Rubber Bands

These bands are worn in order to exert the corresponding forces that will move the teeth to their correct positions. In order for the forces to remain constant, the bands must be worn according to the doctor’s instructions (often 18-20 hours a day) and changed every day.

Here are some tips for the bands:

• Because failure to wear them means delaying your treatment, do not forget to wear and replace them every day with new ones.
• Always keep some spare ones with you so that if one breaks or is lost you have a new one to wear immediately.
• If you do not wear the bands for a day, the next day you do not need to double the amount of time you wear them. Just follow your doctor’s instructions and think “why was a day lost?”
• The bands wear out when we wear them and so they lose their strength. This is why we change them every day with new ones, even when they are not broken.

Of course you do not have to wait until the next appointment if you run out of bands or forget how and where to wear them.