Metal Mouth Message Board

I used it for the first two months, mainly where the posts on my brackets would carve out little ruts into the inside of my lip. Those took forever to heal, and eventually even the wax didn't help any more because the cuts got too big. I got so frustrated at the wax that I just started shoving piece...

Welcome to the club! It'll soon become second nature to put them on, but it does take a bit of practice. I've only had two configurations, but I've found I can only put them on using the hand opposite the side the elastic is going on. I also always hook it on the tooth that's further back first and ...

I swish all the time, so much so that it's become a habit where I'll swish whatever I'm drinking. Usually it's water, which is refreshing, but sometimes it's coffee, which is gross. Whoops! I'm not shy about swishing because it's a lot less gross than going in and picking stuff out (which I still do...

I'm in the same boat, and I also suspect it's bacteria getting built up around the gates (I have damons also). I try to take advantage when they let me brush with the wires out at my appointments, but that only does so much when the appointments are 6-10 weeks apart. I use listerine most of the time...

When I use floss threaders, I don't actually thread it through the wire, I thread it straight through the base of my teeth by the gumline so that I can skip the step of forcing the floss into the space between my teeth. It's generally easier to pull the floss out of a tight space than to push it int...

I've had to wear elastics since the beginning (11 months now), and I kind of just assume I'll be wearing them the whole time. My treatment is winding down (hopefully done by the end of the year), but there's been no talk of ditching the elastics. At least I've never known anything different, so if I...

Great progress!

A couple of times I've woken myself up by biting my tongue, which is definitely not something I did before braces. I'm guessing its because my bite is shifting constantly (even if just a little bit) and my tongue has to keep up? Otherwise, my big problem with sleeping is that I usually wake up with ...

I've only noticed a little extra tartar buildup, but I've managed to scrape most of it off myself with a proxabrush

My go-to is almond milk, chocolate protein powder, banana, and (if I have it and I'm feeling fancy) avocado. Only recommended if you like your smoothies the consistency of soft-serve ice cream (but who wouldn't??)

I've been wearing elastics since the day I got my braces! I think they are used to fix a variety of things so can be used at any point in the treatment. I believe in the beginning mine were used to "make room" for my crowded upper front teeth to unrotate/disengage. They never cut my mouth,...

I went to work right after getting mine on, and it was definitely awkward but I don't think taking a few days off would've helped me personally. It took me at least a week or two (hard to recall the exact amount of time now) to start sounding normal again. Even seven months in I'll still occasionall...

I've been in elastics the whole 7 months I've been braced. I started in Quails (3/16", 2oz) which are very light, and I eventually figured out how to eat with them in without snapping them off most of the time. At my adjustment this week they bumped me up to Rabbits (3/16", 3.5oz) which ar...

Relearning how to eat and talk was pretty awkward, but the worst part by far was all of the cuts and sores inside my cheeks and lips. All of my brackets except for the ones on my incisors have posts and hooks on them for elastics, and for the first couple of months two of them would keep cutting my ...

I got mine a week after turning 28! I guess you could call it a birthday present to myself