Metal Mouth Message Board

I got top braces on three days ago and the paperwork my ortho sent home with me said to wait a couple of days before flossing. Well, today I decided to give it a try and things didn't go very good. I could only get the floss to go between a couple of my teeth. The rest of them felt like there was no space whatsoever between them. I actually got the floss hung between two of my teeth, and in the process of trying to get it back out, it got hung up in one of my brackets and I had to cut it out with scissors and then pull it out with tweezers. I have no idea how it happened, but I can tell you it hurt like @*!#%^. I can't believe my teeth have already moved that much in such a short time. My teeth don't hurt except when I try to eat and, of course, this flossing incident. I can't stand not being able to floss and this is driving me crazy! If anyone has had this problem and can give me some tips, I'd appreciate it.

I had all those same problems the first few times I flossed. I had to cut the floss more than once to get it out. My lower teeth were so tight to begin with. i was very discouraged the first night. After about the third time it seemed to get much easier. I think it just takes some getting used to.

I also wanted to add that I have the Glide threader floss because that is the only kind that will go between my teeth.

I would suggest only waxed floss. In the begining I tried the unwaxed and had pieces of the floss stuck in my brackets/wires. Just keep trying as it is VERY important to floss with braces. One day you will magically find that the floss goes in between easily-this is know a "flossing epiphany" in the metal mouth world!!

I recommend them highly! You can buy "gum" floss threaders at most department stores.. I haven't seen any other kinds... but they kind of look like a large needle made of fishing line.. If you cannot get floss up between your teeth to your gums, you can sometimes work the floss threader between your teeth right at the gum line.. My teeth were so tight, I couldn't floss them either.. ugh! then after getting the threaders, I can floss about 75%... it still isn't the most painless process, but its better than not flossing!

Hope that helped!

C.

I started flossing on day one (10 days ago) and it hurt like hell. Also, the floss frayed and got stuck in the braces. Pretty disheartening stuff.

Now I'm finding it a lot easier, which probably reflects not only my newly found skill at doing it, but also the fact that some teeth are starting to move.

I noticed flossing got much easier after about a month. Now it is very easy to floss but I use Glide and a Gum floss threader or I would never be able to get around all the wires I have attached to my teeth. None of my teeth are as tight against each other as they were at the start which helps a lot. It still takes a long time for me to do it but I can reach every tooth now which wasn't always the case. Hope things get easier for you.