Sport, music and braces

Braces and sport get along fine with one addition: a mouthguard for anything with contact, because a knock onto bare brackets cuts lips. Wind and brass instruments take a week or two of adjustment, then feel normal. Nothing you love needs to stop.

Mouthguards

A mouthguard made for braces sits over the brackets with room for the teeth to keep moving; ask us and we will point you to one that fits. The boil-and-bite type from a sports shop works if you follow its instructions and do not press it hard onto the brackets. A mouthguard made from a mould of your teeth before braces will not fit now.

Wear it for rugby, league, hockey, netball, football, martial arts, skateboarding and anything else where a ball, a stick or an elbow can reach your face.

After a knock

Rinse with water and look. A cut lip from a bracket usually stops bleeding with pressure and heals in a few days; cover the sharp spot with wax. If a tooth feels loose, has moved, or hurts to bite on, or a bracket or wire is damaged, message us the same day. Anything that involves a tooth being knocked out or pushed in is an emergency: see the guide on knocks to the mouth.

Instruments and singing

Brass and woodwind players notice braces most. The lip pressure needed for a mouthpiece rubs at first. Wax over the front brackets for the first couple of weeks helps, and most players are back to normal tone within a fortnight. Singing is unaffected once speech has settled, usually within a few days.

Swimming and water sports

No problem at all. Chlorinated and salt water do not affect braces. Rinse with fresh water afterwards, as you would anyway.