Help! My mouth is in shreds

[gappedmouth]

And I amin so much pain at times. The wax doesn't stick, and then it gets in the way when eating and brushing. I am tired of trying to get it to stick and then picking it off before eating and brushing. Is there an alternative to wax? Is there something I can put on my poor shredded cheeks. Thanks in advance.

[Chica3709]

If you can get the wax to stick on there good you should be able to eat with it on, and then just take it off for brushing. I always left mine on! Another thing my ortho told me to do is to "suck" (kind of a slirping noise, not sure how else to explain it lol)all the saliva out of your mouth so it has a dry surface to stick to. I also use a product called kanka that numbs my cheeks right up, it only last for about 30 min but its enough so that i can atleast get to sleep. Good luck, hope this helps!

[belenov]

salty water rinse, canker sore gel and loads of wax at night till your poor cheeks have recovered. we have all been there. it will get better.

[Okate]

I used a little cotton wool on the bracket. My cheeks are fine now. It just takes the pressure off : )

[Tobilei]

I can't get the wax to stick either. I generally shove cotton bandage in between my brackets and cheek to give it a break. Occasionally I manage the wax if I get the bracket dry enough with a cotton bud but it's only the front brackets. Anything with a hook on it or on a molar and it just doesn't happen.

I bought some of those kaworski (sp?) lip protectors but I haven't had a lot of luck with them. They seem to just make me drool

I find the cotton combined with salt water rinses does the best job. On the really bad one's I'll use bonjella numbing stuff in the day and something called Kenalog at night (it's a treatment you put on at night that helps to actually heal mouth ulcers).

Good luck! I've had a few really big one's and been super miserable at times. The good news is that they do pass and once they start to heal they heal pretty quickly.

[bbsadmin]

You guys who say that the wax won't stick -- are you using traditional regular wax, or silicone wax (ortho-sil or brace gard)?

Usually people have trouble with the silicone waxes. You shouldn't have any trouble with traditional regular wax -- that sticks to everything!

The trick with the silicone wax is to make sure your brackets are TOTALLY dry before you apply it.

[Tobilei]

Mine is silicone wax. I thought I'd read it stuck bettter. Maybe I should get some of the stuff from the chemist that isn't silicone, I might have better luck.

[gappedmouth]

thanks all for the advice. i am going to make sure that my brackets are dry for the wax. once this wax is gone, i will look into other options. my poor, poor mouth. i sometimes wake up with my mouth in pain

[Tobilei]

thanks all for the advice. i am going to make sure that my brackets are dry for the wax. once this wax is gone, i will look into other options. my poor, poor mouth. i sometimes wake up with my mouth in pain

I used to as well You poor thing! Even now I seem to wake up with the ulcers when I get them, like they happen overnight rather than during the day (which doesn't make a lot of sense to me!).

[beckybrucelee]

COMFORT COVERS!!!!!!!! http://www.dentakit.com/cocoforbr.html

They saved me after an agonising first month!! I put them in at night, whenever I was alone like driving or chilling on the sofa or whatever because they're too bulky when put over your braces to be seen in public with but they were an absolutely lifesaver and helped my mouth heal! Whenever I was at work or with people I'd use the wax but any other time I put these on! They're shown as just full tubes that fit neatly onto the brackets all the way round but due to a wandering canine they wouldn't stay on like that so I ended up just cutting the tubing to size around that tooth and used the wax on the canine but it helped so much! I can't recommend them enough. They came in so useful recently too. I'm about 6 weeks away from getting these frigging things out of my mouth and for some reason one bracket has decided it's going to start gouging holes in my gum so even though I stopped using the comfort covers months ago I kept them around and they've once again come to the rescue.

On top of this I know that with the brutalisation of gums comes dry sore lips from the prolonged swelling. I tried every balm and moisturiser I could find in my house (I'm a girl, I have a LOT) and nothing worked until my dad gave me a lift somewhere one day and I noticed a Nivea Essentials Lip Balm on the dash board and thought, well clearly going to try that too... It was like heaven.. I know that's really OTT but screw it, it was. It's the only one I've found that works without any stinging, residue or dryness later you can get it here http://shop.nivea.co.uk/essential-care.html it looks really bog standard and cheap but don't be fooled this lip balm is awesome.

Hope some of that helps! I've been keeping a blog on my progress and strife (including loads of little tips like those above) with 6 Month Smiles which you can read here if you want to: http://my6monthsmiles.wordpress.com/

[djspeece]

You might want to go to your drug store and buy Mack's ear plugs -- they are silicone-based and you can tear them up and make a suitable shape; they have been highly recommended by some on this board. I have them to try in case of an emergency or something (just passed my 6 month mark), but so far have been pleased with just old-fashioned wax.

[OldBikerBag]

Try bees' wax...the real stuff from the hive. If you swallow it while you're eating, it won't hurt you...and I've found it to stick well.

To dry my molars, where most of my trouble has been, I open my lips toward the offending tooth and suck in a few times, pulling air across the tooth. You'll feel the cold air on the tooth. Once it's dry, knead the bees' wax a little...a gob about the size of a lentil is about twice as much as you need...mold the wax around the bracket with your finger. You don't necessarily have to cover the whole bracket. All you're trying to do is smooth it out a little and put a little soft pressure on the tiny area around the pokey area.

I just brush my teeth like normal. The wax comes loose, I fish it out with my tongue, spit it out and continue brushing. Then, if there's still a problem, I replace the wax with fresh stuff.