How long do mouth sores and cheek irritation from braces last?
Cited to 4 sources. Reviewed 2026-08-25.
The general raw feeling from new braces usually settles within one to two weeks as the lining of your cheeks and lips toughens against the hardware. Individual sores that have already formed take about a week or two to heal on their own, and they heal only once whatever was rubbing is covered or fixed. Orthodontic wax over the offending bracket plus warm salt water rinses is the standard combination. A sore that keeps growing, or one caused by a wire you cannot control with wax, means calling your orthodontist.
- General adaptation
- 1 to 2 weeks
- A single sore to heal
- About 1 to 2 weeks once the rubbing stops
- First line
- Orthodontic wax
- Second line
- Warm salt water rinses
What to expect, step by step
The inside of your lips and cheeks feels raw and swollen where brackets sit, especially at the canines and back teeth. No open sores yet in most people.
What to do: Wax every bracket that catches. Warm salt water rinses several times a day. Soft foods, which you will want anyway because of the tooth soreness.
This is when ulcers appear if they are going to. They look like small white or yellow craters with a red rim, and they are more painful than the general rawness.
What to do: Keep wax on the spot causing it, keep rinsing, and avoid acidic, salty, spicy and crunchy foods that sting. A topical numbing gel used as its label directs can help before meals.
The lining has thickened where it contacts the brackets, and most people find they stop needing wax except after adjustments.
What to do: Keep a container of wax with you anyway. Most people need it again after every wire change and any time a bracket edge starts catching.
Occasional sores, usually after adjustments, after a bracket breaks, or when a wire runs long at the back as teeth align.
What to do: Treat each one the same way: wax the cause, rinse, and call the office if the cause is a poking wire or a loose bracket.
Why it stops on its own
The inside of your cheek is a thin, soft mucosa that has never had metal against it. Constant low grade friction makes it adapt, thickening at the contact points, which is why the same brackets that shredded your cheek in week one are unnoticeable by week three.
That is also why the fix is protection rather than treatment. Wax buys the tissue the time it needs. The AAO describes orthodontic wax as a barrier you place over a bracket or wire that is rubbing your cheek or lip, and recommends keeping some on hand throughout treatment, especially after adjustments.
What actually helps a sore that has already formed
Once an ulcer is there, nothing makes it close overnight. What you can do is remove the cause and reduce the sting:
- Orthodontic wax over the bracket or wire causing it, replaced after every meal, since the sore will not heal while it is still being rubbed
- Warm salt water rinses, about a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water, swished for around 30 seconds, several times a day
- Avoiding what stings: citrus, tomato, vinegar, hot sauce, very salty snacks, and anything sharp or crunchy
- Cold foods and cold water, which numb the area briefly
- A topical oral anesthetic gel used exactly as its label directs, particularly before meals
- Keeping up brushing even around the sore, gently, because plaque buildup makes the tissue around it more inflamed
Rubbing sores versus canker sores
Two different things happen in braces mouths and they call for the same care but different expectations. A traumatic ulcer sits exactly where a bracket or wire contacts the tissue, and it heals when you cover the cause. A canker sore, or aphthous ulcer, appears on the loose tissue inside the lips and cheeks and can be set off by minor injury, but is also linked to stress, hormonal changes, food sensitivities and nutritional gaps, and sometimes has no identifiable cause.
MedlinePlus notes canker sores go away by themselves in most cases. Practically, if the sore is directly under a bracket, wax it and it will heal. If sores keep appearing away from the hardware, or come in crops, mention it to your dentist or physician, since a recurring pattern is worth investigating separately from the braces.
When irritation is a hardware problem, not an adaptation problem
Normal adaptation is diffuse, affects several areas, and gets better every few days. A single sore that keeps getting worse, especially at the very back of the mouth, is usually being cut by something specific.
The most common culprit is a wire running long at the back as the teeth align, which is a sign of progress and a two minute trim at the office. Others are a bracket that came loose and is rotating on the wire, a wire that has slid to one side, and a broken hook. The AAO groups all of these as urgent orthodontic problems: call and get seen, but this is not a reason for emergency care. Cover it with wax in the meantime, and do not cut the wire yourself unless your orthodontist has told you how.
Call your dentist or oral surgeon if
- A sore that keeps getting larger, or is still worsening after about two weeks even with the cause covered: call your orthodontist
- A wire or bracket cutting your cheek that wax will not control
- A sore that bleeds persistently, has hard raised edges, or has not healed after three weeks: this needs a dentist to look at it
- Sores together with fever, widespread mouth pain, or being unable to eat or drink enough
- Spreading facial swelling, pus and a bad taste, or difficulty swallowing or breathing: seek urgent or emergency care
Related questions
How do I make wax stay on?
Dry the bracket first with a tissue, then roll a pea sized piece between your fingers until it softens and press it firmly over the bracket. Wet metal is why wax falls straight off.
Can I sleep with wax in?
Yes. Orthodontic wax is non toxic and safe to swallow in small amounts, so wearing it overnight is fine and often the most comfortable option in the first week.
Do silicone covers work better than wax?
Some people prefer them, but the AAO's standard advice is orthodontic wax. Ask your own office before using any product you did not get from them, especially anything that sits over a whole arch.
Will I get sores again every time my braces are adjusted?
Often mild irritation returns after a wire change, because the wax was removed and the wire configuration changed. It is usually much shorter lived than the first week, and wax on day one of an adjustment prevents most of it.
Sources
- How to Manage Orthodontic Discomfort: What to Expect with Braces (American Association of Orthodontists)
- What Is an Orthodontic Emergency and How Do You Handle Them? (American Association of Orthodontists)
- Canker Sores (MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine))
- Living With Braces: Food, Oral Hygiene and Care Tips (American Association of Orthodontists)
Reviewed against the sources above on 2026-08-25. General information only, not dental advice. Your own provider's aftercare instructions come first.
Keep reading
Cover the wire end with a pea sized ball of orthodontic wax, or gently tuck it flat against the tooth with the eraser end of a clean pencil. Those are the two things the American Association of Orthodontists says you can safely do at home. Then call your orthodontist and get on the schedule, because a poking wire will not fix itself and rubbing wire causes ulcers within a day or two. Do not cut the wire yourself unless your orthodontist tells you to and tells you how.
The soreness peaks 24 to 48 hours after your braces go on and then fades quickly, so most people feel clearly better by day 4 or 5 and close to normal within a week. The first day is usually pressure rather than pain, the second day is the worst, and it improves from there. Cheek and lip rubbing is a separate problem that can last one to two weeks while the soft tissue toughens up. Severe or ongoing pain is not expected, so call your orthodontist if it does not settle.
No. A loose or broken bracket is an urgent orthodontic problem, not an emergency, so it can wait for the next business day in almost every case. If the bracket is still on the wire, slide it back to the middle of the tooth and hold it with orthodontic wax. If it came all the way off, keep it and bring it to your appointment. Then call your orthodontist, because a bracket that is not bonded is not moving that tooth and every week it stays broken can add time to your treatment.
Attachments cause two things and both settle quickly. The tighter squeeze on your teeth in the first days after placement feels like an adjustment and eases within a few days. The rubbing on the inside of your lips and cheeks lasts longer, usually about a week while the soft tissue adapts, and orthodontic wax covers the worst spots in the meantime. Attachments stay on your teeth when the trays come out, so you eat with them exposed, which feels strange for a day or two but is not painful.