Braces are often the main line of treatment for most
orthodontic problems and nearly always need to be augmented by elastic bands to
help achieve perfect results. Elastic bands help move your teeth so as to
minimize the teeth gaps and cure the 'over-biting' complain.
Elastics are fitted by your orthodontist and may leave
your teeth and gums slightly sore after the fitting. Do not worry though, this
goes away in a few days. These elastic bands need to be worn 24 hours a day,
for as long as your orthodontist advises. You may, however, remove them during
meal times and when brushing your teeth only to wear them again as soon as
possible. Also, don’t forget to wear new
fresh bands after removing the previous ones.
At Morristown Orthodontics we advise wearing the elastic bands in the following
way:
From upper right canine to lower right first molar and from
upper left canine to first lower left molar. You might face problems in placing
these correctly initially, but don’t worry we will teach and help you
accordingly.
You can follow this guide unless you are personally
instructed to do yours a little
differently.
Elastic bands might get broken at one point, it is advisable
to replace both jaws' elastic bands. This is because with time the bands' elasticity
decreases, so when one jaw's band is changed, it will have a stronger
elasticity than the old one. Also, replace your elastic bands routinely to make
sure the traction they apply on their teeth remains of a good strength as
elasticity is lost through wear and tear.
Depending on the quality of elastics you use, you may be
instructed when you should change the elastic bands, but mostly we advise
changing them twice a day; once in the morning and once before bedtime. Keep
extra bands with you at all times as they might break unexpectedly. You may
pick up as many elastic bands as you want from your our office, it would only
make us happier as it means you would be using them regularly.
The most important thing you need to take care of when
wearing elastics is the regularity. Do not wear them for a part of the day
and then not for some other times of the day as it will greatly affect your
results. This irregular use of elastic bands will it move your teeth
adequately, resulting in persistence of your problem. Furthermore, your teeth
and gums will remain tender and sore as they will not grow accustomed to the
force of elastic bands, and it might actually move your progress a bit
backwards each time you take the elastic bands off for a long duration.
So when you visit our office for the setting of your elastic
bands, make sure you ask any questions that come to mind, and pick up a few
extra bands to play it safe.
