things dry, or you don't. I have the plain wax from the ortho, so things don't have to be dry for me. It actually works better if my fingers aren't dry so the wax doesn't stick to them when I'm trying to apply it to my teeth.

Make sure you take a little piece, maybe about 3-4mm thick, and roll it between your fingers and make a ball. Anything smaller than that, and it won't stay on properly. Make sure you apply it in one quick motion, and don't wiggle it around once you place it, or it will shift and slide off after it's been moulded to your brackets. I push the wax on further if I need it, and sometimes I end up waking up with indents in my gums from the wax, but I'd rather have the wax indents than a hole in my cheek from the wire or bracket.

I find that I can wear wax for almost 24 hours, without reapplying, but of course that depends if I eat anything that day. I can't wait to get to the ortho again.... 5 more sleeps.... and get these damn wires clipped, then hopefully I'll be back to wax only around the springs again.

#5 Post by **butterfly** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:04 pm

I suppose I got the silicone kind! It's almost transparent and feels more like plastic than wax. It came in a tiny box and consists of four "rolls" (like playdo).

I dont have problems - it worked from the first time i put it! I always use a very tiny amount of it (more like a thin layer of plastic) and wrap and smear it around the pokey wired areas in the back of my mouth. Works! Apparantly I always eat it when I eventually forget about it

#6 Post by **serendipity** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:50 pm

Thanks for the suggestions

- yeah I am starting to get the hang of it now...kinda annoying though

. I put a long wide clump of wax along the bottom brackets this morning - ah sweet relief

....only prob is now my mouth feels even more full (if that's even possible)...

~serendipity

#7 Post by **butterfly** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 3:17 am

serendipity wrote:only prob is now my mouth feels even more full

yep this happens to me to when I take too much!

I think the enormous size of the wires and the extent of pokiness inside the mouth is an illusion! Take a mirror and look at it: Everything is actually tiny! A very small amount of wax can easily cover it. Works with me! I don't feel the wax at all.