Metal Mouth Message Board

I wouldn’t suggest you to skip a week, simply because it may delay your treatment time by a bit. The elastics at night can be more painful than around the clock wear, because the force isn’t on your teeth consistently, so it’s almost like you’re starting over each time you put it in. What worked for...

Different orthodontist will treat the same malocclusion and misaligned teeth differently, based on their schooling, past experiences with similar cases, personal practice philosophies, and their own expertise. Some orthodontist are more conservative than others, and some orthodontist push for absolu...

2) should I wear retainers? I have decided on taking a break for about 3,4 months. Should I just not wear the retainers and see if my teeth can go back to the original form? my biggest wish is for my teeth to go back to pre-braces... Retainers keep your teeth the way they are. Obviously, best recom...

I’d imagine you’d spend just as much time, if not more, cleaning your teeth while using Invisalign. You’d have to clean the trays too, prior to putting the trays back in. Assuming you’re diligent with maintaining oral hygiene, you’d have to brush, floss and clean your aligners at a minimum of three ...

I think I just got used to it. I’ve always slept on my side...so I think my mouth just got used to the braces pressed against my cheek while I sleep.

Box configuration should bring your teeth closer together—they are used to close open bites and to “set” the teeth. From my limited understanding, teeth intrusion is more difficult to do than extrusion; sometimes it may not be feasible to intrude teeth. With the new orthodontist, are you looking to ...

This new orthodontist manages expectations well—he tells you the pitfalls upfront, as well as a generous disclaimer that things may not go according to plan, and he makes no guarantees that his plan will succeed. He’s honest, and sets out his treatment plans clearly on paper so there won’t be any di...

28. I had my wisdom teeth extracted when they grew in.

thanks @mkph. If I debrace, and go to another ortho 1) is it most likely that they would restart the treatment and give me another 18 month treatment estimate? 2) how can i explain to them that I need to expand my arch because my arch got narrowed with this treatment so far? 1) Treatment time estim...

You may have better luck if you debraced and presented yourself as a new patient. Many doctors do not want to take transfer cases because it is essentially finishing the work of another ortho, all the while not knowing what the treatment plan was prior to that patient’s arrival to the office (the pr...

Doctors can terminate patients the same way patients can change doctors. I believe the doctor is legally supposed to provide referrals to the patient so that the patient isn’t left in a lurch. The termination should be done in writing, and there should be a reasonable time frame for the patient to f...

I don’t think that Invisalign will always produce a better result because it’s “a computerized process”. Invisalign, like braces, is a tool. And like any using other tools, the final product depends on the user’s experience and expertise in wielding the tool. There are people who’ve underwent Invisa...

doesn't waterpik also remove the plaque build up? i waterpik all over, especially along the gum line Waterpik can’t remove the plaque between teeth and along the gum line as well as floss can, mostly because floss can get into those tight spaces much, much better than a waterpik can. Plus floss is ...

My orthodontist just told me I needed IPR done, and I went along with it. I didn’t ask so there was no approval to speak of. I’d imagine your orthodontist will make the call regarding whether or not IPR is appropriate for you.

I’m not an orthodontist, just another adult with braces. From my own experience, teeth do get slanted, rotated and intruded during that initial alignment phase. It’s not a representation of the final outcome. Once my teeth were aligned to where they needed to be, my orthodontist then worked on extru...