Metal Mouth Message Board

Well, I'm baaaaaack! After 16 years of having my braces off, I'm back with a retainer question! I hope there's still people here to help me! I was cleaning my Hawley retainer (16 years old and still kickin) the other day, and used hot water, a The cleaner that starts with the letter P that has been ...

Oh and just so you don't have to go and scroll back.... this is what I started with! http://farm1.staticflickr.com/26/39736571_2cdccb5421.jpg Before - front and centre http://farm1.staticflickr.com/31/39736570_0c4d1c8641.jpg before braces side view Only 8 teeth fit on the wire the first day! http://...

Sooooo, during the last few months of being braced, I didn't notice changes like I did at the beginning (it's just fine tuning closer to the end,) and I kind of lost interest taking pictures, and adding updates. Sorry for that, but life also got in the way too :P These next 2 pictures are from the e...

I'm back! Only 6 years later!

I promised an update... better late than never, right??

I just have to find pictures! Stay tuned!

SO I am officially the laziest person on earth, and haven't shared with the rest of you my progress since JANUARY 2007?? My gosh! I'm sorry! I can't believe I didn't update this page since then! I was officially set free from my wires June 12, 2007! So more than a year has gone by and there's no tur...

While your teeth are super-tight, you could try using a WaterPik instead of actual floss. Either that, or if you have small gaps at your gumline, try feeding the floss in there instead of up under the wire and over the tooth.

Cold, hard cash baby..... all $6000 of it. My insurance doesn't cover any of the actual orthodontics, but it partially covered the extractions and X-rays I had.

I had to pay $300 up front for the initial records, pictures, molds etc etc, and I pay $300 a month for 18 months.

I had 4 bicuspids removed a month after getting braces, and springs went on the next week to close the gaps. The gaps took about 3-4 months to close.

Check out my braces diary, it details the whole ordeal. The link is in my signature.

My ortho shaved my uppers at my 2nd to last appointment. It didn't hurt a bit, and I can't wait for him to do my lowers next! My uppers look so "finished" now, as they are all rounded on the edges, and flat along the bottom. Didn't hurt one bit.

It's funny sometimes how they expect us to be doing things by the book, and when they hear we haven't.... realise it's an awesome job anyways! I usually brush only once a day, twice if I ate something that really needs to get cleaned out, or I'm on the way to the ortho or dentist. But 95% of the tim...

SOOOOOO I had a pretty boring adjustment today. :( Ortho #2 was there, so nothing really productive was done compared to the last couple visits. I was basically re-tied with pink and purple ligs, and told to start wearing elastics again. I now have a Class 2 on my left side, and a triangle on my rig...

SOOOOOO I had a pretty boring adjustment today. :( Ortho #2 was there, so nothing really productive was done compared to the last couple visits. I was basically re-tied with pink and purple ligs, and told to start wearing elastics again. I now have a Class 2 on my left side, and a triangle on my rig...

Eventhough I wear a full-face shield when I'm playing hockey, I bought a ShockDoctor mouthguard made specially for people with braces. It has extra space along the front for the brackets, and is fairly easy to get used to... for me at least. The only drawback to it, is that it is made only for your ...

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I knew I could count on you :D As for the shaping, all the ortho does is grab a tool much like a rounded polisher or manicure tool and buffs out the edges, grooves, pits and any sharp spots you may have. The procedure may be called contouring, or re-shaping at some...

Phew! Yet again I can't believe 4 months has gone by since I posted to my journal! Well, things have definately changed in my mouth since my 1 year "Braceaversary" - the most noticable (to me anyways) is the fact that my front teeth are now even across the bottom, and one isn't quite so po...