Metal Mouth Message Board

Good luck, please update on how it went. I'm wondering where you saw the vido clip. Did the orthodontist or oral surgeon have you watch it?

At 34, my impacted canine tooth is starting to cause me problems and I just made the decision to go with the chain and braces as opposed to pulling both teeth and getting an implant. I'm going to call the orthodontist on Monday and get the process started.

You can watch the clip on youtube.com by searching for impacted canine but beware, knowlege is power but in some situations not knowing may be better. I am 34 also and got braces in march, surgery is upcoming and after watching the video I now know whats going to happen! Good luck and the sooner you get started the faster it will go.

Hope to hear from metalgear soon on how surgery went and Ollie if you read this I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do next to get that stubborn canine down!

I watched that clip on youtube. (I think it was probably the same clip as only one came up when I searched). I would not recommend watching that...it was pretty horrifying. I know every case is different, but I can guarantee my exposure surgery was not that invasive. The only place my gum tissue was cut was where the impacted tooth was.....that video shows them cutting all the gum tissue away from one canine to the other and peeling back 1/2 of the palate.....yech..it was awful, and I only watched about 1/2 of it.

I sure am glad I didn't watch that before my surgery.

I definitely would not recommend watching videos or looking at pictures. If you can handle that kind of thing, that's great, but I can't. I think being informed is good, that way you know what to expect and how to take care of yourself. But I was a lot more unhappy seeing the procedure beforehand. It didn't help that the dentist was bent on telling me everything she was doing. "I'm cutting here...now there's some blood...we're pulling back the gums..." She told me I didn't look very good, and I asked her to please stop telling me what was going on. I did much better after that.

Hey GUYS!

I ended up not having my surgery last thursday. I had it all planned out---took two days off from work, had my last supper the night before, etc...

The day of the surgery I find out that the surgeon never received my chain and x-rays from the ortho, so he couldnt do anything. I was mad!! But anyhow, this coming tuesday I meet with my ortho and should talk about the details. I'd say i'll have it in the next 15 days.

The thing is, my ortho supposedly is really good, so she wants her fancy chain attached to my teeth rather than a generic, cheap one that they use at the surgeons office......also, she has x-rays of my mouth, so it wouldnt make sense to have the surgeon take other ones and pay an extra $150....

Oh, about that YouTube video, I dont really recommend it if you're going to have surgery. The day I saw it, I had a big panic attack and ended up calling my dentist and my ortho at their homes... as a result, I changed surgeons because I thought mine wasn't experienced, etc.....went through this big trouble..

My ortho was explaining to me that the exposure surgery is no big deal....i had no reason to be crying like a baby. She has kids 12-15 do this procedure every year and it's no biggie. So for those that are anxious like me, dont worry....

When are you guys having your surgery???

My only suggestion is, call your surgeon before heading there to make sure everything is in order, to avoid a big headache..and, keep us posted. This forum serves as a good support group....

Sorry you weren't able to go ahead with your surgery as planned.

I just had my xrays and pictures taken today at the ortho and have to go back in 2 weeks to get my dental plan. I guess after that appt I'll be able to schedule my surgery with the oral surgeon.

I think I'm going to pass on the video. Thanks to all for their comments on the video. I'm not sqeemish, but it sounds like that procedure is alot more involved than how my ortho described it. However, if the surgeon offers putting me completely out, I'm thinking I'll go that route.

Hey guyss! I've finally done my exposures.....it was a breeze! Seriously, I was freaking out for no reason. So to all of you, relax...

On top of the exposures, the surgeon removed this benign tumor. So my face is still a little swollen from that (surgery was friday). As far as pain, very little...

I just came back from my ortho and she tied rubber bands to the chains. I feel a little pressure on each tooth--kinda like the pressure when you first get braces.

now lets hope that these suckers move quick, 'cause I look weird with no teeth....lol

let me know if you guys have any questions to help you w the anxiety..


I would post pix but I dont know how to do it here.

Question to you all: how long for the teeth to come down!!?

What kind of rubber bands did she tie to the wires? I dont feel anything like I think I should every time mine get tightened..hmn

j2 - do your other teeth not feel the pressure too?

If my ortho pulls on the canine too hard, the elastic causes the arch wire to be bent a little, and therefore the other teeth arround it tend to rise up...I have elastics now to stop it a little, but still happens slightly.

Also- you say was ready for a bracket in June..but you're waiting till August? Does that mean you can see the tooth to put the bracket on now...but you're waiting till august to do it?

Thanks,

Ollie

exactly----it's like a rubber string, they pass it through the loop in the gold chain and tie a knot---really tight.

I can feel the pressure you're talking about in the neighboring teeth.

One of the canines should come down quick, as per my surgeon.

The other he said, "good luck"... I guess you just gotta be positive.

I got pix of my x-ray in my little blog.

Ollie--if you want, i could email u a pic of the rubber bands to get an idea. I took a pic of it---just send me your email.

I dont want to post them here cause they look kinda gross, but the pic i took is really good.

How're your canines coming, Ollie?

exactly----it's like a rubber string, they pass it through the loop in the gold chain and tie a knot---really tight.

I can feel the pressure you're talking about in the neighboring teeth.

One of the canines should come down quick, as per my surgeon.

The other he said, "good luck"... I guess you just gotta be positive.

I got pix of my x-ray in my little blog.

Ollie--if you want, i could email u a pic of the rubber bands to get an idea. I took a pic of it---just send me your email.

I dont want to post them here cause they look kinda gross, but the pic i took is really good.

How're your canines coming, Ollie?

When you say pressure, how much exactly? My neighbouring teeth often move up a little, and ache for a few days :S

Why good luck? Does he think one will be harder to come down?

I only have 1 canine to come down fortunatly, but it's taking forever. Had my most recennt surgery Novemeber... the canine was visible, but she added another bracket, so I now have 2 pulling the canine - 1 horiontally towards the arch wire, 1 vertically down through the gums.

Send me the photos My email is ollie_lloyd@hotmail.com I'll check out your blog in a sec

I wish I had a chain and anchor. I just have so much trouble believing that my tooth will just come down on its own.

j2 couldnt have described the pain better... thats exactly how it feels.

today i went to the surgeon and he took a panoram xray of my teeth with the chain. It looks weird--! i should post it soon in my blog.

i wanna try to have a positive attitude and hope that by december at least one of the teeth will be down.

J2--I know you're very active in here. How long do you think it takes, on average, for our teeth to come down? min-max?

I'm also at a very negative stage. Although she managed to put another button on the tooth, i think that was just from so much gum wearing away, its still really far back, and after a week oft he new bracket i dont feel or see any movement. ugh, this is just never ending I absolutely hate it...