Brace woes

[KB]

Have a look at Huel if it carries on/ is a problem each time they are adjusted.
It's not cheap but it is a scientifically recognised meal replacement that has necessary nutritional value. ( We have had advice from approximately qualified people).

Assumed you have spoken to pharmacist / GP for other painkillers for the short term?

One of mine found an electric flosser helped with cleaning a fixed brace. It's so important to do so or they can end up with bed staining on teeth.

Clove oil works for tooth ache but I don't know if it would work for this kind of pain. Check with dentist first if it's ok. The infamous NHS direct can get a dentist to call you back with advice if you desperate.

[fairyelephant]

Hope it's easing off now - orthodontics seems pretty brutal to me, DD finds the first two or three days quite tough but then it's fine.

[yunny]

This will sound very harsh but when my ds had braces for nearly 2 years I just cut up the food the rest of the family ate into very small minute cubes, he did complain about the pain etc but I just told him to bite very slowly and sorry to say, get on with it! He didn't complain afterwards, just chewed very very slowly, meat, veg even biscuits, anything! (except for chewies)No pain killers or smoothies etc! The pain does subside after couple of weeks esp when u can see the teeth moving and believe me, my ds had awful wonky teeth, big overbite too, can safely say now tho, he has perfect lovely straight white teeth!

[kenyancowgirl]

Does sound harsh. Had to go back to ortho yesterday as we discovered the entire inside of his cheek had been ripped to shreds - several alterations later and he is coping much better. He had been incredibly brave, actually, as he thought the pain etc was "normal" but it was made worse by a rogue sharp end that he must have knocked the first time he brushed...!

[Warks mum]

Ouch! Hope things improve soon!

Another tip we found helpful in an 'emergency' when we couldn't get hold of dental wax to cover sharp bits was to use the red wax from Baby Bels instead.

[kenyancowgirl]

Funnily enough, I happened upon that very tip when I was googling in desparation, the night before I rushed him to the ortho!! Haven't had Babybel in the fridge since the kids were tiny but did have some edam (the grown up version) so am covered for emergency dental wax!

Thankyou, though, warksmum - he does seem a bit happier and has lost the very red cheeks (remember when babies are teething?)

[um]

I wore braces for nearly 2 years (as an adult) and have a propensity to ulcers too . It was agony at times.

Ds1 had them for only about 9 months but ds2 has had them for well over a year now and has had a load of teeth out too.

I really recommend paracetamol and ibuprofen together especially after they've been tightened. Also loads of good quality dental wax (the cheap stuff doesn't work).
Lavender oil can also help relieve the pain/inflammation.
Put some drops in a warm bowl of water and either stick your jaw in it (yes I used to do this ) or soak a soft cloth in it and gently wipe over the jaw.

I also ate a lot of mashed potato and finely grated cheese, noodle soup, yoghurt, houmous and custard (not all at once).
In fact I lost a good amount of weight which wasn't a bad thing at all for me as I got straight teeth and slimmer in one go but probably not what a teenage boy wants!

[um]

When DS had a mouthful of ulcers I whizzed my bolognaise sauce up and with soft pasta it did the trick.

Mashed potato with and indent and then crack an egg in sprinkle of cheese on top and into the oven to bake the egg - yummy!

Ds2 due to be fitted with braces at the end of November, not looking forward to it having read this! He can't take ibuprofen due to asthma so it could be a tough ride, especially as he doesn't want them anyway!!

I thought I'd mention that all my life I did not take ibuprofen as I'm asthmatic - the few times I'd tried it, it definitely made me very wheezy.
Then I was thinking about it (in fact, a slipped disc last May made me think about it pretty hard) and I realised that I'm actually very sensitive to colouring in foods and drinks, and most ibuprofen tablets are for some reason coloured bright pink. Spoke to a friend who is a pharmacist and got some ibuprofen with no colour at all. I took one....and felt absolutely fine with no wheeziness at all. They helped me through the slipped disc which got much better in time. Might be worth considering. I then tried half a a bright pink tablet (just to see!) and got terribly wheezy again

[doodles]

Well the braces were fitted yesterday and the poor boy is suffering, no ulcers as yet but the pain is getting to him. I've been told he has a high pain threshold (having seen him have his broken thumb reset a couple of months back I can vouch for this) but he's complaining this evening. All he wanted for supper was chicken soup and scrambled eggs and now he's taken himself to bed.

He has plenty of space and his bottom teeth look as if they've moved already, is this possible?

[kenyancowgirl]

Yes!! We found the movement was startling right at the beginning - I took pictures just before he had the brace fitted and a couple of days later and it is scary how much they move - expalins the pain. In our experience it will be pretty awful for the next few days - keep on top of the pain killers and help make sure he is cleaning it properly but tell him from me, it does get better!! It felt like it never would and think it was a good week or so before he felt more comfy.