Spacers are small, doughnut-shaped elastics or metal springs. They have been placed between your teeth to help move the teeth slightly apart so that bands can be fitted. Spacers may make your teeth sore for a few days. Over-the-counter pain relief medication may be taken to help with soreness. A spacer can fall out if enough space has been made between our teeth. They can also fall out of you poke at them with your tongue or fingers or if you eat sticky foods such as gum or candy. If you lose any spacers, this is not considered an emergency. Sometimes it is not necessary to replace the spacers, so call our office in order to determine if you need to come in.

Two types of spacers:
1. Elastic: These are small circular elastics that are placed between the teeth.
2. Metal: These are used when the contact between the teeth is so tight that the elastic spacer cannot be placed. We may leave these spacers in for one week and then replace them with the elastic spacers.