Metal Mouth Message Board

Did any of you ever keep your old arch wires....for a souvenir or just to examine? I had my wires changed today and have always planned to ask for the old ones, which I did. I kinda felt silly and I asked the technician if anyone else has ever asked for theirs and she said, "yes! it happens all the time". That made me feel better.

I never wanted to keep a wire, but I did get the original molds of my teeth pre-braces. They're scary. But it's a great souvenir and reminder of why I went though the process.

I gotta say, I have never heard of that one! Keeping old arch wires.. I will ask my ortho and see what they say. Interesting.

I have never had anyone ask me for their old archwires.

I will often offer pts their old appliances or braces and even then most do not want them.

I asked for my wires/brackets. The power chains were still holding the brackets onto the wires.

Was informed that I am the second of two patients in the past two years who have asked to keep them. So it is fairly rare.

It was fascinating examining them after removal. The brackets seem much smaller than they felt in my mouth. What is disconcerting is that the wires/brackets smell faintly like someone who hasn't brushed their teeth, even after I tried to disinfect it in mouthwash, turning the powerchains green. Probably food/bacteria is caught in the powerchains and inside the brackets, so you really can't sanitize them to fade the odour. And the CDA specifically said that my braces were amazingly clean compared to other patients, with little buildup. I thought perhaps that this smell problem caused bad breath while I was wearing the braces, but my husband said that my mouth did not smell bad.

It has been almost a month since I had them removed. I wonder what to do with them now. Maybe the garbage can.

What's even weirder than that is why I am back on ArchWired in the Metal Mouth Forum when my braces are off already. It's like a habit I can't break.

karencoutts wrote: What's even weirder than that is why I am back on ArchWired in the Metal Mouth Forum when my braces are off already. It's like a habit I can't break.

Your just continuing your support to the community

I could imagine a very cool art project out of them!

They didn't offer wires/braces to me. I declined the old molds. At an art car show, I once saw a car with dentures glued all over it -- I'd rather see braces and orthodontic appliances!

karencoutts wrote: What's even weirder than that is why I am back on ArchWired in the Metal Mouth Forum when my braces are off already. It's like a habit I can't break.

I know that feeling! I have my braces off for almost a month and I am still stalking this forum!

I have kept not only every archwire but also every ligature. I keep them filed in small zipper bags labelled by date of adjustment. I have had ligatures changed by several different dentists and none of them ever questioned me about keeping the old ones.

Why would you want the nasty bacteria/plaque encrusted ligatures?

That's one way to put it I have to agree with drrick on this one here, maybe keeping the archwires is one thing but,

drrick wrote:Why would you want the nasty bacteria/plaque encrusted ligatures?

Probably the most disgusting thing I've asked for from a dentist/oral surgeon/have been my wisdom teeth. They were really cool (and really huge). My students and I did an experiment where we put one in Mountain Dew, one in Coca-Cola, one in Milk and one in Water. It was a truly awesome project! Each year, one of my students typically have their wisdom teeth, and they chose to 'donate' their teeth for the betterment of science :) As for archwires (and especially ligatures) I can't stand looking at them on the tray when they remove them, much less keeping them as a souvenir.

macgirl4ever wrote:My students and I did an experiment where we put one in Mountain Dew, one in Coca-Cola, one in Milk and one in Water.

So what was the result? Curious minds want to know!

I never thought about keeping any appliances...I think that's disgusting.
But that's just me.