Metal Mouth Message Board

My cheapo retainer case from the orthodontist broke. They gave me a another one, but it looks used (they said that even though it looks old, it was never used ). Where can I buy a new one? I know Lynn sells them, but the shipping would not be worth it.

After my braces came off, I saw a periodontist and had a deep cleaning done to try to minimize my pockets. Only some pockets responded to the cleaning so I had to get osseous surgery (they make a flap in the gum and clean out any bacteria and reshape the bone and gum if necessary). Anyway, I just wa...

Overseasmel, I got extractions one year into braces. I was terrified of getting teeth pulled so I wanted the ortho to try first without removing any teeth. The tops straightened but they came forward more than I liked (much more than yours, which look fine in my opinion) but the bottoms didn't strai...

I got a 2nd opinion from a different periodontist and his treatment plan is completely different. The 1st perio didn't mention any pockets (I had the impression that I didn't have *any* deep pockets) but this guy says I have pockets in the upper and lower back teeth. He wants me to do a deep cleanin...

Well, I went and got a 2nd opinion from another periodontist. He said I could definitely use Sonicare and there have been no studies that show that they could worsen or cause gum recession. I think I trust this guy better than the first one I went to. So now I can get my Sonicare back from my mom, w...

I wasn't going to post pictures of my black triangles, as I didn't want to scare anyone off braces, but here is a picture of how bad mine look. (I am not saying that braces caused my bone loss, but I do sort of think they exacerbated the problem, in my case, anyway.) I am probably going to get surge...

Hi Sophielafille, I saw the periodontist again today. We had waited a month to see if any mobility would go away, but it hasn't, so he wants to do periodontal surgery on me. He did mention occlusal adjustment at another appointment, but not today. He will (as I understand it) make a flap into my gum...

As I was getting ready to brush my teeth and retainer after lunch at work today, I dropped the case and top and bottom retainers came flying out onto the bathroom floor. What can I use to disinfect it?

In case anyone is interested, three days have gone by so I put the bottom retainer back on. The good news is that the acrylic no longer bothers me (even though I think the gum is only about 95% healed) but it did hurt going back on since I hadn't worn it for so long. I literally tried about 5 times ...

Thanks Chris and Meryaten for your replies. I went to the office on Saturday and my regular ortho wasn't there, but another doc shaved down the acrylic that was bothering me. You were right, it was very easy for him to reshape it. He also told me not to wear it for 3 days and to do saltwater rinses....

I think I figured out why I'm in pain--I am growing a CANKER SORE where the acrylic rests on the gum! The pain has gotten worse (at first it only hurt when I was putting them on and taking them off, now I can feel it almost constantly). What should I do? The ortho office is closed until tomorrow. I ...

but my ortho adjusted my Hawley retainers and now the acrylic seems to be digging into the roof of my mouth and the bottom too, every time I put it on. The pain goes away after several minutes, but when I remove the retainers I can feel the imprint of the acrylic in my mouth. Do retainers loosen ove...

Sophielafille, I went to the periodontist a few days after debanding and he said he wants to wait for a few weeks before developing a treatment plan for me. We hope that some of the mobility will go away during that time. So I see him next month. Right now I am just being very careful and trying not...

I have the same problem on my lower Hawleys and I've only had them for 2 weeks! I see this white buildup on mine. My only instructions were to brush my retainers with toothbrush and toothpaste so I don't even use anything else--is Retainer Brite safe? If you still see residue then maybe it doesn't h...

I am going to ask the perio if I can get the Oral B Sonic Complete toothbrush. I'm not sure if it's the sonic technology that he is against or just the design of the Sonicare. During my appointment, he didn't know the Oral B model name, so I asked him if it spins or vibrates, and I think he said som...