Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm right there with you! I got braced 18 months ago. Piece of cake. Yesterday I got 6 steel ties, 6 teeth in powerchains, and triangle elastics. Feels like I took a punch to the mouth. I've been putting ice on the front of my mouth and taking lots of advil. It's helping!

This is my first round of elastics. I have Sea Lions! They are super heavy and I hate them already!!!

I run a floss threader under the band near the gum line. You just have to go really slow and kind of move the threader around a little until you find a place where it will go through. I had a really hard time at first with my bands too. (I have 9 of the darn things!)

Wow! I'm 18 months into treatment and have about 8 months left to go. I went to the ortho on Friday and was surprised with steel ties on my front six teeth on my upper arch and powerchains on top of the steel ties. I instantly felt a ton more pressure when they tied me in steel and then put the powe...

Evilnel- you are sure welcome!!! It is such a great feeling to look in the mirror and have a huge toothy smile!!! :-) I love it and will love it even more when the brackets are off. :-) It's really an important investment....a person's smile is usually the first thing I notice about them. Good luck ...

[/quote]I love stories like these =D. I didn't know TMJ problems could improve with braces.

YES!!! I have been in pain for YEARS because of TMJ and now that my jaw is finally becoming aligned to the correct position I am no longer in the pain I used to be in!!!!!

My front teeth are also tipped back like yours were. Can you tell me about how long it took for them to come into line with the rest of your arch? Your teeth look great! Evilnel- I think it only took like 3 months to fix my upper arch and the way the teeth are tipped back. :-) It was truly the easi...

Yep, Crazy Beautiful is right....I've been in braces just over a year and have seen all kinds of crazy stuff from teeth that overlap to gaps in between teeth that weren't there before. Rest assured that your ortho has an exact prescription for your and your mouth! Good luck to you!!! It's worth it!!...

I agree with Quirky Girl....wear lots and lots of chapstick. The placement of the brackets isn't painful...just more time-consuming. I had my uppers done first and then my lowers done three months later so it was pretty easy for me. It only took me about two weeks to adjust. I'm a year in now and am...

Thank you all so much for your encouragement. I love the part about the toothpaste commercial. LOL. I still have about another year left in braces. I am super excited to see the end product!

If you are considering braces....do it!!!!!

Hi there! My uppers are almost all where they need to be but my lower jaw is a mess. I will stay braced on my uppers because the ortho needs them for elastics down the road to make sure everything lines up.

I promise it gets better!!! The first few weeks are the worse. I remember looking in the mirror the first time and thinking....oh my gosh....what have I just done??!!! A year later....I am sooo glad I did this and I don't even notice my braces anymore....nor does anyone else really.

Hi there! I was a little nervous at first myself, but as my teeth started to move....I've become more and more confident. I'm glad I'm doing something that is going to improve my looks in the long run. Most people wouldn't be so brave. So, I applaud you at taking the plunge. Hold your head up and re...

Thank you all for your encouragement. I am so glad I made this decision!!! It has been a long year, but I am glad I took the leap!!

I too was told by three separate orthos that I would probably need extractions. I finally found an ortho who was willing to wait it out and I am sure glad we did!!! My teeth look great so far and I will NOT need any extractions!!!