Pain due to the fixed braces
At the beginning of treatment with fixed braces, patients usually feel slight or even moderate pain for several days or weeks. Biting can be particularly unpleasant, so it is recommended to avoid eating too solid food for some time. This pain is due to the loosening of the teeth in the jawbone.
In the first days after fixing a fixed brace, the oral cavity must adapt to the new situation. The braces act with a force on the teeth to move them, which can cause discomfort in the first 1-2 days. The braces cause a strong pushing and pulling force that should move the teeth into the target position.
Since the teeth are anchored to the bone by a comprehensive ligamentous apparatus, loosening the individual ligaments can be very painful. However, this pain subsides completely after a few days. With each new wire insertion, where a different wire thickness is used and thus new or greater force is applied to the teeth, these complaints can recur briefly.
During this acclimatization phase, not only the teeth but also the soft tissues have to adapt. The cheek and the oral vestibule have much less space because the braces take up space. The brackets and wires can irritate the inside of the cheeks during oral movements.
The tissues must first re-form, which is why the adaptation phase can cause redness and slight discomfort. The inner side of the lip is also restricted by the reduced space available and must adapt. The tongue only has to get used to the lingual technique, where wire and brackets are attached to the inside of the teeth, which can cause irritation.
It can no longer occupy the original space and becomes irritated. In this phase, which can last for about one to two weeks, increased salivation occurs, because the soft tissues increasingly touch the wire and brackets and the body has to adjust to this new state first. The most common factor for pain is the wire.
Protruding wire ends can cause injuries to the soft tissues, which are very unpleasant. The wire ends have to be rounded off in order not to produce injuries of the oral mucosa. The end of the wire repeatedly pricks the same part of the mucosa and injures it.
If the patient feels a disturbing end of the wire, he or she should visit the orthodontist in good time so that the mucosa can regenerate quickly. Another factor that can cause pain is caries. Since the fixed braces limit the cleaning of the teeth and bacteria can attach themselves more easily to the brackets, caries can often spread unhindered. This can lead to pulling complaints. In case of pain, the patient should go directly to the orthodontist or dentist to treat the affected tooth.
