Metal Mouth Message Board

I had photos taken but not near as many as in the beginning.

My son needs an implant and he’s already been through full braces treatment. The orthodontist took a new impression for a lower Essix retainer. They will put a false tooth in the place where his will be extracted and he will wear that until he heals enough for the actual implant.

Congrats! You’ve had an amazing transformation! I know how you feel about having your teeth seem so big now. I have larger than average front uppers anyway but now they just look even bigger. I know they are actually slimmer because I had some IPR done on them, but they still seem huge. Now I’m comp...

So I picked up my sparkly purple Hawley's today. No way I can wear them during the day in place of my Essix. They are way too thick. Ortho said they are for nighttime only, and eventually I won’t have to wear any during the day, just the Hawley's at night. He said they do them thicker for nighttime ...

I officially don’t like my Essix and am counting the days until my Hawleys are done. Somehow I’ve gotten rubbed raw and scabbed over at the very back of my inner cheek on one side, right where my teeth come together. I’m thinking it’s just the rubbing along the exposed edge so I took my manicure sup...

Got debonded today. No one warned me that ceramic brackets can make a crunching sound when they get popped off. I knew it wasn’t my teeth, but it sure sounded like it! Lower incisors hurt the most, the rest weren’t too bad. Cold air from the glue buffing tool was iffy in some places but the assistan...

I was just debonded today and am wearing the Essix retainers. I can’t close my bite all the way because of the way my back molars interlock. It’s driving me crazy, I know I’ll get used to it, but I think I’ll switch to the Hawley's when they are done if they don’t do the same thing. I don’t really c...

I’M FREE!!! Wow, things feel so weird. Like I have fat, slimy teeth now! :lol: Getting ceramic brackets off was a little tense, but not as bad as I thought it would be. First they popped the back metal ones off and pulled them out with the wires. Then they popped the ceramics, most of which broke in...

I think if you’ve had extractions the wait is even longer because not only do they have to close large extraction gaps, they have to straighten things out as well. And teeth might not move into place to close those gaps in a pretty way. My midline was off to begin with, and got more off before it go...

Poking around the forums tonight I realized it's my 18 month "anniversary" of getting my braces on. I'm getting both really excited and really nervous for debonding on Monday. What if they say no and want me to go three more weeks? I know, the world won't end.

Only 2 months! Amazing progress!

I had cleanings with my wires in as well. One extra thing they did though was this salt water kind of power wash. Messiest treatment ever and I have to wash my face when I get home because of the overspray (even though she puts a towel over the upper part of my face). And you have an aftertaste like...

I went through a period of bad night clenching early in my treatment and my ortho gave me a clear guard I could wear at night over the braces. Maybe ask if they have anything that would work? Did the night guard cost extra? I am having the same problem periodically during the night. Also clenching ...

Best suggestion is to keep up your regular cleaning appointments with your dentist. They can do a good cleaning and advise you on how well you are doing currently. Your ortho can't tell you if you have a cavity, that's not what they do. And they don't do x rays at regular intervals to catch one. Tha...

I'm scheduled to be debraced 11 in days and I've still got elastics in. He wants me to wear them until the end. That said, I had clear rubber bumpers on my 4 lower incisor while my bite was opening up enough to clear them. They were a pain in the butt but I'm glad I had those over molar buildups. Ac...