Newbie here!!

[cellardoor]

Hey everyone. I am new to this community and to braces. I had the damon braces put on this morning. Honestly, I'm hurting pretty bad right now. Is that normal? My whole mouth is sore, especially my front teeth. I can't eat at all. It gets better, right? I was initially apprehensive about getting braces because I'm 22, and all my friends had braces when we were younger. Now that I have them on, I really hope this was the right decision! I don't want to be hurting like this every day for the next year.

[Stephanie]

welcome aboard!!! the damon braces are great, and yes the first few days or so are a bit uncomfortable since your teeth are moving fast and in a good way... You can try iburprohen to ease the pain so you can eat...

Start your blog and take some pictures of the progress... im a big fan of the damon system..

Good luck!

[cellardoor]

Thanks for your support! I have been taking ibuprofen today, but I'm limited on how much medicine like that I can take because it really upsets my stomach, so I hope the tension starts to ease soon.

What do you like about the damon system as compared to traditional braces? I'm new to all these techniques and still learning!

[Sunny]

Hi and welcome to this forum cellardoor.

For most people, the discomfort you're referring to is not the norm, but for a few it is. Hopefully within a day or two you'll be feeling much better and back to your usual self. The most important advice we give (I work for orthodontist's), is not to treat your life any different to before you got braces. Plus the sooner you get back to eating as you usually do, the better. We also recommend rinsing your mouth with warm salt water at least once a day ... more often if your mouth is sore. This rinse is soothing and should help you feel much better. Also use wax generously, as you don't want any of the skin inside your mouth to break and have sores develop. With wax, your mouth will toughen while the wax is in place.

What do you like about the damon system as compared to traditional braces? I'm new to all these techniques and still learning!

... hope this helps ... The main differences between self ligating and non self ligating brackets, is that the sl ones don't usually have ligs (O rings) around them. Many ortho's still use the ligs when they need more control of movement from the archwire, but the sl brackets don't need this, as they have doors or clips holding the archwire in place. It's the archwire that moves the teeth ... so how it's held, is about the brand of the bracket. Damon is one of the many brands of sl brackets.

There's loads of advertising about how one type of bracket is better than another ... be in silver, ceramic, self ligating or not ... but this has been proved many times by scientic research, to be loaded advertising and basically shows that some company's are prepared to put more money into marketing than working on there product.

The reason ortho's use different types of brackets, is about personal preference. The ortho's I work with use ceramic, metal, sl, ibraces (lingual) and invisalign. Apart from invisalign, they charge the same for all other types, as they all do the exact same job ... as it's the archwire and skill of the ortho that moves teeth. Brackets are bonded to the teeth, they can not move teeth.

Good luck with feeling more comfort very soon!

[cellardoor]

Hi Sunny! Thanks so much for that response. I never knew how involved braces are. I'm going to try the salt water technique as I'm still having a lot of discomfort today. It hurts the worst when I try to chew. I'm ready to take these things off, and it's only day 2!

[Janesays]

hang in there.. you wont even notice you have them soon.. and then when you get them off.... that will be wierd.. the naked tooth

[mariahfromchicago]

stick with it. You are very young at 22. The pain is gone within 1-7 days for many people.

[Sunny]

You're right about there being a lot of different stuff available to learn about brackets, but the important fact to remember is ... brackets don't move teeth ... it's the archwires that do that, along with the skill of your ortho. Plus your teeth ... some people have teeth that move more than the average of 1 mm a month, and others move less.

Good luck with the salt water rinses Cellardoor, they are soothing and healing for the mouth.

Originally Posted by cellardoor

It hurts the worst when I try to chew. I'm ready to take these things off, and it's only day 2!

About chewing ... it's important to keep chewing, even if it's very gently on something soft. Chewing encourages blood flow and it's blood flow that keeps the cells in our gums healthy and our teeth feeling good and moving. I've never had any problem chewing, but I've heard of other people chewing damp (warm) towelling, and soft chewable baby toys. Hope you can find something that works.

Hopefully in a few days, you'll have forgotten this part of your journey!

[cellardoor]

Thanks for all the encouragement! Today is day 3, and I'm doing much better. The salt water rinses are definitely helping. I actually ate real food last night. I'm going to start my blog now so I can monitor my progress. Thanks again everyone!

[Sunny]

That's fantastic news Cellardoor!

Great you're going to keep a blog. They're great for documenting your journey and your photos help you to see progress.

Keep up the great attitude!