Nothing is worse than wearing braces and having a mouth that is all torn up from braces. The brackets rub against the insides of your cheeks, and soon the tender tissue is raw and sores begin to form. The sores from braces look similar to canker sores, and it becomes very painful to talk or to eat.

Be patient, because most of these mouth sores heal after a week or two. The tissue inside your mouth begins to "toughen up" as scar tissue forms at the sore spots. However, sometimes some of the sores persist or are just too annoying to deal with.

Some people just can't stand to have sores inside their mouths, even for a few days; they want to top the braces from rubbing. If you're one of those people, read on! You don't have to suffer with a painful, cut-up mouth. There are many products and home remedies that you can use to feel better.

Products For Mouth Sores

Warm Salt Water Rinse - This is very easy to make: just mix about a teaspoon of table salt into a glass of warm tap water and stir until all the salt is dissolved. Rinse your mouth several times per day with this warm solution. The salt water solution soothes your mouth sores and helps them heal. It also can help prevent mouth ulcers if done regularly.

Avoid Acidic Foods - Foods and liquids that contain a high level of acid will burn the tender tissue inside your mouth and aggravate your mouth sores, giving you mouth ulcer pains. Avoid citrus juices and tomato products, for example, until your mouth sores begin to heal.

Rinconol PRN – This is a mouth rinse that creates a protective barrier on your mouth sores which lasts for 4 hours or more. Use this product if you have a lot of mouth sores, because they are all treated at once. It tastes a little strange but it really works! Swish it in your mouth for one minute and then spit it out. You can sometimes find bottles of Rincinol PRN in your local drugstore. We sell handy individual-use packets of this product. Click to order Rincinol PRN.

Canker-X– This is a gel which forms a protective barrier on your mouth sores, and helps soothe them with Aloe Vera. You apply it directly to the individual sores. It does not sting or burn when you apply it, and it does not have a bad taste. The barrier that Canker-X forms gives you many hours of pain relief. You can sometimes find little tubes of Canker-X in drugstores. We sell handy individual packets of this product, which are more hygienic than the tubes. Click to order Canker-X.

Dental Wax and Dental Silicone - The simplest way to stop your mouth from getting torn up is to create a barrier between your brackets and the inside of your mouth. There are several ways to do this. The most common is to use dental wax (also called orthodontic wax). Your dentist probably gave you some dental wax. Just break off a little bit with your fingers, hold it for a few moments to warm it up, then apply it right on the brackets that are causing the mouth sores. Use as much as you need. Remember to take it off before you brush your teeth or it will totally gunk up your toothbrush! You can find dental wax in most local drug stores, but here at DentaKit.com, we sell it in 10-packs and bulk boxes of 50 packets. We also sell dental silicone (Ortho-Sil and BraceGard) which lasts longer but can be a little harder to apply (the brackets need to be perfectly dry for silicone to stick). In addition, there are new OrthoDots, which is orthodontic silicone with a special moisture-activated backing. Your brackets don't need to be dry for OrthoDots to stick, and they stay on your brackets for 6 to 8 hours. Click to order Dental Wax , Dental Silicone, or OrthoDots.


Comfort Covers and Lip Protectors – These products are made from flexible soft plastic. They cover your brackets, which helps soothe existing mouth sores and prevent new ones. We sell three different types of these sort of lip protection products. They come in sets of two (one for the top teeth and one for the bottom teeth). You can cut them with scissors for a custom fit. Some people like to buy one set of each to see which product works best for them. Click to order Comfort Covers or Lip Protectors .

Closing Thoughts

Mouth sores are no fun, but in the course of your orthodontic treatment, you can get them from time to time as your teeth shift and your orthodontic treatment progresses and you get closer to having a beautiful smile. It's always a good idea to have some of these products on-hand for when those times arise. Nothing is worse than suffering with an awful mouth sore because you don't have anything at home to help you right away!

Keep Smiling!
-Lynn

About The Author

Lynn S. is the founder and owner of DentaKit.com. Shortly after getting braces in 2001 at age 41, Lynn realized that there was no convenient way for her to find the orthodontic products she needed locally. She created DentaKit.com to give orthodontic patients easy access to products that would help keep their braces and retainers clean and comfortable. Along the way, she also created ArchWired.com and its Metal Mouth Message Board to provide vital information and an online community for adults who have orthodontic braces.

Lynn S. has a degree in Communications and Journalism, with a focus on scientific writing and research. Before founding DentaKit.com, she was a technical writer and technical trainer for various high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. Since starting DentaKit.com 15+ years ago, she has attended many meetings of various dental associations, and has read and researched extensively on a variety of orthodontic and dental subjects. The articles she writes are always vetted by one or more orthodontists or dentists before they are published.