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Original poster

DD's in agony at night with braces - any advice please?

44 replies

releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 10:02

DD1 (12) had her braces fitted (top and bottom plus an elastic band each side) last Saturday and I expected some pain/discomfort. Although the pain is quite bad during the day, it seems to become unbearable at night and DD and I have been awake most of the last 2 nights because she has found it so bad. Obviously I'm giving her Calpol and Nurofen and bonjela but I don't think there's anything else I can do. It's really upsetting to see her in such pain and I would like to be able to reassure her that it will only be this bad for a very short time, but to be honest, I don't really know.

Has anyone experienced this with their DCs? If so, I'd be grateful for any tips you can give me and also any indication of when the pain will start to ease up. Thankfully she hasn't had any problems yet with mouth ulcers, but the pain seems to be from the braces themselves and particularly the 2 elastic bands.

Thanks in advance from a desperate mum!

OP posts:
Pagwatch · 09/05/2011 10:04

Have you spoken to the dentist and described the level of pain she is in?

That would be my first call.

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 10:11

Yes I rang the dentist this morning but only spoke to the receptionist, who will speak to the dentist later this am. I shall have to take DD back in the next few days anyway as one of the brackets fell off an hour after coming back from the fitting! However, the bracket is from the very back top tooth and it doesn't seem to have affected the brace at all. Annoying though as it's a long drive to the dentist and I'll have to take time off work and school.

OP posts:
Pagwatch · 09/05/2011 10:20
Confused

So part of the brace fell off. And she is in huge pain.

I am not sure I would be very confident about your dentist tbh.

FluffyDonkey · 09/05/2011 10:27

With fixed braces it is normal to expect some pain. I was in tears every time the braces were tightened. If I remember correctly the pain lasted about 24 hours, and trying to clean teeth or eat was agony. The elastic bands were particularly painful, but I didn't have them straight away.

I didn't take any painkillers though...

However this does sound like an unusual amount of pain so I would definately go back to the dentist.

Maryz · 09/05/2011 10:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 10:31

To be fair to the dentist she did warn us that the brackets often do fall off in the first few days as part of getting used to having them on, so I wasn't too alarmed when it happened. However, I hope no more brackets come off or the dentist's will become our second home!

When I described to the receptionist this morning about DD's pain she did say it was normal to have a lot of pain in the first few days (some of the staff there also have fixed braces and have experienced this themselves) but I'd still rather hear it from the dentist (well she's an orthodontist actually).

Still waiting for her call.

OP posts:
schobe · 09/05/2011 10:31

Agree with Pagwatch, this doesn't sound right at all.

When my braces were put on or tightened as a child, it was a bit sore for about a day. I remember once, he probably tightened them too much as it was stupidly sore but no way enough to keep me awake at night.

Be assertive with the dentist. You could ring another dentist for advice before going though whether they would be wholly objective is hard to say.

Good luck.

GingerbreadGiraffe · 09/05/2011 10:31

I had double fixed braces fitted aged 14. I would say I was in pain for a month. Then it only hurt after tightening- for a couple of days.

She needs to take parscetamol and hang in there. The pain means it's doing it's job!

stream · 09/05/2011 10:33

I'd go back and ask the orthodontist to loosen the brace a little.

We were warned that dd's brace would hurt a bit, but I wouldn't expect this level of discomfort and I did take dd back to have her brace loosened a little initially.

ajandjjmum · 09/05/2011 10:36

I would use paracetamol too - I always gave DS a couple of paracetamol an hour before his appointment, and he was good at judging whether he needed more later.

I hope it gets easier soon.

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 10:44

Thanks everyone. I think I will ask the dentist if she can loosen the brace a little as I have to take DD back anyway. Gingerbread - I hope the pain doesn't last a month, not sure we could cope with that! I don't know about the level of pain, I suppose that depends on the patient and DD can be a drama queen sensitive soul.

OP posts:
bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 10:46

My DD suffers terrible pain with her braces and was in agony the first few days.

I used iglu instead of bongela - it has a local anasthetic in it and DD thought it was better than the millions of other things I'd bought. But it is about £8!!

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 10:55

Thanks bustersmummy - I don't care if iglu costs £1,000 - I'll buy it if it works! Do you just buy it at the chemist's?

OP posts:
bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 10:58

I bought it in tescos!

I was at the end of my tether and so was she - she had just had the bottom set put on and she was in agony I'd have paid twice that!

I've just foumd the tube - it has lidocaine it in which must be why its so good

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 11:02

Thanks for that - I'll try and get hold of it on my way to work today. So from your experience you wouldn't say that my DD's level of pain was unusual, bearing in mind she only had them fitted on Saturday?

OP posts:
ruddynorah · 09/05/2011 11:06

is it the bands that go from top to bottom? they're usually used towards the end of the treatment to finish off the last bit of gap filling. can you take them off? i hated those bands so i took them off.

bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 11:07

DS didn't seem to have the same level of pain with his braces that DD1 had.

But DD's pain had her in tears, and she couldn't sleep and I nearly kept her off school. I suppose they're all different. But I would ask the orthodentist what he says.

The other thing I did was used paracetamol and ibuprofen alternately IYSWIM? My paediatrician advised me to do this with ear infections in DS many years ago, I am not a doctor, you should check with your own GP etc etc.

bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 11:09

BTW if she's 12 and could swallow a tablet you could possibly give her adult tablets - again, check with ortho or GP though.

Even if only for night so she gets a sleep

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 11:12

Yes there's one band either side that hooks onto one top bracket and one bottom bracket. The dentist didn't actually explain what the bands were for but said they should be changed twice a day and gave me a supply of 200 to be going on with. She also stressed that DD should try to keep the bands on whilst eating as this is when they would be doing most of the work. DD finds the bands hard to cope with but to her credit she is persisting with them.

I'm not sure what the bands are for. DD has severely protruding two front top teeth and her bottom teeth look perfect, but I know they want to align her bottom jaw to the top teeth so I'm guessing the bands are for that. She does also have a gap between the two protruding top teeth, so maybe the bands are for that?

OP posts:
Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 11:16

Yes I'm going to buy Iboprufen to give her the maximum pain relief - I have already cleared that with the orth. She's a tall 12 so she could now take an adult paracetomol or iboprufen, but it's just convincing her to do that as she finds it difficult to swallow tablets as it makes her gag. I will insist she keeps trying though rather than having to drink bottles of Calpol!

OP posts:
bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 11:21

I know it's a funny stage - DS couldn't swallow tablets at all at that age and we went through gallons of Calpol.

DD1 on the other hand will quite happily pop a pill rather than take medicine in a bottle.

It's horrible for them but worth it in the end - DS had to have these big plastic things in his mouth to move his jaw forward before he even got the braces and they were horrific for him, then the braces. I tell him it's all worth it now for his film star chiseled jaw and superstar smile Grin

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 11:36

An update - the orth just called me back and reassured me that the pain DD is experiencing is normal and it should definitely ease up over the next few days. I'm taking her in on Sat morning to have the bracket re-fitted on her back tooth and will speak to the orth again then if she's still in a lot of pain. She said they have fitted a lot of braces recently and they have had a number of phone calls similar to mine with peolple in pain with them. I feel a little bit better now as she reassured me that the pain is normal and her teeth won't break!

Apparently the two elastic bands are to re-align her bottom jaw to the top teeth as I guessed and she does need to wear them 24/7 (sadly).

OP posts:
bustersmummy · 09/05/2011 11:50

Release - phew!

It will be worth it in the end though

Maryz · 09/05/2011 11:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
releasethehounds · 09/05/2011 11:55

Yes buster - DH & I keep reminding DD how beautiful she is already (of course!) but she will be knockout gorgeous when her teeth are straight. It's sometimes difficult for children to see in the longterm, especially when they're in pain.

Thanks all again - I really appreciate your thoughts and advice. I'm off to work in a few minutes so I'll log on again tonight.

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