elastics - problems!!

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#1 Post by **themagician** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:01 am

hello everyone!

yesterday i was fitted with class 2 elastics and I am shocked at how excrutiatingy painful they are!: o they have been the most painful part of my brace journey so far, including extractions!

My ortho didnt really give me a lot of information regarding use, so im just wondering if you are supposed to take them out when eating or not? is it not so awkward having them in your mouth with food? and will it slow your progess if you do take them out every time you eat?

I hate them already!!!

thanks in advance folks!

#2 Post by **Andromeda** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:47 am

I got classII elastics last month and it was the same for me - probably the most pain I've been in my entire life. I never broke any bones or had any seriously bad injuries in my almost 24 years *knock on wood* so yea this was the worst. The jaws are connected to so much I didn't realize.. but neck and jaw muscles were KILLING me. It took about 2 weeks for the bad pain to go away, then it was manageable. I just had another adjustment and he changed me from classII to a different way of wearing them and the whole pain cycle started over again

At least I was more ready this time...

Some orthos tell you to eat with them in and some don't. Mine said not to but I physicaly couldn't even if I wanted to. I can just barely get my mouth open far enough to shove in pain pills with them in. I have the super heavy duty elastics and like right when I put new ones in, they are so tight I can't open at all...

I hope you feel better soon and just know that you are not alone.

#3 Post by **Jewles** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 7:50 am

My ortho told me to eat in them but mine weren't overly tight, I still broke quite a few eating tho!

#4 Post by **Jethro** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:58 pm

I feel your pain. My ortho installed these implements of torture (class III elastics) last month and I must admit the first 2 weeks were brutal. OTC pain meds should help though. Mine are so tight, particularly after being changed, that eating with them in is virtually impossible. So I remove them prior to eating and change them 3 to 4 times a day.

The good new is that they are very effective at moving teeth. At my adjustment this past week, the ortho was pleased with the progress my teeth had made since wearing the elastics for just over a month. My experience is that removing them to eat/brush will not hamper your progress. Still, I probably wear them more than 20 hours a day.

Hang in there, I know it doesn't seem possible initially, but the pain will subside and you will become used to them over time!

#5 Post by **KLOU117** » Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:44 pm

Jewles wrote:My ortho told me to eat in them but mine weren't overly tight, I still broke quite a few eating tho!

I found eating with them in to be a huge pain. I asked my ortho and he said it was fine to take them out while eating, just put them back in as soon as you're done (after you brush I guess)
The pain is pretty bad at first. I hated when I got them and I accidentally bumped my teeth into each other. World of hurt.