Rubber Bands TOO tight?

[lcremin86]

I just got rubber bands yesterday. I only have it on one side because my lower teeth are shifted to the left so we're trying to pull them over. The two teeth that have the rubber band attached are very sore and slightly loose.

I called my ortho and she said that's normal but only if they're slightly loose. If they were wiggling around a lot then we'd have problems. She also said it should be uncomfortable from all the pressure put on these two teeth but not extremely painful and if it is to become that painful i should stop wearing them.

Is she right? Did anyone else experience pain and loose teeth from their rubber bands?

[Zoso]

I didn't experience loose teeth, but then mine never did seem loose the whole time I was in braces. But I know that others do.

As to discomfort, yes they can most certainly be very uncomfortable initially. As usual, the best thing you can do is to do your best to try to eat normally anyway, but that does sometimes require a little "help" from pain relievers the first few days.

[Sunny]

I didn't have much discomfort ... but I did feel my teeth loosening. Last week I was given new elastics ... the smallest I've had ... and ghee they're tight! This is the first time I'm finding activities like eating and yawning a challenge ... but still doable. My teeth have definitely loosened since I got them, which is great, coz that means they're working and they're going to move. I've had problems with teeth moving ... so I'm celebrating this feeling!

Good luck and for comfort, ... chew, chew then chew some more!