When you wear metallic braces, you need to visit your Orthodontist at regular intervals to adjust the archwire. Adjusting, tightening or replacing the wire with a new thick wire is a step forward towards your goal of attaining an aesthetic smile.
The tightened or adjusted wire applies additional pressure on the teeth. It results in mild pain, soreness or irritation around the teeth and gums. The pain and other discomforts are temporary. It indicates the shift in the position of the crooked or crowded teeth.
If the pain is intense or unbearable, follow these tips to get relief from it.
1) Eat Soft Foods
Your teeth and gums will become sensitive when the metallic wire is tightened. Any bite on hard food items like chips, maize, hard candies, raw vegetables or fruits causes pain. Avoiding such hard foods is important until the pain and sensitivity caused by adjusted archwire go off.
Eating with dental braces is quite difficult. It is better to switch to soft food items like soup during your orthodontic treatment. This is briefly explained in our previous post.
2) Consume Cold Foods and Drinks
Cold temperature will soothe the inflamed gum tissues which are irritated by the adjusted wire. Drinking cold water and eating ice creams will help you to get relief from such discomforts.
Applying ice pack outside the mouth also help you to reduce braces pain and its hardships like inflammation.
3) Frozen Teething Rings
The cold teething rings with which infants bite also help you to subside the braces pain.
Freeze or condense the fluid in the teething ring. Then place it in the area where it pains severe in your mouth. Chew the ring and drift it slowly around the mouth regions where you encounter pain and soreness.
4) Salt Water Mouth Rinse
You know this approach. This is widely utilized to get relief from various dental diseases. It is helpful to relieve the dental braces pain also.
Soreness in gums and cheeks occurs as a result of the adjusted metallic wire in the braces. Swishing your mouth with the mixture of salt and warm water for 60 minutes alleviate the disturbed tissues in your mouth.
5) Heating Pad
This is recommended when you experience severe pain in the jaw and it cannot be subdued with cold food or ice packs.
Applying a heating pad around the jaw alleviates the pain and other discomforts in the jaw rise after adjusting the brace wire. You can get the same relief by applying a washcloth soaked in warm water. You need to do it many times in a day to reduce the pain.
6) Orthodontic Wax
When you experience pain or soreness in lips, gums, cheeks and other regions of the mouth, the approach of applying orthodontic wax is helpful.
Applying the orthodontic wax to the metal surface will relax the soft tissues which are agitated by the metallic brace.
7) Gum massage
Massaging your gums with finger relax the gum tissues that are irritated by the tightened wire. It is also helpful to reduce swelling and soreness in the gums.
8) Local anesthetic
A local anesthetic will numb and desensitize the gum tissues. It helps you not to experience pain or other discomforts for a while after the metal wire is tightened.
Orajel and Anbesol are effective to numb the oral regions. Use your fingers to rub or apply the pain relievers on the gums.
9) Over-the-Counter Pain Killers
Over-the-Counter Pain Killers like Ibuprofen are powerful to relive the dental braces pain. Utilize this approach when you cannot get rid of the pain with other techniques we have mentioned.
Overuse of the painkillers is dangerous. Dentists recommend that don’t use such painkillers regularly.
Conclusion
Investing in Orthodontic Braces is not just to get a beautiful smile. Aside from straightening your crooked teeth, dental braces help in correcting misaligned bites, correcting the incorrect jaw positions and correcting the jaw joints. Redressing the teeth misalignment and irregular spacing also play a dominant role in preventing cavities, gum diseases and other oral complications.
Brace pain is also a part of the orthodontic treatment. Remember that it does not persist and is temporary. It will wind off when your mouth adjusts to the new wire adjustments.
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