Getting your teeth straightened is a life-changing decision that requires an intense amount of commitment.
Getting braces can help you straighten your teeth and avoid many dental problems in the future, but braces can be a bit painful at the start.
Here’s what causes braces pain:
- Internal factors — meaning that the change in the blood flow that occurs when braces apply pressure to teeth can cause your braces to pain.
- External factors like the friction caused due to physical rubbing of the brackets and wires to irritate the soft tissue inside your mouth can also cause braces pain.
- Your braces can pain because of the arch wires poking in the back of the mouth too.
- Your braces can also pain if you are not taking proper care of them and not following the guidelines your dentist has given you.
Here are a few bad habits you need to break if you want your teeth straightening treatment to be successful:
1) Avoid smoking and chewing tobacco
Not only does smoking and tobacco cause adverse effects on your health, but it also is detrimental to your dental health. Smoking stains your teeth, and when you’re wearing braces, it makes your teeth discolor faster by trapping particles that cause staining. Not only that, smoking is detrimental to your teeth straightening process should you choose smoking with Invisalign over braces because it can stain your Invisalign, and the chemicals can harm the structure of your aligners. Chewing tobacco also causes bleeding gums and bad breath, — and wearing braces makes you more vulnerable to these side effects.
Chewing tobacco and smoking will prolong your teeth straightening treatment, and there is a chance that it might permanently damage your teeth as well.
2) Not maintaining proper dental hygiene
Looking after your oral health is crucial for your braces treatment to be successful. Bad oral hygiene can not only prolong the period for which you have to wear braces, but it can also mean that unnecessary complications might crop up because of it.
You need to make sure that you brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste and floss two times a day, especially since you need to keep your braces clean.
3) Using your teeth as a tool
If you use your teeth as a tool, like to open a bag of chips, it can potentially force your teeth out of proper alignment because it will be an additional strain on your braces.
4) Brushing your teeth aggressively
Though you might think that the harder you brush your teeth, the cleaner they will be, brushing your teeth aggressively may damage the enamel on your teeth, resulting in soreness, pain, bleeding, and receding gums. The added strain of having braces and brushing your teeth aggressively will make it more painful.
5) Chewing on things out of stress
Chewing on pens, pencils, and bottle top out of stress can damage your braces, causing the wires to slide off or become loose.
6) Nail-biting
Biting your teeth when you are stressed can put undue strain on your teeth and jaw because of your braces, and transmit bacteria and germs from your fingers to your teeth.
7) Not using a proper mouthguard
If you don’t use a proper mouthguard to protect your face when playing sports, your braces might be susceptible to injury and ultimately, your mouth gets injured.
8) Eating an excess of sugary and sticky foods
Sugar can cause excessive damage to your teeth and gums because it leaves an acidic film in your mouth and cause your teeth to rot, and braces can make your teeth more vulnerable to being cleaned properly.
Sticky food is an absolute no when you have braces because can easily bend your wires and even break off your brackets. Sticky food like caramel, taffy, candies, and gum even gets stuck in your mouth and is hard to take out when you have braces.
9) Not keeping up with regular dental visits
Getting teeth straightening treatment means that you need to visit your dentist regularly for check-ups because tightening your braces and getting them cleaned periodically is an important part of your treatment.
Your dentist needs to evaluate your straightening treatment to understand if it is proceeding properly.
It is crucial to make sure you are following the right protocol when it comes to dental treatment to make sure your teeth straightening treatment goes as planned.
