Metal Mouth Message Board

Washing up liquid?!!! That's crazy talk! I was advised a soft brush and just cold water to rinse, retainer brite and not to use toothpaste as it is abrasive. I'd never use hand wash or washing up liquid, you wouldn't put it in you mouth ordinarily so why on earth would you wash retainers with it? yu...

Hey my braces came off on wed :-D really happy!! I have permanent retainer top and bottom, essix top and bottom as well that I wear 12/24 hours so evening and nights for first year :-) the latest thing I've found is that i still eat as if i have braces lol my teeth feel a little fragile still. Very ...

Hi everyone, thanks for the kind words :) So today I was officially debanded :) I'm really happy with my teeth, I'll post a picture on my "braces story" webpage soon. Here's what happened... I sat in chair and ortho said he'll put permanent retainers in first then take braces off. He put i...

Hi Poppy123 Thanks, I am excited but a little scared too. Worried what they'll look like, I'm sure they'll look great. Hope my gums don't get too puffy Not long now, less than 20 hours to go!

You'll get there :) The good news is, well for me anyway I hope other people will agree, the first few days are definitely the worst. I know it feels like you've been smacked in the mouth with a baseball bat :P but each adjustment gets better over time to the point where you forget all about your br...

Try taking Ibuprofen to help ease the pain and aches. The pressure is very normal, especially in the first few days. It will get better. Hang in there! I couldn't bite down either, I remember the teeth felt like rods shooting up into my jaw trying to bite down. No pain no gain!

In short - Yes its very normal Lip balm will become your best friend too as your lips will become dry

Thank you Good luck on your journey, trust me it'll go quickly. Just follow everything your ortho tells you to do

I can't imagine what it'll be like without braces, even though I had them before. Will be weird not curling my lip on my top brace hehe

Elastics twisted into a figure of eight are ligatures around the brackets, therefore you have traditional metal braces. They cross over elastics to put more force on the tooth if it needs to be moved. When less pressure is required the ligature goes around the bracket.

Hello everyone Just wondering if any UK people are using or have used steradent tablets to clean essix retainers? Just wondered if they're a good alternative to retainer brite? I'm getting de-braced next week so thinking ahead. Also steradent is available in all supermarkets unlike retainer brite. T...

Hello there! I seem to remember not being able to bite into, for example, a sandwich for quite some time, maybe a month. My bite was constantly changing. I couldn't bite down because it hurt too much and I remember my jaw would kind of just "hang" maybe because of molar bite build-ups on b...

I see! I hadn't heard that brand before Thanks

I think many adults believe "the professional must know best" and ARE scared to speak up, on the other hand if the treatment wasn't working surely ortho should say so? .... sorry to be devils advocate

Jen x

Hi, what a wonderful story! Glad you're so much happier :D Just wanted to share my excitement too at the thought of digging in to spare ribs, this will be my first meal when I get my braces off next week, eeek!!! :lol: What are ibraces btw? What are the main differences between those and metal brace...

Here's a pic of my bite, you can see on the left (right hand side of screen) my bite is still a little open but oh so close. Last month my right hand side closed in last two weeks before check up wearing elastics. http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3919/savedpicture8.th.jpg Uploaded with ImageShack.us...