Alright, quick poll for the folks who’ve had jaw surgery and braces (or anything similar). When your mouth’s all sore, stitches are still in, and you’re trying not to drool soup everywhere… what’s your main move for dealing with the weird pain and irritation from brackets and wires?
1. Orthodontic wax—like, do you just slap that stuff on every sharp bit and hope for the best?
2. Salt water rinses—swish and spit, repeat a million times a day?
3. Just kinda tough it out, maybe with some ibuprofen and a lot of cursing under your breath?
4. Something else I haven’t thought of? (Ice packs? Popsicles? Crying into your pillow?)
I’ll be honest, I was a wax person for the first week, but then it kept falling off and getting stuck in the stitches, so I switched to salt water and it actually helped a ton. Still, there were a few nights where I just gave up and tried to sleep through the ache. My ortho said to avoid mouthwash with alcohol, but I totally forgot once and wow, that was a mistake.
Curious what everyone else does. Do you stick with one thing, or just try whatever seems less annoying in the moment? Any weird home remedies that actually worked for you?
Wax was a disaster for me—kept peeling off and then I’d panic thinking I’d swallowed it. Salt water rinses were my lifeline, honestly. I tried popsicles too, but the cold just made my jaw ache more. Ibuprofen helped, but I was always worried about overdoing it. I never really “toughed it out” because I’m a wimp with mouth pain... I’d say salt water is the way to go, just don’t get lazy about it. And yeah, alcohol mouthwash is pure torture—learned that the hard way.
