You can easily drink with rubber bands in, so please don’t take them out to drink! Starting and stopping elastics will only make your teeth hurt more and prolong your time in rubber bands! After wearing your elastics consistently for a couple days, you’ll be pain-free!

Most of the time you should eat with your elastics in and replace them with fresh ones after the meal. In fact, when you are eating you’re really putting your rubber bands to work and your teeth will move even faster! If you play sports keep your elastics in unless you need to wear a mouth-guard.

It could range from a month to 6-8 months. During the time you wear your elastics, it’s important to wear them for 24 hours every day unless otherwise directed. The only times you should remove your elastics are: To brush your teeth.

With rubber bands, you won’t be able to open your mouth fully, so they will have to be removed when you eat and reapplied after meal time. Many times, rubber bands are only needed at night, so you won’t need to worry about eating with them.

At first, Dr. Douglas and Larry Harte may recommend you wear the elastics both day and night for an extended time. You may be told to switch only to nighttime wear once the teeth are set in the correct position. By consistently wearing the elastics, you can shorten the overall time your braces will have to be on.

DON’T – Double up on elastics as this will cause too much pressure on the tooth or teeth and can actually harm the root of the tooth. DO – Always wash your hands before removing or replacing the rubber bands. DON’T – Overstretch the rubber band or it will lose its strength and it will be ineffective.

Typically, elastic bands will need to be worn a minimum of 10-12 hours, but for some patients, they need to be worn 24-hours and only removed for eating and cleaning/caring for your braces and teeth.

Sensitive teeth and jaws – It’s possible for the teeth and jaws to be a little achy for a day or two when you first start wearing rubber bands. This is a good sign and means they’re working. Any discomfort will be extremely minor. If necessary, you can take an over-the-counter pain reliever, like Tylenol.

Do rubber bands on braces hurt? It’s normal to feel some discomfort when using rubber bands with your braces. This is because these bands place additional pressure on your teeth and jaws to ensure they move into the correct position. This pain should not last long.

The answer is NO. After the orthodontist has completed treatment by aligning the bite and the teeth, we now have to worry about the teeth or the bite moving back in the direction that these teeth once occupied. We can alter the alignment of the teeth, but not the genetics that caused the misalignment.

It’s estimated that around 50 percent of undesired shifting occurs within 2 years after a patient stops wearing a retainer. However, a typical time frame for wearing a retainer to solidify your teeth is 6 months to 1 year.