Swollen Gums

[gemini4]

@dollface -- I hope that your gum issue clears up soon! It sounds like you have a really nice ortho.

BTW, I didn't mean to hijack your thread with my spacers woes!

It's true, my sister (who got braces as an adult) did not have molar bands, either, nor do I think her ortho uses them ... so she didn't have to have spacers. My spacers were really difficult to put in -- my ortho said my molars were particularly tight. He said if there's not enough room for the bands, he'll use brackets. He said he prefers bands for the last molars because in his experience brackets are more prone to breaking on the last molars.

I'm going in this afternoon to get one spacer replaced (it came out over the weekend). I'm hoping in the back of my mind that they say, "nah, let's take them out now!" Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

But back you you! One other recommendation I have for you -- in addition to the saline rinse, you might want to try rinsing with TheraBreath mouthwash. I get it at my local CVS. It's a peroxide-based mouthwash that contains no alcohol, and it's effective at killing anaerobic bacteria that cause infections and bad breath.

[BraceFace2o1o]

It can be annoying when something is bothering us and we have to wait for the appointment. I've been there many times since being in these braces!

Kinda like how these dang SPACERS are bothering me! Thursday can't come quick enough!

Sorry gemini4 I totally missed your post! The spacers weren't too much of a bother for me as I didn't experience any pain but it was annoying not being able to floss and that bothered me quite a bit. Also one came slightly loose so I freaked out about that but my ortho said it would be ok. I think I had my spacers for 8 days but one hadn't created enough room for the band so he did some minor IPR to get it on.

I have molar bands on my upper and lower 1st molars and brackets on my lower 2nd molars (upper 2nd molars have never been braced). I would prefer brackets on all 6 but he said the bands were needed for elastics and possible other devices I might need (I had a quad helix).

[dollface4248]

@gemini

hey its totally okay for u to crib about your spacers
today my gum has gone down almost 50 percent THANK GOD. no more bad breath smell either.
personally i feel my gum kept hitting the "tie wire" my ortho inserted last month and got traumatised and infected.
but it still feels sore and itchy- im going to give it two more days like my ortho said
i am so praying it settles down 100 percent..my ortho told me i could start eating on that side but im still avoiding to do that until it heals up 100 percent.
and thanks for the mouthwash suggestion but no more bad breath ever since i got my cleaning- braceface was right!
she said she found some "fibres" and it was probably from traumatic flossing.

i absolutely agree- every ortho has his/her treatment plan. i think the main thing is that u should feel 100 percent comfortable with them and they should genuinely care for you + know what they're doing.
my ortho always makes sure im mentally satisfied before i leave -it really helps me
i hope everything goes well for u gemini! this is just the beginning but i have heard it is totally worth it

@braceface thank you so much for ur replies and support i felt so much better!

this forum has helped me alot! whenever i feel down i just log on-its great!
and i hope my post helps someone in the future...one thing i regretted was waiting 8 days for my gums to heal .. if i could do it over- id have gone to my ortho on day 3 and let her do the cleaning!

will keep you guys posted!thanks for everything

[NICURN85]

I am still having that one spot with the swolled gum. I go to the ortho next week so I will let them check it out. I have very good oral hygeine so I do not know what is going on. I wonder if it is because my teeth are moving or what. I will be glad when I find out.

[bcatron]

Inflammation is normal. My gums were VERY swollen and my ortho called me in a medicated mouth wash I used 2x per day and it really helped. Definitely worth asking your dentist about!