Beginning Treatment, What to Expect

For Braces Patients:                                                                                        For the first 48-62 hours, your teeth will be sore and taking Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) works best for tooth pain. Soft food diet is recommended during the beginning of treatment. Pasta, soups, macaroni, mashed potatoes, ground hamburg, puddings, yogurts, and ice cream works best.You can use wax on your braces if your cheeks or lips become irritated; If needed you can also do warm saltwater rinses to help in healing the cheeks or lips. Once the tissue is tougher, the discomfort will be less and more manageable. Avoiding food that requires excessive chewing will help to prevent any breakage of braces. Cut up foods that normally require you biting into them to avoid braces from breaking of loosening. If anything should break, loosen or come off please call the office immediately regardless if you have an appointment. We require advance notice so that we may plan your appointment to allow time to fix it or if necessary we will schedule you for an appointment sooner to fix the repair.

For Invisalign Patients: 

Teeth can be tender for the first few days. Taking Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) or Ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin) and eating softer foods can help during the beginning of treatment. You will find the biggest change for Invisalign patients will be establishing new habits of eating and oral hygiene to ensure that you get adequate hours of wear. Twenty to twenty-two hours of Invisalign wear each day will give you the best results in the shortest time.