Ever since my daughter got braces 6 months ago, she has had a consistant problem with peeling of the lips. She never had a previous problem before. Is it possible it's from the braces, or is this unheard of? It looks like some type of allergic reaction to our family. Please advise.

There are a few things that are possible here.

1. - Herpetic Stomatitis (not sure if I spelled that right) which is basically a oral herpes infection. Very common and can come and go (I've seen estimates that 90% of us have the virus, just not everyone has the symptoms). I don't know how old your daughter is but if she is going through puberty hormonal changes can increase the frequency, severity of this. These will normally not last 6 months straight of course, but will come and go. Sometimes they are associated with a woman having her period.

2 - Allergy to the composite used to stick on the braces. I've seen this once which caused a lot of swelling of the lips/gums. Remedy was to take off the braces and use a different adhesive.

3 - Nickel allergy. This is rare, but has had a lot of press lately from Europe (mostly hype). A lot more people think they have a nickel allergy then really have one, but it is a possibility. I don't think it would give the reaction you describe, but its something to ask about.

My personal 'feeling' is #1 without seeing her.

Dr.Phier

I wasn't aware that there was nickel in braces. What other metals are in braces, or what else are they made of? Very interesting. Hmmmmm....

One thing I forgot to mention with nickel allergies is does she have skin irritation around jewlery/pierced areas? Thats a good indicator for a possible nickel allergy.

A couple things could cause this other than allergy. Since she got braces, the shape of the outside of her mouth has changed, such as her lips stick out further than they did before. It probably feels weird to her, makes her more self concsious. She may be licking her lips alot more than usual. This causes peeling and chapped lips.

Another possibility (and the most probable) is that she is brushing her teeth more than she ever did. All that brushing is taking the natural oil that keeps your lips moist right off her lips.

Since she can't go without brushing (as that would defeat the purpose of the braces http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif) she'll probably just need to keep her lips moisturized throughout her braces experience.

Carreen - Your first idea is a good one I didn't think of, but I've never seen/heard/read about excessive toothbrushing causing lip problems. Unless there was something 'odd' about the way she brushed her teeth I can't even think how this is possible.

[This message has been edited by Dr.Phier (edited 11-17-2001).]

Well then you learned something today dr. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

I had braces and developed swollen, bleeding, chapped lips. I found out that I had a reaction to the rubberbands in my mouth.

Could it be a latex allergy?

After you found out it was the rubberbands, how long was it after you removed the rubberbands that you noticed a change in your lips?

Actually, at first I thought I had a cold sore, but when it didn't go away w/medicine, I just lived with it. Then a couple weeks later I went away for the weekend and forgot my rubberbands and within 36 hours my lips cleared up completely. (Just to make sure, I stopped wearing them for a few days and then wore them again, and I got the bad reaction again.) I have never been diagnosed with latex allergy, I don't have a problem with it externally. I guess it's some strange oral sensitivity or something.

I was wondering about the same thing. Our 16 year old son got top teeth braces 1 week ago. He immedietly developed "bumps" on the inside of his upper lip. It itched badly...though it is starting to subside. I read on here that nickle allergy may be mostly hype, but when he got cheap glasses, it turned his skin green and literally ate through the metal so the temple fell off. We switched to titanium frames and he was fine. So the question still stands, can you be allergic to the metal in braces?