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Your first few days with braces will feel rather odd, awkward, and even painful. The day you get your braces you will probably just feel weird, like you have something in your mouth – because you do. You are most likely to feel pain and soreness during the second and third days. After that, you should be fine. If you experience any pain with your braces, there are a few things you can do to get some relief.

Home Remedies

Rinsing your mouth with warm salt water will soothe it and promote healing. Rinse several times a day or when your mouth, particularly mouth sores, are hurting. You can also take some Tylenol every four hours. Dr. Bart Benson and our team advise against products that contain ibuprofen because it slows down the movement of your teeth.

You can also eat cold foods like ice cream or yogurt. The cold of the food will help dull the pain. Ice packs applied to your mouth help as well. You can also swish ice water around your mouth, but DO NOT eat ice!

Cool Products

Products for canker sores can be applied to the mouth sores you develop from your braces. There are also various rinses you can use that act as a shield or barrier in your mouth, and protect your mouth sores from further irritation.

Dr. Bart Benson and our team may have given you some dental wax to put on the abrasive areas of your braces to protect your mouth. Putting dental wax on the brackets creates a barrier that keeps your mouth from getting scraped and sore.

Bite wafers are another great pain relief too. When you bite down on the wafer, it increases circulation in your gums, which can ease the pain a bit. Just a little pressure will work; you don’t want to bite too hard. And they usually come in cool colors, too!

The pain won’t last forever. One day you will wake up and you won’t have any pain. In fact, you probably won’t even notice the braces in your mouth at all!

If you are planning on taking a vacation this summer, we ask that you let us know ahead of time so that we may schedule your summer appointments more efficiently. We also encourage patients and their parents to be proactive in determining when they make their summer appointments.

If you will be gone for an extended period (more than six weeks), we recommend you visit Benson Orthodontics prior to leaving and schedule another visit shortly after your return. Lastly, please remember not to indulge in hard, sticky, and chewy treats while enjoying your vacation. We look forward to seeing you soon and hearing about your adventures!

Having crooked, unevenly spaced, or misaligned teeth can interfere with your life at any age. Damon Smile treatment involves braces without bands, faster treatment times, and less pain than regular metal braces for teens and adults. These braces, offered at our Mt. Juliet or Lebanon, TN office, can straighten your teeth for a variety of benefits.

• Allows you make a good first impression on people
• Helps you speak more clearly
• Makes it easier to clean your teeth
• Gives you more self-confidence

It’s important to practice good dental hygiene when you have braces. If you do, you can avoid accidentally letting your teeth decay during the months or years of treatment. These are some ways you can care for your smile during Damon Smile treatment.

Keep brushing and flossing.

Maintain your regular good dental hygiene habits. Continue to brush twice a day, being careful to get all of the food out from your Damon Smile braces. Floss and use mouthwash regularly, too. Also think about keeping your mouth clean during the day. Rinse your mouth with water after you eat if you’re not able to brush your teeth. Avoid sugary beverages, such as sodas, and stick to water.

Choose your foods carefully.

You’ll be able to eat whatever you want after you get your braces off. In the meantime, you can keep your mouth healthy by selecting the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones. Sugary foods are poor choices anytime, but they’re even worse when you have braces because they’re more likely to get stuck on your braces and stick to your teeth. Eventually, you could get tooth decay. Popcorn, chips, and nuts can also get stuck in your braces.

Some foods are hard to chew. They can make a bracket pop off your tooth so that you need to visit your orthodontist. Be wary of the following foods:

• Stringy meats
• Crunchy foods, such as raw vegetables and apples
• Chewy foods, such as bagels and toffee

Straightening your teeth is an investment in your future and yourself. Damon Smile braces can make your teeth straighter in less time than traditional metal braces, and with less embarrassment. Just be sure to care for your smile while your braces are on to make sure that your teeth are healthy when you get your braces off.

Can you guess the number one question most of my patients ask me when they finally decide to go ahead with braces or Invisalign? They want to know when they can get them off! I don’t take it personally; in fact, that would be my first question as well. Typically the answer to that question is just under two years (24 months), but luckily we have some new technology coming in straight from our friends at NASA that can actually cut that time in half. Our new Acceledent micropulse technology has shown to be able to move teeth 50 percent faster.

Okay, so maybe we didn’t get it shipped directly from NASA, but the micropulse technology was something that was birthed from the space program. Doctors were noticing that when astronauts would return from extended time in orbit, the lack of gravity would cause their bones to decrease in density at a rapid rate. In an effort to thwart this side effect of zero gravity, scientist developed a device which used micropulses to help simulate the effects of actual gravity. After they saw how well it worked with astronauts, doctors then began testing the effects of micropulses on other types of ailments. Doctors found they were able to use the treatment to heal bones faster following fractures or surgeries.

It was soon discovered that by using these pulses, we could manipulate the movement of teeth faster and more efficiently within the jaw. The pulses actually cause the bone at the base of the tooth to metabolize faster. This means that the teeth can move easier because that bone at the base of the tooth is actually undergoing thousands of microscopic fractures. The vibrations allow the bone to recruit repairing agents more quickly, so those fractures are being healed rapidly. This process of metabolization within the bone is similar to what we understand about the body metabolizing food—we break down food which creates energy. When your bones break down, the body is able to repair them.

The treatment itself is extremely easy. Patients bite down on the mouthpiece attached to the device for twenty minutes a day. Many who use the device do so while watching TV or checking their emails. Another benefit that patients reported was decreases in sensitivity compared to normal treatment. While Acceledent is considered a premium service, it only cost about $45-65 more a month than usual. One of our staff members, Linda, is actually going to be using this technology when she begins her Invisalign treatments this month. She’ll be what we like to refer to in the medical industry as a "guinea pig," as she’ll be the first one to receive it at our office.

We’re so happy to be offering this type of service and to be able to help our patients reach their ideal smiles in an even faster timeframe. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or set up an appointment.