Your brace is called a twin block appliance. It holds your lower jaw forwards so that your face muscles are pulling back gently on your upper front teeth.
Keep your lips together as much as possible while you wear your braces – this helps them to work to correct your teeth.
For the first two to three days wear the braces for increasing lengths of time. To begin with you will probably find that the muscles in your cheeks ache a little – this is normal! After the third day you should be able to wear the braces all the time. The only times they should be removed is while playing sports, swimming, cleaning and brushing your teeth when they should be placed in a strong box for protection remembering to replace them as soon as possible.
Avoid tough, hard or chewy foods such as toffees, nuts, chewing gum, and boiled sweets. Hard foods can bend the wires or break the plastic. Sticky foods will stick to the plastic and wires resulting in damage when removed.
The braces are costly to repair and as you cannot wear them while they are being repaired the result is that your orthodontic treatment will take longer. They are also very costly to make and if they need to be replaced you will have to pay for them to be remade.
It is important that you keep your teeth and braces very clean to help avoid damage occurring to your teeth and to reduce the risk of mouth infections. You will have been shown how to clean the braces and the cleanliness of these and your teeth will be checked at each appointment.
You will be seen regularly to adjust your braces but it is important that you continue to keep your regular check up appointments with your dentist.
If you have any problems with your braces, please notify the department as soon as possible and the receptionist will try to fit you in on our next clinic.If for any reason you have to alter an appointment, please give as much notice as possible.
