Life With Braces UK

Stick to soft foods for the first 3–7 days while your teeth adjust: yoghurt, mashed potato, pasta, soup, scrambled eggs, soft bread, and bananas. Avoid anything hard, crunchy, chewy, or sticky. Most patients find soreness peaks around days 2–3 and subsides by day 5–7. After that, you can reintroduce most foods — but hard bread crusts, raw carrots, apples, and chewy sweets should still be avoided throughout treatment.

Use a soft-bristled manual or electric toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to brush above and below the wire on each bracket. Brush for at least two minutes morning and night. Use interdental brushes to clean underneath the wire between brackets. Floss with a floss threader or orthodontic floss daily, or use a water flosser as a supplement. Rinse with fluoride mouthwash in the evening after brushing. Regular dental hygiene appointments every 3–6 months during treatment are also strongly recommended.

If a bracket becomes detached but is still on the wire, leave it in place and cover any sharp edges with orthodontic wax. Call your orthodontic practice the next working day — a bracket repair is usually needed within a week to avoid treatment delays. If the bracket comes off completely, keep it and bring it to your appointment. Avoid eating hard or sticky foods until the bracket is re-bonded. If you are in pain, are unable to eat, or the wire is digging in, contact your practice urgently.

It is normal to feel aching or pressure for 1–3 days after each adjustment appointment as your teeth respond to new forces. Over-the-counter pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofen (if suitable for you) taken as directed can help. Soft foods are advisable for the first 48 hours post-adjustment. Cold water or ice-lollies may also reduce discomfort. The soreness is not permanent — most patients find it decreases significantly after the first few adjustments as the teeth move into better positions.

Yes, but you should wear a mouthguard for all contact sports, including rugby, football, hockey, boxing, and martial arts. A custom-made mouthguard from your dentist provides the best protection for brace wearers, as boil-and-bite mouthguards can be difficult to mould over brackets. For non-contact sports — swimming, cycling, running, tennis — no mouthguard is required. Aligners should be kept in during non-contact sport and removed during contact sport unless your orthodontist advises otherwise.

Contact your orthodontic practice as soon as possible. Teeth can begin to shift within days without retention, especially in the early months after braces are removed. Most practices can arrange a replacement within one to two weeks. In the meantime, do not attempt to force an old ill-fitting retainer back in. If a fixed wire retainer has snapped, cover the end with wax and book an urgent repair. Replacement retainers typically cost £80–£350 depending on type and practice.

Fixed braces and clear aligners can affect speech temporarily during the adjustment period. Most patients notice a slight lisp or difficulty with 's' and 'th' sounds in the first one to two weeks. This is more common with lingual braces (fitted behind the teeth) and clear aligners than with standard labial fixed braces. For most people, normal speech returns within 2–4 weeks as the tongue adapts. Practising speaking aloud and reading out loud speeds up adaptation. If speech changes persist beyond a month, discuss this with your orthodontist.

Yes. Swimming pools are safe for brace wearers — chlorinated water does not damage brackets, wires, or aligners. If wearing clear aligners, you should remove them before swimming in pools, open water, or the sea, as prolonged soaking can affect the material. Fixed brace wearers can swim normally without any precautions. After swimming, rinse your mouth and clean your teeth as normal when you are able to. There is no need to avoid swimming during orthodontic treatment.

Missing an adjustment appointment can slow your treatment progress. Fixed brace adjustments and aligner check-ups are timed to coincide with tooth movement stages. Missing one appointment by a week or two is unlikely to cause serious delay, but regularly missing appointments or missing them by several weeks can extend overall treatment time. Contact your practice as soon as possible to rebook. If you are on a long waiting list for the next appointment, ask to be added to a cancellation list. Do not remove wires or adjust anything yourself if you cannot attend.