Patient Zone

Elastics need to be worn as advised by your orthodontist. Failure to do so is likely to result in delay to your treatment and failure to achieve an ideal outcome.

Using the elastics can cause some discomfort in the first few days of wear but this will soon improve.

If you finish or lose your elastics, please call the practice and we will post you a new pack.

Please call the practice as soon as possible and we will advise you on what to do. If your next appointment is imminent, it may be possible to wait for us to see you at this, as long as the breakage is not causing any discomfort.

If you are experiencing some pain or discomfort from the breakage, we will do our best to schedule an emergency appointment to alleviate this as soon as possible.

It is normal to experience some discomfort in the first few days of wearing a new removable brace. This will get better over time, and usually feels comfortable to wear after the first week or so. Take some painkillers if required to help.

If you break your removable brace, try to continue wearing the brace if possible, as long as it is comfortable to wear and is not loose in the mouth. Call us for advice to establish if you will need to come in to have the brace repaired.

Although having a brace will temporarily affect musical performance, the good news is that with practice and motivation, most wind instrument players can adjust to wearing braces. Before starting your treatment, talk to your orthodontist about how a brace may affect your performance.

If you play a woodwind instrument, you are likely to adjust to your new brace very quickly. Wind instrument players sometimes get a dry mouth whilst practising or performing. Consider practising for no more than 15 minutes at a time and take regular breaks to drink plenty of water. Avoid drinking fruit drinks, fizzy drinks and sugary drinks, which can all cause damage to your teeth.

If you play a brass instrument, there will be a longer adjustment period and you may initially have problems playing high notes, especially soon after your brace is first fitted.

If you have some teeth removed as part of your treatment, it may be a good idea to stop playing your instrument for approximately two weeks until healing has occurred.

You will normally need to come back the day after your brace has been removed, so your retainers can be fitted and to have some final records taken of your teeth. We will go through all the advice about your retainers in detail with you.

Retainers are an essential part of orthodontic treatment, as your teeth will change and move back to their original positions without them. Your retainers may feel slightly uncomfortable for the first few days, but you will soon get used to them.

Please ensure you follow our advice on how often to wear your retainers, otherwise your hard work during treatment will be lost. Retainers are for life – we suggest they are worn at least overnight for the long term.

We will check your retainers for you twice over the course of one year before your discharge from our care.

Please call us as soon as possible as any delay may result in permanent change to the alignment of your teeth. We will try to accommodate you for an urgent appointment as soon as possible to replace your lost or broken retainer as required.

• Wear your aligners full time, including overnight
• Remove your aligners for eating, drinking and cleaning
• Make sure you rinse your aligners before you put them back in your mouth
• Keep your aligners in a hard container when they are out of your mouth and don’t put them in your pocket, where they could get broken or lost
• Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any problems

• Brush your teeth in the morning, evening and after every meal
• Spend 3-4 minutes brushing your teeth, using interdental brushes to reach awkward areas
• Use a fluoride mouthwash
• Try to avoid fizzy, acidic or sweet drinks, or large amounts of fruit juice
• Keep to a healthy diet, and don’t snack on sweets between meals
• Be careful with your food choices, and avoid hard, chewy or crunchy foods and biting into apples or carrots
• Avoid biting your fingernails or chewing pen tops, as this could cause damage
• Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any problems