Life With Braces

Life with Braces

Congrats! Your braces are now on – you’re now closer to your new smile than ever before! We want to make your journey to smiling freely as easy as possible and help educate you with how this will affect your day-to day activities. We’ve outlined a few sections below to help make your life with braces easier than you ever thought!

Eating with Braces

You can still eat most foods with braces, but there are some that you need to avoid. Examples include hard, crunchy, sticky, gooey and sugary foods. We ask that you please avoid these, to prevent breaking parts of your braces.

If you’re a gum chewer then unfortunately you will need to kick the habit. Gum and braces don’t mix and you will thank us now before it becomes a mess. And we know how much you love popcorn when watching movies, but it’s best to find an alternative snack for watching movies.

Playing Sports with Braces 

Are you an athlete? There is no need to give up, or worry about, sports while in treatment!  You can play the sports you always have, but we do recommend you wear a mouth guard to protect your teeth as well as your cheeks from your orthodontic appliances. We have complimentary mouth guards for patients in treatment, as well as the option to have a custom one fabricated.

If you do happen to experience a sport related injury, and notice any loose appliances or teeth, please contact our office immediately.

Sensations with Braces

Worried about your teeth and tissue being a little sore and tender? This is perfectly normal for the first few days. Good news, this is a sign that your teeth are beginning to move! Your soreness will be gone before you know it! We recommend over the counter pain relievers (please check with your family physician if you have a medical condition) to comfort you.

You may also notice your lips and cheeks may become tender, over the next few weeks they will “toughen” as they adjust to your braces.  We also provide wax that is placed over the braces to ease the soreness.

Loose Teeth

To attain your new smile, your teeth will need to be moved into a new straighter and more aesthetically pleasing position. As such, during your orthodontic treatment, your teeth can sometimes feel a little bit loose. This is nothing to worry about and is all an essential part of the treatment. Once your teeth have been re-positioned and realigned, they will no longer feel loose.

Emergency Care

True orthodontic emergencies are rare, however, if they do occur we are always available for you.  Please call our office immediately if you are experiencing severe pain or an appliance problem you cannot resolve yourself.  The more specific you are with what is occurring the better we are able to assist. For common orthodontic emergencies, click here.