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My powerchains across my top front teeth are the bane of my life. They are clear when first put on and look great, a curry or smoothie later and they turn a disgusting bright yellow colour.
I was meant to have an adjustment today but its been cancelled and I've not got an appointment for 7 weeks now! I was so looking forward to having clean powerchains put on but I'm stuck with these dirty looking ones instead.
Is there any way I can restore the colour back to clear or at least fade them some? I hate to smile at the moment
Sarah x
Last edited by choccyface on Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
Yes, I use baking soda on its own with a little water and have tried all manner of whitening toothpastes including those with baking soda in them but it won't shift!
I stained my ligs this weekend- it won't go away totally unfortunately. I have been scrubbing with pearl drops party sparkle which i have recommended before coz its pretty strong on my teeth, which shifted some of it. I popped a little glob of it on the brackets and left it for a while without rubbing off- stings your lip a bit but defo made them look better! It's still not as clear and shiny as it was first time round but its the cringy yellow it was. That's a bit mean not giving you an appointment for 7 weeks- could you ring and explain to them that you stained your powerchain
Youch... What about peroxide? Have you tried using that? It tastes awful though
I would call in the office and say you have a cosmetic issue with them and see if they can change it out for you. I don't know if they would do it, even if you offered to pay extra. Cosmetic issues my office cares about, but not really. I mean, braces are not meant to be beatiful I guess -- but I have never been self-conscious about how they looked (minus the first little while, while I was learning to recognize myself in the mirror).
Good luck and let us know what they are able to do for you!!
I will try some pearl drops, thanks for the tip, anything that makes the colour less noticable will be good.
My ortho will only see me now if I have a geniune problem as I am being treated on the NHS (can't complain because they are brilliant) the downside of having the treatment paid for is that getting appointments can be more hit and miss, at the beginning of my treatment I had to wait a whopping 17 weeks for an appointment although its been alot better recently, every 6 weeks on average.
Maybe I could pull a bracket off to get seen? Maybe not though.
I am also from Cheshire, but my ortho is in Liverpool and I also have the dreaded clear powerchain that turns yellow literally after a day!! My adjustments lately have been every 4 weeks but the next one will be 8 weeks from my last (4th April)...seems ages away to put up with these awful powerchains! Do you know if they do tooth coloured ones? I'll have to ask at the next adjustment
I saw an ortho at Liverpool (& Southport) too! I think he didn't want to take on my nightmare teeth though!
Yes these powerchains are a nightmare, when I had my first curry after they were replaced I literally slapped wax over them, it was so think but I was determined to try to avoid staining. It worked quite well (although it was abit of a mouthful!) but then I had a mango smoothie without thinking it would stain and I was back to square one!
Tooth coloured, maybe opaque off white would be great, I think I was offered bright blue ones last time (I think he was joking) but now I am wondering if it would be better to have coloured ones that might not stain because these yukky yellow ones aren't doing anything for me!
I like the sound of those colors too, spoilt for choice! I just wonder why I wasn't offered a choice of colour before though especially since I had a real issue with staining? I hope my ortho stocks other colours.
I went to buy Pearl drops as Lola mentioned and it seems there are 5 kinds! I forgot which one she told me about so I bought two packs of Hollywood smile and two packs of daily shine, the plan being to use the Hollywood one twice a day as recommended and the other whenever I need additional brushing
I tried putting globs of it on the powerchain but it was hard to keep on and I can't really see a differance yet.
Ahh yeah I have this problem too. I have ceramic braces so I get the same problem with the ligs too, but the powerchain is worse coz it stretches right across my front teeth!!
Only advice is to steet clear of any food/drink with obvious colouring in (anything that just looks like it will stain!) Like currys, pot noodles, wine etc.
Also brush your teeth straight after a potential powerchain staining meal!!
I found a great toothpaste called 'Aquafresh Extreme Clean' which is really good, I find that if I stick to this toothpaste and use a whitening mouthwash, they seem to stay cleaner
Can your ortho not squeeze you in just to change the powerchain?
Try the baking soda in toothpaste. I just tried it (in my pearl drops!!) and it's fab. My ligs are still a little bit stained but it's only when you peer at them up close you can see it. The powerchain has a much larger surface area though, so I would say that they are more noticeable even with a tiny bit of staining. But try it anyway and let me know how you're getting on!
Maybe not though.
