Metal Mouth Message Board

I just got my retainers - they're essix. I was told to wear them 24/7 for a week then just at night. The only problem is they give me such a baaad sore throat! I can only imagine it's because I'm producing more saliva in the night which isn't staying in my mouth (sorry yuck =P) and its causing my throat to become dry and sore.

Anyone else have this problem? I'm really considering not wearing them because my throat is soo painful

x

I tend to agree with Mery...perhaps its just a coincidence.

Or perhaps you are allergic to the essix material.
Or perhaps you are sleeping with your mouth open, hence dry throat.
Are you cleaning the essix daily? You don't want bacteria to collect.

Try gargling with warm salt water before going to bed.

Is it possible you're dehydrated? When I was braced I could tell when I needed to drink more water because my brackets would "stick" to the inside of my mouth; once they came off I didn't have that obvious cue and noticed I would have a sore throat or really dry mouth, especially in the mornings. The more water I drank, the less I suffered! It was like magic!

I also agree with Meryaten it could be cold/flu symptoms and be a coincidence. And you shouldn't stop wearing the retainers, as you run the risk of relapse and losing all the work you've put in to your teeth.

There have been a few threads on the invisalign page about sore throats being caused by their aligners.

It is possible that it is the material the essex is made from. In the invisalign cases, it seems that after a little time, the problem either went away or the person stopped posting about it.

Give it a day or two and then call your ortho if it's still going on.