Metal Mouth Message Board

The permanent retainer is out. Good riddance. Now I've got a hawley. Seems to be fine, but it was expensive: $240 as opposed to $150 from my own orthodontist. Saved me from having to drive back though.

I've had my braces off for 1.5 years. The 3-3 bonded retainer on the lower jaw became de-bonded after 1 year, I had it repaired. Four weeks ago, it broke again. I went in and had it fixed two weeks ago. Two days later, another tooth got debonded. I went in to get it done again today. When I started ...

I had a bunch of peanuts the day after I got my braces. They're small enough to slowly break down. The rest of the stuff on the do not eat list are not things I eat anyway.

The pictures didn't show them from the normal viewing angle, which is pretty bad.

But I got the braces put on today. So that's the end of that.

Thanks. I'll go ahead with the second ortho as planned then.

I've finally had a chance to see get a second opinion about starting braces and now I have a dilemma. The first ortho said that I'd need extractions of all my pre-molars, while the second one said extractions are unnecessary. The first ortho said that extracting would improve the profile of my lower...

I don't have access to my dentist or ortho right now because I'm away at school. And I'm not going back to that ortho for treatment anyway because he made personal remarks that he shouldn't have made. My own reading about this is simply so I know more about the subject when I actually go and find so...

I've done some more reading on this now. Basically, even with reduced bone / gums, as long as periodontal health is good, then it should still be possible to get braces. But the big condition is that the situation is under control and will continue to be maintained in that state.

I definitely need to check back with them.

Evidently, two of the teeth that are slated to be removed have receding gums.

Alright, so if I take steps to get rid of periodontal disease and make sure it doesn't get worse, then it should be possible to get braces? I'm really worried about the bone loss and how that would affect the movement of teeth.

I think I need to check the health of my gums and the bone before going ahead with braces. The one ortho I saw said I had more bone loss than what he'd expect for someone my age due to clenching (which is leading to TMJ problems - I've since stopped day time clenching and might need a mouthguard) an...