Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm still trying to get the hospital to send in the correct codes so my insurance will cover the hospital bill (which was pre-approved by the way). The hospital bill alone for me is over $28,000 for outpatient. That doesn't include the surgeon's fee which would have been between 2-4 thousand w/o ins...

They might have just been old. The latex gets more stretchy and has less pull the older it gets. My ortho specifically saves older elastics to give to patients that he wants to use extra gentle force on. I would mention it to your ortho, but I still wouldn't worry too much about it.

I've had my RPE in since January (so four months now) and you will get more used to it. I had a SARPE surgery to make the expander work since I'm 28 and my bones had already fused so using the expander alone without the surgery would have tipped my teeth out instead of expanding my palate. So, I can...

I have double jointed thumbs and can rotate them back behing my knuckles. It looks so gross but doesn't hurt and I love freaking people out with it. Used to pretend I had dislocated my thumb to skip sports at school until all my teachers got used to the sight! I can do that too! I also have double ...

Yes. Every day. Because I had a SARPE procedure, my teeth and jaw have been in what seems like constant motion for the past few months. And we're not talking small changes! So I feel like every other day or every few days I'm looking at a different person.

Don't discount the cheap guy too quickly. My OS has negotiated deals with hospitals so that his patients get a lower rate on certain procedures, and I've been told the surgeon is one of the best in the country. Who spent more time with you in your consults? Who did a more thorough examination? Who a...

Would it be possible to open up the space where the missing lateral would be and put a bridge in? Then at some point you could save up for an implant if you wanted. I think putting a crown on the peg lateral is a good idea too.

Your body has all kinds of magical healing and removal systems. Gum tissue that's being 'damaged' by having your teeth move through it will be removed by these magical systems. It's similar to the process of "where does the bone go" when you're moving your teeth into the solid bone of your...

You should probably just call and ask. They should be able to tell you over the phone if it was intentional or not.

I've got an RPE (rapid palatal expander) and a lower lingual arch (unlike any I've seen before... it's acting as a lower 'expander' to help anchor some teeth, and upright them). I posted some pictures of all the metal I've got going on in my mouth here: http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?...

It sounds like you're describing TADs, not Wilckodontics. Wilckodontics is a procedure to detach your gums from your bone, pull them back, and score your jaw to make the bone malleable. The process makes the work of braces go faster since the bone goes into a malliable healing stage after the surger...

I was completely unable to get any meaningful estimate no matter who I talked to. The surgeon told me some ballpark figure for how much my first procedure would cost, like$11,000 or so, which turned out to be less than half of the actual cost (this was the hospital, surgeon, and anesthesiologist bil...

I haven't been able to use my front teeth to eat in three months, now. I have a palatal expander bonded over my top back teeth and it's acting like a bite blocker and causing an open bite in front, so I can't really incise anything. I also had SARPE surgery which has come with its own issues. So, ev...

This doesn't sound very dissimilar to my experience with getting things scheduled and initiated between my ortho and the surgeon. I started my scheduling process just before Christmas, and since everyone went on vacation in the middle of the process, I had to wait a while. I ended up getting my pala...

Congrats on your surgery. Glad you are feeling better. It should be down hill from there. An update on my gap, it has been closing freakishly fast. The ortho said it should close 1mm a month but it is closing 1mm every 1-2 weeks. I most now little less than 4.5mm from all high 9.5mm. Cheers, Goofy ...