Elastics and Separators Brisbane
You may require additional extras to aid your orthodontic treatment such as elastics or separators.
Elastics
Elastics or rubber bands are a very important part of orthodontic treatment. They place a small, but continuous, force on either an individual tooth or on multiple teeth in order to move them into the correct position.
Wearing elastics
If your specialist orthodontist has given you orthodontic elastics as part of your treatment plan it will be your responsibility to wear them in between appointments.
Not wearing your elastics as instructed will increase your treatment time as the pressure which causes movement will be reduced, and may mean that your bite cannot be fully aligned.
You need to wear your elastics 24 hours a day unless your orthodontist advises otherwise. This means wearing them when you eat, drink and sleep. You will need to remove your elastics to brush your teeth, but it is important that you replace immediately after. You can also remove elastics when you need to wear a mouthguard for sport as you cannot wear a mouthguard with them in place. Again, it is important to replace as soon as possible so ensure you bring your spare elastics with you.
Your teeth may become sensitive over the first few days. Do not be tempted to take them off as inconsistent wear will only prolong the sensitivity and will also put extra strain on the teeth making treatment take longer.
There are many different ways of wearing elastics. It is important to wear them in the manner your orthodontist has shown you. If you wear them incorrectly your teeth will move in the wrong direction.
Please wear your elastics to every appointment so that we can check your wear is correct. Remember the more consistently you wear your elastics the quicker your treatment will progress.
Replacing elastics
Elastics do lose their strength after wear, so once a day replace with a new one.
We will give you two bags of elastics, one to keep in a safe place at home, the other to carry with you throughout the day. Occasionally, patients experience broken elastics from opening their mouth too far or general wear and tear. This will not affect your treatment as long as you replace the broken elastic immediately after. This is why it is so important to carry your spare elastics with you.
It is important to never run out of elastics as they are an important aspect of your treatment. We can give you more elastics at your scheduled appointments or you can come into the practice to pick some up if you are running low in between appointments. If you are unable to make it to the surgery, phone us and we will post some out to you.
Separators
Separators are small clear or blue rubber rings placed in between your premolar and molar teeth before orthodontic treatment begins. The separators will make enough room to allow for easy placement of the metal bands at your next appointment.
It is normal to experience some discomfort while the separators are in place, a paracetamol tablet will help to soothe this.
Please brush your teeth as normal while the separators are in place. We recommend you avoid eating sticky foods such as chewies, minties, fantails, toffees, etc., as these will pull out the separators.
Don’t be alarmed if the separators fall out. This simply means the treatment has worked and the space has been made so it is not necessary to replace them we will now move onto the next stage of your treatment plan.
