Metal Mouth Message Board

3-4 weeks + It wasn't pain or that sort of stuff; it was rapid weight loss (from not being able to get enough calories in) and a restricted diet. I'm a bigger guy and lost 45ish pounds in 3 weeks. Felt completely weak for a long time after that. Lifting heavy objects from the ground might be frowned...

Get a water pick! They work great for hosing off brackets that brushing doesn't get.

I wouldn't want a different ortho touching my ortho's work that far into treatment.

I had several ceramic brackets crack and chip during my treatment. I never had a stainless bracket fail. The little tabs ligatures go around seem to be the weak point. The ortho can put more pressure on the bracket (tooth) without the risk of failure of the bracket itself when using metal. If I had ...

Hope everything went well with the procedure!! Excess saliva will diminish over time. Your tongue will be sore for several days; then feel better. Food will always get stuck. The issue with narrow palate and the expander is there's no room for the whole assembly closer to the roof of your mouth; so ...

As little as 2 but usually 4 weeks.

The sports squeeze bottle with the large straw helped me immensely. Slid the straw between my cheek and teeth, to behind my molars and bypassed any issues going through my teeth by starting at the front and sucking through them. Made things easier for me to swallow and stay hydrated. Hope that makes...

Take care of the grinding as quickly as possible!! That's what started the whole ball rolling for me years ago...

If the amazon guard doesn't help; your dentist can make one too.

Barring some additional injury or reopening the incision sites; should not get worse. Mine started improving more or faster when the corresponding teeth or teeth in that area of the mouth started touching.

Permanent retainers can help hold teeth; but are typically just the lower front 6 or 8. While not a requirement; they help especially f you had crowding. Keeping the lowers in place will also help keep the uppers in place. Retainers are for life; unless you want to get braces again.

They're less noticeable; not invisible. No one else really cares about your teeth; even though you might feel they do. You're doing something to improve yourself; you might convince others (or give them the confidence) to stop putting that off for themselves. I can't count the number of times when I...

FWIW I was in a similar spot with about the same recovery time. Physically stretching my lower lip with my fingers and touching/massaging the numb area to give it a sensation to feel may have helped. Could have just been the additional healing time. The sensation in my chin and lower lip is still im...

Pop away. You aren't going to do any damage with your fingers

10 weeks? All the bones have been healed for a couple weeks.

They're used to working in tight spaces. Don't feel like it's necessary to force your jaw open so they can "have more room" They'll have all the room they'll need. It took me about 4 months to feel like I was opening "enough." About a year to get to "normal." Don't forg...