I've had my braces on for about 3 weeks now and I have my first adjustment scheduled for this Friday. So far, I've gone through a few different things causing me pain; the initial soreness on my teeth themselves, the wires digging into my lip/cheek, etc. None of the pain so far has been that bad and I've gotten used to it pretty well I guess. This past Friday, however a new pain has entered my mouth and I still haven’t become accustomed to. In one of my top left teeth (it's either an incisor or a canine) I get an extremely sharp pain whenever I eat, drink, floss or brush anywhere near it. Since I had two teeth extracted from the right side of my mouth right before the braces were put on, I haven’t been able to chew anything on that side at all. When this pain hits, it usually lasts about 5 or 10 seconds and it literally brings tears to my eyes. My wife tells me that my whole face also turns red. It feels like the pain is almost coming from inside of the tooth but it does seem pretty loose, which I understand is normal. I was hoping that, like the other painful things that have come up so far, I would get used to it and/or it would eventually pass, but it's now Sunday and its still as bad as ever. I was already having problems eating anything substantial, but since Friday I haven’t really eaten much at all. I know this is not good, but Advil and stuff haven’t really done much to help.
I am now debating whether to call my Ortho tomorrow to see if I can get an "emergency" appointment with him, or if I should just tough it out till Friday when my adjustment appointment happens.
What do you all think?
Thanks!
-Chris
I know that some pain is to be expected, but....
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Diggit2001
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- Location: Laurel, Md
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weird_wired
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Get an emergency appointment.
It MAY be nothing to worry about at all, but you are in serious discomfort, and it is always better to check these things out early.
When you are new to braces the orthodontist will be extra sympathetic to you concerns. Don't feel that you are wasting their time even if it turns out to be just a minor thing.
I felt kind of bad once making an emergency appointment to get an archwire clipped (it was sticking out half a centimetre due to movement). The ortho was totally, utterly cool about in - in fact he was surprised how much it was sticking out and was glad I called him to fix it.
It MAY be nothing to worry about at all, but you are in serious discomfort, and it is always better to check these things out early.
When you are new to braces the orthodontist will be extra sympathetic to you concerns. Don't feel that you are wasting their time even if it turns out to be just a minor thing.
I felt kind of bad once making an emergency appointment to get an archwire clipped (it was sticking out half a centimetre due to movement). The ortho was totally, utterly cool about in - in fact he was surprised how much it was sticking out and was glad I called him to fix it.
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Diggit2001
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- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:45 pm
- Location: Laurel, Md
Thanks for the advice. I had my "emergency" appointment today (just in time too since one of my brackets decided to become unglued last night) and it turns out that it's just extreme sensitivity. I've always had sensitive teeth, but this new pain is a heckuva lot more than I've ever had. My Orthodontist said that the gum in that area was receding a bit too, so that's probably not helping any.
I was told to just get some Sensodyne toothpaste and just hope for the best. I also got off without getting my adjustment. It was originally scheduled for this Friday but my Ortho want's to just let everything ride as it is for another five weeks. Woohoooo!
Thanks again for your responses.
I was told to just get some Sensodyne toothpaste and just hope for the best. I also got off without getting my adjustment. It was originally scheduled for this Friday but my Ortho want's to just let everything ride as it is for another five weeks. Woohoooo!
Thanks again for your responses.
I can tell you that I've had sharp pain on biting with several teeth, all have come and gone. Sometimes its worrisome because it seems so severe, but normally in a few days its gone. Then another tooth "comes a hollerin". So its not too abnormal to have severe sensitivities.
Best advice: Tell the ortho about any concerns you have.
Best advice: Tell the ortho about any concerns you have.
Top Braces June 2004
Bottom Braces November 2004
Debanded January 2007
Bottom Braces November 2004
Debanded January 2007
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weird_wired
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Diggit - I never found Sensodyne much help.
What were much more effective were the high fluoride products my dentist recommended (you don't need a prescription, but they tend to be in pharmacies rather than supermarkets).
These were:
Emoform high fluoride toothpaste
Emoform high fluoride mouthwash
Emoform stannous fluoride gel
I was originally prescribed these a year before I decided to get braces, after suffering gum erosion on one tooth. So painful I couldn't breathe through my mouth in cold air even.
What I found though with braces was that they made my gums swell/grow over a little, pretty much solving the problem. If push my fingernail on the problem tooth at the gumline I can still feel the sensitive exposed toothneck sensation, but the gum is pretty much shielding it now.
Also try switching to a soft toothbrush. And one last thing to try is GC tooth mousse, or any product that contains "recaldent". That is supposed to be even more effective than fluoride at recalcifying your teeth (which stops up the little open tubules that you can't see with the naked eye but that are causing the sensitivity). I bought GC, but I can't tell how effective it is because my problem was kind of sorted by the time I got it. It says on my tube that vanilla GC is the best one for sensitive teeth, god knows why!
What were much more effective were the high fluoride products my dentist recommended (you don't need a prescription, but they tend to be in pharmacies rather than supermarkets).
These were:
Emoform high fluoride toothpaste
Emoform high fluoride mouthwash
Emoform stannous fluoride gel
I was originally prescribed these a year before I decided to get braces, after suffering gum erosion on one tooth. So painful I couldn't breathe through my mouth in cold air even.
What I found though with braces was that they made my gums swell/grow over a little, pretty much solving the problem. If push my fingernail on the problem tooth at the gumline I can still feel the sensitive exposed toothneck sensation, but the gum is pretty much shielding it now.
Also try switching to a soft toothbrush. And one last thing to try is GC tooth mousse, or any product that contains "recaldent". That is supposed to be even more effective than fluoride at recalcifying your teeth (which stops up the little open tubules that you can't see with the naked eye but that are causing the sensitivity). I bought GC, but I can't tell how effective it is because my problem was kind of sorted by the time I got it. It says on my tube that vanilla GC is the best one for sensitive teeth, god knows why!
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weird_wired
- Posts: 427
- Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:33 pm
- Contact:
Diggit - I never found Sensodyne much help.
What were much more effective were the high fluoride products my dentist recommended (you don't need a prescription, but they tend to be in pharmacies rather than supermarkets).
These were:
Emoform high fluoride toothpaste
Emoform high fluoride mouthwash
Emoform stannous fluoride gel
I was originally prescribed these a year before I decided to get braces, after suffering gum erosion on one tooth. So painful I couldn't breathe through my mouth in cold air even.
What I found though with braces was that they made my gums swell/grow over a little, pretty much solving the problem. If push my fingernail on the problem tooth at the gumline I can still feel the sensitive exposed toothneck sensation, but the gum is pretty much shielding it now.
Also try switching to a soft toothbrush. And one last thing to try is GC tooth mousse, or any product that contains "recaldent". That is supposed to be even more effective than fluoride at recalcifying your teeth (which stops up the little open tubules that you can't see with the naked eye but that are causing the sensitivity). I bought GC, but I can't tell how effective it is because my problem was kind of sorted by the time I got it. It says on my tube that vanilla GC is the best one for sensitive teeth, god knows why!
What were much more effective were the high fluoride products my dentist recommended (you don't need a prescription, but they tend to be in pharmacies rather than supermarkets).
These were:
Emoform high fluoride toothpaste
Emoform high fluoride mouthwash
Emoform stannous fluoride gel
I was originally prescribed these a year before I decided to get braces, after suffering gum erosion on one tooth. So painful I couldn't breathe through my mouth in cold air even.
What I found though with braces was that they made my gums swell/grow over a little, pretty much solving the problem. If push my fingernail on the problem tooth at the gumline I can still feel the sensitive exposed toothneck sensation, but the gum is pretty much shielding it now.
Also try switching to a soft toothbrush. And one last thing to try is GC tooth mousse, or any product that contains "recaldent". That is supposed to be even more effective than fluoride at recalcifying your teeth (which stops up the little open tubules that you can't see with the naked eye but that are causing the sensitivity). I bought GC, but I can't tell how effective it is because my problem was kind of sorted by the time I got it. It says on my tube that vanilla GC is the best one for sensitive teeth, god knows why!