Metal Mouth Message Board

Well so after a weekend of misery I called up the ortho office this morning and said I know you want me to come in April 1 but I need to come in sooner. I went in and said look, I am not happy. Basically what he said is that the retainers (I have top and bottom) are still doing corrective action and...

They're not that visible when I smile, but they're VERY visible when I talk. People have been telling me for years to smile and shut up, so it looks like I may actually have to start doing that.

Well I came home today and in the mailbox is basically "Goodbye and Good Luck" letter from him. I guess the appointment in 6 weeks is just a final check. I honestly am so upset. When I look in the mirror and talk I see these dark spaces that make my teeth look really dingy and disgusting. ...

So I got my lower braces off today and I'm not happy. I have been noticing over the past few months that I have spaces between my lower teeth and the ortho has been hemming and hawing, sometimes he says I need to see a periodontist, sometimes he says he can shave off some from the top so they move t...

The first few days I really thought I was losing my mind and I thought I couldn't stand it another minute. It would almost be like a panic attack. So I'd take it out for like 30 seconds at a time and just breathe and put it back in. Now, a week later, I barely notice it's there. It's amazing how the...

Nope no such option. But every day this gets easier to deal with so that's a good thing.

Really, you mean like remove some of the plastic at the back? Interestingly, I'm getting used to having it against my tongue, I don't notice as much. Last night I couldn't take the right side poking into my lip a minute longer so I bent that piece back and it's much better, although now it takes a l...

I wouldn't wait for three weeks. It shouldn't feel like an instrument of torture even on the first day. I had a wire poking my cheek and one side of plastic digging into my gum when I first got Hawley retainers. I went back as soon as I could. After my ortho made some adjustments, I didn't have any...

I wore my retainer mostly every night from the age of 16 to age 35 when I accidentally broke it. I figured almost 20 years was good enough to keep my teeth in place, right? Wrong! The shift in my teeth was very gradual initially. One day, I realized that they were starting to look a little more cro...

I am finding that 24 hours later it is getting slightly better however I have noticed that my tongue is sore from rubbing up against the plastic. I wish it was smoother. I will see him again in 3 weeks and ask him to check the fit. It was so great to floss my upper teeth last night the regular way. ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/aquaschwa/Retainer_zps61c34ae6.jpg After two years, I got my top braces off today (YAY). However now I'm told to wear this 24 hours a day for 9-12 months and then I get to go to nightly. For life . Questions: 1) Do you ever get used to having this hunk of plas...

Yeah I'm not sure why he said once a day is enough. Perhaps because this is just the finishing touch as I am at the tail end of my braces experience. But since I ordered more I now have about 180 to last 25 days so that's enough to change at least 3 times a day.

I ended up ordering a packet pretty cheaply on Amazon. The idea of putting the same rubber bands on after sleeping in them is just gross!

Yeah I would prefer to change them after every meal but he only gave me a bag of 100 and I won't see him for a month. I wonder if you can buy these in the toothpaste aisle? Yes I also did get a hook thingy to use and I've been practicing but somewhat uncoordinated.

I thought I was getting my braces off this week but instead I got a set of rubberbands on each side from the canines to the back teeth. In a year and half with braces, this is the first time I've had them. He said to change them every night and remove them when drinking hot drinks. Do you find it ha...