Small rubber bands are used to make space between your back teeth. This makes it much easier to fit bands around your back teeth. They should remain in place until your next appointment.

Separators will make the area around your teeth tender and slightly sore for 3-5 days. It will feel as if you have a piece of food caught between your teeth. Stay away from chewy, sticky foods (gum, caramels, taffy, etc.) as they can pull the separators out. Advil or Children’s Advil will alleviate this type of discomfort more effectively than Tylenol. You will not be able to floss between the teeth that have separators. However, brush as you normally would.

Replacing A Separator

Refer to the image on the right to see the proper position of each separaor.

Take one separator from the kit, thread two pieces of dental floss through the separator so you can stretch it like a rubber band. Work the separator back and forth between the teeth (like flossing your teeth) until the separator pops through the contact of the teeth. Make sure that part of the separator is below the contact and the other part shows above the contact.

If you have any questions or you can’t replace it, please give us a call. Remember, if your separators are not in place, it will be difficult to place your braces or we may have to re-separate your teeth.