Metal Mouth Message Board

I have two bonded retainers (upper and lower) and have to wear an upper Hawley 24/7 for 6 months, and both an upper and a lower at night. I have to say...that maybe it's because I'm THRILLED that the braces are finally gone, that these retainers don't bother me in the slightest. Obviously I'd rather...

How far in advance did your ortho provide you with a de-brace date? A couple of weeks? A month? Two months?

I've been slacking on the wearing of my elastics for a couple of months now. Yes, I realize I'm only extending my time and slowing my progress....I just hate them. When I've gone for my adjustments, my ortho keeps telling me that my bite looks good (it wasn't that off in the first place), but hems a...

I had those...my ortho called it a "t-loop". It hurt, but it WORKED! And quickly!

After reading some posts here from people who saw movement in a matter of days after being braced, I was disheartened because after a month, I saw no movement. I want to say it was about 6 weeks (soon after my first adjustment) before I noticed anything, and then after that they REALLY seemed to lev...

I think the MAIN reason why I put off getting braces was because of the extractions. I knew I'd have to have them because I'd consulted with an orthodontist years ago. That stopped me dead in my tracks, because I was so scared about having teeth pulled. My experience with the extractions was pain-fr...

For those of you who've already had their braces removed (*and had clear brackets), was there a significant visual difference from "braced" to "debraced"? When I look at my mouth at this point, and see that all the teeth are straight, and all the gaps are pretty much closed. My b...

I want to second what Snowglobe32 says...just follow your ortho's instructions. If there were some way of speeding the process, I would think that advice would have been dropped on this board a while ago :-) I'm like you....I wanted these things off the day I got them, but had to come to terms with ...

Wow. I don't know how I'd feel about an ortho whose first priority was making me look perfect. If anything, that should be MY first priority, not his/hers. Personally, I would have run away after the first half of my initial consultation involved discussing my future face lift! You're in a tough spo...

I can only echo what everyone else has said about the pros (preventing future dental health issues, having a great smile, etc.) With regard to actually WEARING braces I have to say that there's something VERY satisfying about watching the smile change and improve. I've been fascinated with this enti...

It seems like a couple of months for me since I've seen any movement. I'm accepting the fact that all of the movement isn't necessarily visible, but I still have a few gaps that I'd like to see get smaller, and they don't seem to be getting there. My extraction gaps seemed to close a lot without me ...

@ Bellalalala You're right, I wasn't being totally serious, lol...but I AM partially serious! The part I was joking about was about looking better than everyone else...I'm not really judgmental like that, at all. I'm pretty sure people are in braces for different, if not several reasons. The reason ...

Anyone else at the point where your teeth (even though you still have braces on them) are STRAIGHTER than MOST other peoples'? (and isn't that a lovely, foreign feeling?) Feeling like you're actually going to look YOUNGER than your peers simply BECAUSE you got braces put on later than your teens and...

I've been wearing elastics for almost 2 weeks and haven't felt any pain from them since about 2 days after I started wearing them. I wonder if different configurations cause different pain (this makes sense I guess?). I'm wearing mine in the front (the triangle configuration) and have gotten used to...

I've been wearing elastics for almost 2 weeks and haven't felt any pain from them since about 2 days after I started wearing them. I wonder if different configurations cause different pain (this makes sense I guess?). I'm wearing mine in the front (the triangle configuration) and have gotten used to...