1. Please wear your elastics at all times except when eating meals and brushing your teeth unless instructed otherwise.
2. Change your elastics a minimum of four times daily: after meals and before bedtime.
3. Avoid sliding your lower jaw forward while your elastics are hooked up as this will deactivate the elastics and drastically reduce their effectiveness.
4. Soreness roughly equivalent to a wire adjustment will occur as a result of initial elastic wear. This discomfort will dissipate after a couple of days. Pain relievers that you use to relieve a headache are safe and effective for reducing any discomfort associated with elastic wear.
5. You can identify the size of your elastics by the animal noted on the font of the package. If you run out of elastics you should stop by the office and pick up a new supply.
6. It is imperative that you wear the elastics as instructed. This stage of your treatment is an "all or none" deal. Wearing your elastics part of the recommended time will result in no correction at all! Moving teeth is a biological process that requires continuous application of proper forces. Therefore, if elastics are not worn as instructed, you cannot expect correction to occur. Stopping and starting your elastics to lessen the discomfort will do nothing more than ensure continued discomfort.
7. To summarize: the better job that you do wearing your elastics, the faster your teeth will move and the sooner you'll be able to get your braces off. Lack of elastic wear cooperation will lengthen your treatment time.