Molar bands are slowly killing me!

[silencebroken]

I just got my lower braces on today along with a molar band on each side. I didn't have these for the top so this is my first experience with them. They just felt weird when I left the office this morning and now 11:00 at night I'm realizing that both of them are cutting my tongue to shreds, the left one a little bit more than the right. Is there something my ortho can do about this? I would assume he would be able to do something but I'm a bit weary about calling and asking because they had a lot of problems getting the left band on. The tech couldn't do it so she had to call the ortho over to do it and it even took him awhile to get it on so I'm worried because of that fact there won't be anything they can do about it. It's driving me crazy though, I know this probably sounds wimpy but every time I drink water or swallow it stings. I can handle the sore pressure from the braces, but this is just driving me nuts.

[thmmom]

Sorry about your molar bands. They do take a little getting used to, especially ones in the back. I have heard some people saying that their ortho's were able to bend the hooks back some to stop irritating their tongues. I have just gotten used to mine. I did put wax on them in the beginning until I got used to it. I have noticed though that if I have a day where I talk alot, my tongue is more likely to get irritated. You should try rinsing with Peroxyl to help heal the sores on your tongue. It really helps heal mine quick.

[AmIHavingFunYet]

Hi silencebroken, I've been lurking here for over a year and I really felt for you when I read your post. I had a silimar problem when I had bands put on at the start of my treatment. It took quite a bit of effort to get on the bottom ones because of overcrowding and the one on the bottom right cut my tongue to shreds. I had to go back in quite soon and my ortho tried something that involved pushing down on it, but it didn't really help. Swallowing was really sore and eating had me in tears! As far as I can remember now, the problem was that my tongue wasn't getting a chance to heal and I managed to get through it by using lots and lots of wax. It's a bit difficult, but you can get some to stick along the edge of the band. I also dabbed bicarbonate of soda on the sore bit and that seemed to help. Once my tongue recovered, it didn't ever get that bad again. You should just phone your ortho for advice though in case there is something not quite right - it's you that has to live with it! I really hope that helps. I can remember thinking I'd never get through it - but I did!

[Ellebraced]

My tongue was a bit irritated for a couple days (even sometimes after) but I used wax and a lot of salt water rinses. Sometimes your ortho can file sharp edges down, VancouverJude on here had that done and it really helped her.

Good Luck!!

[abaglady]

Is there something my ortho can do about this? I would assume he would be able to do something but I'm a bit weary about calling and asking because they had a lot of problems getting the left band on.

Hi Silencebroken - Your ortho might be able to do something about this and you shouldn't worry about asking for help. I had a similar problem - my molar bands took ages to go on and I had three separate appointments to get the job done because the fit was so tight. Once they were on, they felt like they were shredding my tongue, and I spent about a week with my molars almost entirely covered in wax and struggling to eat. When I went back to my ortho for the final molar band fitting appointment I mentioned the problems I was having and he couldn't have been more helpful. He spent about half an hour grinding all the sharp edges down so that they fitted the contours of the teeth more exactly. The relief was immense - I could have kissed him!

Hopefully your situation will be as simple to resolve. You really have my sympathy - good luck!

[GRILLZ]

same here! i suffered in silence for a while and then decided i was going to kill myself if i couldn't get relief, so i called ortho office and as you said, i could have kissed him!!! he filled down sharp edges on my braces, applied a special patch of healing medicne only available to orothos and gave me 2 tubes of silicon gel to apply to the sore areas.

i will never suffer in silence again. no point to it except it will take that much longer to heal. when i orignally got my braces on it was tough, but nothing like the molar bands. they made the orignal braces seem like a romp in the park. pain was sooo much worse for those molars, guess because the fit is so tight and its tough to get wax to stick and the wires just gouge the hell out of you.

hope you are feeling better soon. my ortho said if i'm not better by monday to come back. i love him. here's to hoping we both heal very soon.

[GRILLZ]

status report on molar bands....the humongous canker sore that was killing me on thursday is stilk there in all it's horrible fury. i'll probably be going back on monday. i don't know what they can do, but maybe they can do something. i'm glad it's not my tongue, that would be very difficult. but this sore is so big that it hurts to swallow as well. sleeping is difficult as well. i'm using the peroxide mouth rinse which burns like hell. the only thing that really temporarily soothes is those salt water rinses. thank god for that.