Do Braces Hurt: How Much On A Scale 1-10?

When you visit an orthodontist to correct crooked or misaligned teeth, you get anxious to know, “Do braces hurt?“

Usually, braces hurt your teeth and gums for a week after you get them. You feel soreness or mild pain during this period because braces put pressure on your teeth for the first time and a chemical reaction occurs within bone and gums. However, your teeth and mouth get used to it over time and you get rid of discomfort when teeth start to move.

You may feel mild discomfort for the first few weeks, as you are a beginner. But you get used to it within a month.

Besides, you may experience some pain when you get new braces components. However, you may have bad pain if you don’t the instruction of your orthodontist while wearing braces.

Here, you will know when to do braces hurt and what to do to relieve pain at home.

After that, we will discuss how much braces hurt on a scale of 1-10 and how long the pain lasts.

Keep in touch.

How much do braces hurt on a scale of 1-10?

Many people want to know the intensity of braces pain. So, they ask, how much do braces hurt on a scale of 1-10?

Braces don’t hurt during inital placement. But, after they are attached or tightened, you feel dull soreness for the first few days. Then, the pain goes away over time. However, the pain threshold isn’t the same in all individuals. So, some people may feel less pain and some feel more.

But, based on the experience of various patients, we will give you an idea that may help you.

At Placement: 0 to 0.5

It may be range from 0 to 0.5 during the placement of braces. When your orthodontist puts on braces, you feel almost no pain or discomfort.

So, it’s zero. As someone may feel uncomfortable with those instruments and processes of getting braces it can be range from 0 to 0.5.

On the first day: 8 to 10

After you come back home with braces on your teeth, you start feeling pain. You can give it a 3 to 5 point after 6 hours.

After that, the intensity of pain increases over time. You experience an intensity of pain unto 8 to 10 on that day.

Within the first 48 hours: 8 to 10

The first 48 hours after getting braces tightened is going to be worse for you, as you feel more pressure and the chemical reaction starts within the bones and teeth supporting tissue.

Biting or chewing foods become very painful. Many people have tender teeth on slight touch. During this time, you may need medications.

After 2 days: 7 to 9

Usually, from the third day, the amount of pain starts to reduce. On the third day, you can give it a score of 7 to 9.

Normally, you can take semi-solid foods on that day. You may also notice that you have redness or ulceration on the cheek, gums, or tongue because braces hurt some areas.

You may rinse your mouth with lukewarm water containing salt to heal the affected soft tissue.

After 3 days: 4 to 5

This is the time when you start to feel better and eat and chew foods without having many problems. But, you must take a soft diet.

After a week: 0 to 1

After 7 days, you don’t feel any pain from braces, as you get used to it. You may experience mild discomfort occasionally. So, we can give it a 0 to 1 score.

After 2 to 3 weeks: 0

You shouldn’t feel any discomfort after 14 to 21 days of getting braces.

After first braces tightening: 8 to 10.

If we compare the intensity of pain after all the braces tightening appointments, we can give a score of 8 to 10 for the first time. It persists for 2 to 3 days as we mentioned.

After second and later braces tightening: 2 to 7

During the other tightening appointments, different people may experience different amounts of pain. However, you feel much less pain during those times.

Do braces hurt to get on?

When you visit your orthodontist to put on braces, you may become more afraid than any other within the course of orthodontic treatment. But, do braces hurt When you first get them?

You don’t feel pain when your orthodontist attaches braces to your teeth. You may feel slightly uncomfortable.

Just lie down on the dental chair and cooperate with your orthodontist. He or she will use various dental instruments to attach the braces. First, you get molar bands on the back teeth.

Then, brackets are attached to the teeth with dental glue. You may experience an unpleasant taste on the glue. It may take one to two hours to attach the braces.

You may not experience any pain during this procedure because they don’t provide much pressure on your teeth. Actual pressure is applied when you get wires in the brackets.

In some cases, you may need to remove the wisdom teeth before braces so that they can’t push other teeth and misaligned them again.

In many cases, premolar teeth may require extraction. The extraction procedure hurts you, but, It won’t cause that much pain when you get braces. because you get braces when it’s completely healed.

Do you feel the pain to get archwires and elastic ligatures for braces?

When the archwire is placed in the brackets, you don’t feel pain at the moment. But, you will get hurt initially when wires are tightened.

After getting the wires, your orthodontist places elastic ligatures on brackets to hold them in position and prevent wires from getting popped out.

Getting elastic ligature bands also doesn’t hurt you. But, when do braces hurt you? Let’s find it out.

How much do braces hurt the first day?

After getting braces, you may not feel any pain imminently. But, you start to feel soreness and mild pain in your teeth and gums within a few hours.

Pain may increase in the first two days, then gradually reduce in a week. You feel more pain while chewing foods or taking a bite.

However, if your braces aren’t tightened you may not feel much pain. But, this is your first experience, so it may be irritating for you.

You shouldn’t get worried. You can use different methods to relieve pain from braces as your orthodontist recommended.

However, you should be careful so that braces can’t increase your pain. So, you should avoid hard and crunchy foods and take liquid and softer foods, especially on the first day.

Moreover, you may develop sensitivity to certain foods after getting braces. Stay away from those foods as well.

Get a list of foods to avoid with braces.

You can eat soup, yogurt, mashed potatoes, soft fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, or smoothies.

Also, learn how to eat with braces.

Braces pain during the first week of braces

The first week of braces may not be so comfortable for you. You feel soreness and mild pain in the teeth and gums during the first week after getting braces.

You may experience slight pressure on your teeth while eating or cleaning your teeth. But, no need to worry, because you can tolerate the pain. In fact, you will feel less pain over time.

However, If you make a mistake and take a bite of hard food or brush your teeth carelessly, you will feel more pain.

So, know about the foods to eat with braces during the first week of braces. You may need to take an over-the-counter pain reliever as your orthodontist prescribed or apply local anesthetics.

Another situation can hurt you. As your braces are new, you may have a loose or poking wire because of any reason.

This wire can poke and cut your tongue, cheek, and gums. So, you may have felt pain. You can fix the popped out, poking, or loose wire at home using orthodontic wax and other methods.

Pain after braces tightened

You feel sore and painful teeth and gums for the first week after getting braces tightened. When braces are tightened for the first time, you experience more pain than the other times during braces treatment.

But, why do braces hurt after tightening?

To know it you have to know how braces work. Braces brackets can’t move your teeth to the desired position. You need orthodontic wires for that.

But, placing a wire can’t help you until it’s tightened. When wires are attached to the braces, it’s tightened to produce a force.

This creates pressure on teeth as well as bone holding the teeth. As a result, changes occur inside the bone and tissue that surrounds the teeth. This leads to orthodontic tooth movement.

During this process, many chemicals get released in the bone and gum tissues that stimulate the pain sensation. Because of the pressure and the chemical changes, you feel pain and discomfort.

But, the intensity of pain decreases gradually, because an orthodontist uses a continuous tooth movement and your body adapts to it over time.

Tightening isn’t a one-time thing. You have to visit your orthodontist from time to time to get braces adjusted and tightened.

But, during the second and remaining braces tightening appointments, you may not experience the same amount of pain that you felt for the first time.

Learn more about braces pain from braces tightening and adjustment.

Get a full list of the soft foods for braces after tightening.

Pain while wearing braces

After getting braces, you may experience pain for the first week. During this time, you may experience pain in one or many teeth. Gradually, you get used to the braces, and then you may not feel any problem. Some people need a month to adopt it.

After that, people normally stop worrying about pain. You may feel sore teeth and gums sometimes, which is usual with braces.

You may experience no discomfort until you bite on something.  But, if you don’t follow the advice given by your orthodontist, you may get hurt from braces and feel sore and painful teeth and gums.

After second and later appointments

You need to visit your orthodontist every 4 to 6 weeks to get braces tightened or adjusted.

As you are familiar with the feelings, you don’t feel much pain after getting braces tightened for the second, third, and other times.

Still, you may have sore teeth and gums for the first 2-3 days after the tightening appointments.

If your orthodontist doesn’t make any big changes like attaching new components or tightening the wires, you won’t feel any pain after that appointment.

Do braces hurt when you get braces off?

Getting braces off doesn’t hurt you at all. In fact, it should be one of the happiest days of your life, because, after all of your hard work, you get a beautiful smile.

Just like the first days of getting braces, your orthodontist takes his or her instruments and removes the brackets, wires, and other components gently without hurting you.

It may take about an hour to remove the braces. After the removal of braces, your teeth get cleaned thoroughly to remove the glue.

Your orthodontist will take a photo, an x-ray, and take the impression to make a new model of your newly aligned teeth.

It’s the time you got excited about your smile and a new look. However, getting braces off isn’t the end of the orthodontic treatment.

You will get a retainer that helps hold the teeth in position. You must wear them regularly to prevent the teeth from getting back to their previous position. All of these procedures don’t hurt your mouth.

Pain after getting elastic or rubber bands

You get elastic bands during orthodontic treatment to move teeth and correct certain types of misaligned teeth. But, do rubber band braces hurt?

You may feel mild pain for the first 2-3 days after getting rubber bands that connect the teeth between the upper and lower jaw.

This elastic band puts additional pressure along with braces on your teeth and moves them.

Because of that extra pressure, chemical reaction changes occur in the teeth supporting tissue and bone, therefore you feel pain.

But, it doesn’t hurt your teeth like the first days of braces.

Know in detail about the rubber band and how to get rid of pain from it.

Getting hurt from power chain braces

The power chain is the elastic band that connects two or more brackets of the same jaw. When you get power chain braces for the first time, you feel sore teeth and gums for the first few days.

This chain gives more force to your teeth and closes gaps. You may feel no pain if you get a power chain to hold teeth in position.

Learn more about power chain braces, how it closes gaps, and what to do if they hurt.

Pain from braces springs

While wearing braces, you get different components that your orthodontist attaches to your braces. One of them is springs. But, do braces springs hurt?

After getting braces springs, you feel sore or slight pain for the first few days. You get coil springs or forces appliances based on your need.

They are used to move teeth in a certain direction ad produce extra force. As they are a new component of braces when you get them, you feel a bit of mild pain for some time.

The reason for your getting hurt from braces springs is more pressure on teeth and your new experience with them.

But, it may not be severe as the first time getting braces. However, if you can’t maintain the spring and have it broken you may face various difficulties including pain in the gums or cheek.

Know more about how coil springs and forsus appliance hurts from our other articles.

How long do braces hurt?

Braces can hurt your teeth, jaw, or gums for 5-7 days after braces are tightened or activated. Normally, you don’t feel any discomfort after two weeks, as you get used to braces.

But, when you get hurt from the broken braces, broken wires, or any activity that is harmful to braces, you may experience pain for a much longer duration.

Do braces hurt your teeth?

When people get braces, they get concerned about the areas of the face where the braces are going to hurt. Do braces hurt your teeth?

The braces don’t hurt your teeth till an ideal orthodontic force is applied to the teeth. The pain you feel in your teeth after getting braces is due to the chemical changes occurring in the bone and gum tissue that surround the teeth.

When braces are activated or tightened, they provide a force to the teeth that put pressure on the tooth-supporting bones and tissue, not on the teeth.

An ideal orthodontic force doesn’t affect your teeth, instead, it moves teeth smoothly to a favorable place.

When excessive force is applied, it damages the teeth, even if they may get loose or fall out. But, it may never happen if you visit a certified orthodontist.

However, braces can damage teeth if a braces wearer falls down on the mouth or have an injury to the mouth.

The situation becomes more severe than the situation when someone gets injured without braces on teeth.

Know in detail when braces hurt or damage your teeth from our other article.

What to do when your braces hurt?

If you feel pain from braces because of any reason, you want to know, when do braces stop hurting? Here are some tips to relieve pain from braces:

1. Find out the cause of the hurting and remove it. Fix broken braces or springs. Correct the loose, popped out, or poking wires.
2. Take medication to relieve pain as your orthodontist suggest.
3. Eat cold foods and drink cold beverages.
4. Use topical anesthetics according to your orthodontist’s advice.
5. Rinse your mouth with lukewarm water with salt if your gums or cheek hurts.
6. Apply an ice pack covered with cloth to the affected area of the face.
7. Eat soft foods such as mashed potatoes, smoothies, soups, soft fruits, and soft-cooked vegetables.
8. Avoid hard, sticky, and sugary foods that can hurt your teeth.
9. Stay away from acidic and sugary drinks that make teeth sensitive.
10. Put orthodontic wax on the wire to prevent pain if you get hurt from it.
11. Brush your teeth with a soft-bristle toothbrush.
12. Use the proper technique of bruising and flossing teeth with braces.

Know 25+ ways to get rid of braces pain at home.

When to see the orthodontist?

You may not need to visit your orthodontist for pain that you experience normally for braces. But, if you experience pain as a result of an injury, broken braces, and broken, loose, popped out, or poking wires.

You fix the problem temporarily, but to get a permanent solution you need to seek your orthodontist.

So, consult with him or her and make an appointment. But, if you feel pain from a serious injury and your mouth gets cut or bleeds a lot, visit the orthodontist immediately.

You can visit your orthodontist as soon as possible if you feel the same amount of pain that lasts more than a week after getting braces tightened.

If you can’t understand when you should visit the orthodontist, you can talk to him or her over the phone.

Frequently asked questions

How bad do braces hurt?

Braces may hurt badly and the most when you get them or you get braces tightened for the first time.

But, it doesn’t hurt as bad as you think. You can bear the pain without taking any special steps.

You may need a simple over-the-counter pain reliever as your orthodontist suggest and follow other advice to get rid of the pain.

Why does one tooth hurt with braces?

While wearing braces, you may have pain on one tooth or one side of the braces. But, why does one tooth hurt with braces?

You may get hurt on one tooth with braces due to tooth decay, biting on hard foods or something, poor tooth-cleaning techniques, or tooth movement process.

You may not feel the same amount of pain in all teeth from braces. One or two teeth have more soreness.

It’s normal which happens as a result of pressure provided by braces and the orthodontic tooth movement.

But, you may develop decay on a single tooth with braces, since cleaning teeth is a difficult task with braces on teeth. Because of tooth decay, you get a painful and sensitive tooth.

Sometimes, you may bite on hard foods or something accidentally or intentionally, though an orthodontist suggests you not to do that.

Again, you may hurt a bracket while bruising or flossing. These may be responsible for pain in a single tooth with braces.

Do braces hurt more than spacers?

All braces wearers don’t need to wear spacers or separators. But, if your orthodontist suggests you wear spacers, you want to know, Do braces hurt more than spacers?

Usually, spacers don’t hurt as much as braces. But, depending upon cases, some people may experience more pain from spacers than braces.

However, it also varies from person to person. The reason is people get spacers before getting braces.

Spacers are used to create gaps between teeth. They put pressure on teeth to move them. As you feel the pressure for the first time on the tooth, it hurts you.

The feeling seems like food getting stuck between the teeth. But, the pain goes away over time.

Braces may hurt more than spacers because braces provide more pressure on teeth and jaw bones than spacers.

In addition, spacers are used in one or a few teeth, while braces are attached to almost all teeth.

Do bottom braces hurt more than top?

Many people experience more pain in the bottom braces than the top. Braces hurt you in two ways.

One is by putting pressure on teeth and the other is by rubbing the soft tissue of your mouth.

Bottom braces hurt more because the tongue lies on the lower jaw and also lower jaw is the one that can move for chewing and talking.

If you get lingual braces, bottom braces may cause more pain for the first few days.

On the other hand, top braces can’t hurt much as there is a hard palate in the upper jaw.

However, when you adopt the feeling o having braces on teeth, you don’t feel pain from the bottom or top braces.

Why do braces hurt at night?

Sleeping with keeping something inside your mouth can’t be a great experience. After getting braces, you may feel pain and discomfort while sleeping at night because your cheek and gums aren’t familiar with the feelings.

However, you get used to the feeling over time and it doesn’t affect your sleep after a week.

Moreover, our mind gets relaxed at night and we notice any uncomfortable situation in our body easily that we weren’t aware of all day.

When do you get used to braces?

In most cases, you may get used to braces within a month. You don’t feel any trouble after 4 to 6 months of getting braces.

Even if you experience mild pain or soreness, it won’t irritate you.

Takeaways

Normally, you may feel mild pain and discomfort for the first few days to a week after getting braces. But, you don’t feel any discomfort while your orthodontist puts braces on your teeth or removes them.

During the orthodontic treatment, you may feel soreness from time to time, when new components are installed to your mouth.

But, everyone adapts to different experiences with braces very well. So, you shouldn’t get worried about it. You may also follow the pain relief process with braces on your teeth.

However, braces may hurt you more if you don’t follow the instruction of your orthodontist. So, you should be more concerned about the instructions than getting worried about getting hurt from braces.