Metal Mouth Message Board

I had tons of movement during the first month. The first week was the hardest to adjust to. Your hygiene routine will get easier. You will get faster. It is a learning curve. I found Glide threader floss to be helpful. If you struggle with the threader flosses, you might try an orthodontic flosser. ...

I wore my Essix 24/7 for the first month, then was cleared for nighttime only. A minimum of 8 hours a day.

Good advice above. Also, do you have elastics or ligs? It could be a latex allergy too.

My Orthodontist switched to a mostly latex free practice after a patient had an extreme reaction to the elastics.

Ditto the last couple posts. They said it well.

Ditto the last couple posts. They said it well.

I think the full time retainer regime depends on your issues and your Orthodontist. I wore my Essix's 24/7 for the first month, then was told to just wear them at night. I've done that the last 5 months.

I had a couple during my tenure: *During one time when I had 6 elastics in, I ended up in a wrist cast for a couple months. I am right handed and only had the use of my left hand to put the elastics in. I had some fairly heavy elastics that had to go on my back molars in a couple "V" confi...

I had a bracket missing from my second to last molar for the last part of my treatment. (After swallowing 3 that had come off of the crown.) Anyway, that left a fair bit of wire before entering the tube on the back molar. My wire popped out frequently. One of the techs showed me how to fix things my...

Really liked my Damon's, but I absolutely agree the experience, training and your confidence in the Orthodontist providing your treatment are top things to consider.

Smoothies to get some fruit and veggies in. My Orthodontist recommended them regularly.

Wow, both of you make me feel very blessed. I got mine off last September and got the all clear to go from 24/7 with my upper and lower Essix to wearing them nighttime only at the one month mark. I've been pleased with that. I have a modified upper Essix I wear on my upper at night. My orthodontist ...

No problems here either. I didn't need much done though. I did have regular cleanings throughout my treatment though.

I agree with the others. I was in multiple configurations during my treatment. Most, I didn't feel at all. There was one configuration that hurt quite a bit though. Whether or not I felt it, I got the results I needed over time. It is good if it isn't hurting.

I wore splints before getting my braces. Towards the end of my splint treatment, my Orthodontist actually cut back the splints to expose my molars one at a time to encourage the molars to erupt. When you say it feels like your teeth that are exposed are hitting first, it could be that something like...

The square wires are much stiffer, which can lend to more pain for some. I don't recall much of an issue with my first square wires. The thicker ones took a bit more getting used to. I didn't have much problem with the square wires in general for treatment. It was when they turned into 'pokies' out ...