Metal Mouth Message Board

I didnt sleep last night. Which is probably why I'm writing this, and I hope to look back at it in 2 years time and laugh.

Last year sometime Mum, my sister and me went to the dentist. Mum and my sister: perfect teeth. Me: "I would advise you take him to see the orthodontist near the fruit shop.."

So 4 months later, (Our dentistry infastructure seems to be very busy) my Mum dragged me to the ortho. I though my teeth were fine to be honest. After the consultation, it was decided I would have braces for 16 - 30 months, with bands, springs, and to top it all off, a wonderful bite plate.

another SIX MONTHS, I went in to have Impressions done of my teeth.
The assistant was nice enough, all I had to do was sit back in one of those weird chairs that makes you feel ultra dizzy...
Along comes the dentist.
D:"Okay Matt, have you ever had impressions done of your teeth before?"
M: "nou..."
D"Well, I'm going to ask you to bite down on these plates, breathe through your nose and try not to move your jaw."

What he should have said was:
"Okay, I am going to get this disgusting-ultra-cold-metal-plate-of-evilness©
and put some
Really-gross-cold-green-go© on it and ram it in your mouth while I hold your mouth shut. Okay? okay!"

After he did my bottom jaw,(not that bad) he did my top. My problem is I have really big teeth (If you havent read my other posts) so the disgusting-ultra-cold-metal-plate-of-evilness© didnt run the entire length on the arch, how did he solve it? he got two huge globs of Really-gross-cold-green-go© and stuck them on my molars, and then put the disgusting-ultra-cold-metal-plate-of-evilness© on.
And last, I had to bite on this strange horseshoe shaped bright red waxy thing. what is that???

Have you ever noticed that when you really want to stay still, you twitch and really dont? yeah I twitched. In retrospect, it wasnt that bad.

I listened to the advice of my best friend who has braces, and he advised not to taste the Really-gross-cold-green-go©. He described it as being metallic almost (?)

Anyhows, I get tiny-blue-implements-of-torture©(also known as spacers) in *checks clock* 5 days.... eep. Do they hurt much?

Will update on spacers.

-M@

Update:
It's the 18th and I had spacers today, for those who dont know, spacers are little O shaped pieces of rubber that are inserted between teeth to make space for a band

So we sat in the waiting room for the dentist, and I was really nervous, and my sister was in there with my mum, and I had the good fortune for a teacher I really dont like to be in the waiting room with me ( you know how theres just you and the person and you both pretend not to notice the other)

15 Minutes later I got called, and reclined into the big squishy chair.
The dentist got what looked like a big fat pair of tweezers, and stuck both the points through the O and stretched it, so it looked like a really long skinny oval. Holding on to my head, he then 'flossed' the seperator inbetween my teeth.

It didnt hurt at all, but it felt exactly like I had a giant piece of popcorn stuck in my teeth. 4 hours lately, I'm already finding it difficult to eat, but I'm getting used to the feeling. No pain yet, which is a +!

My first time with spaces was pretty uncomfortable..my teeth were incredibly sensative and sore..but the next time i had them ( aweek befor the actual expander went in) was easy and I forgot they were there and ate normally ..so I think discomfort relates to how crowded the teeth are and how much thay are having to move to accomadate the spacers. Evveryone's experience seems to be different...now looking back at spacers i think "wow those were noth'n" compared to what I am going through now....good luck Ice!

Ice, your post was a hoot! And all very true.
Your sense of humor will get you through the braces experience just fine.

Keep smiling,
Doug

I too live in a place where it's very hard to get orthodontic treatment done in a timely manner. I had to wait 8 months from the time I called to make an appointment, to my first appointment. It then took another 4 months to figure out exactly what was going to happen, and today was finally the first day of treatment.... some 13 months later.

I got my spacers in today too. I had no idea what was in store, as I really had no idea what I was going to the ortho for today, I just knew I had an appointment today, and another in 2 days.

I was told by the hygeniest that the spacers would hurt and that I probably wouldn't be able to eat anything other than yogurt, soup, jello, etc, but really all they are is annoying when I try to close my mouth. I have eaten food that I have had to chew, and it bugged me a bit, but it doesn't hurt nearly as much as she said it would.

I now have an appointment in 2 days to get some other kind of spacer put in? I would presume this one is going to last for more than 2 days? I am supposed to get my braces in a month, and sometime between now and then I have to get 4 molars extracted, and hopefully a checkup and cleaning, but my regular dentist is booked solid until October! I hate living up here.... if I had lived anywhere else I would have had my braces on and off by now!

Spacers: Day 2 *Ominous music*

I woke up some time during the night, thinking that my alarm had gone off, but upon checking my clock discovered that it was 12:18 AM, not 6:30!
I frowned, and learnt that night that I clench my teeth when I do so. I jumped out of bed and my eyes watered - the spacers were a minor annoyance at first, but now they officially sucked!

To quell my night time pain I had Panadol. And a bowl of ice cream

All was fine during the day, not pleasant, but no too bad. My evil mum also gave me biscuts for recess! >.< I tried one and gave up. I did get a tub of yogurt for a trade with it though I'm eating M&M's at the moment, my stoopid dad didnt realise that I would have pain eating them, but if I suck on them till they melt, it's all good! THe pain peaked on the night of the first day, but I think the apex has already passed (or is that cause I'm all drugged up?) and they seem to be getting better.

I also posted a question about my 8 spacers in the ask the doc, and the replies didnt really answer any of my questions I'll have to find jaws and ask her - I think I remember a picture of her spacers and she had 8

I think one of the reasons they hurts is because all my teeth are pretty much inline, so theres more to push on, anyone else support this theory?

lol, thanks Tuzzi - Doesnt it suck SO MUCH to have to wait in anticipation to get it done? oh no you have to wait a week? that sucks I only have to wear these little P******s for a week, I hope you have a better experience then me they're already better though so it's all good

-M@tt

I had my spacers yesterday (7/18) as well, and my experience was pretty much like yours. I definitely feel it now, the throbbing sensation is more intense...blahhh. I need to go and pick up the foods I can eat now, I had oatmeal this morning, man I haven't eaten that in FOREVER.

Lol@ your green stuff...mines was pink

Well the first day was ok, but now my entire mouth is sore, especially near my front teeth. I tried flossing last night, and ended up in tears because 2 teeth were so sensitive.... and that's totally not me.... usually I can handle mouth pain pretty easily.

I just woke up a while ago (I have a lovely day off of work) and my whole mouth is sore, and it's a different kind of pain when I bite down than it was yesterday. It feels like all my teeth are loose... you know when you're a lil kid and you have a loose tooth you play with it all the time and it aches? That's how I feel today.

DAY 3:

Ha. The pain is 95% gone, which mans it has shrunk to a minor annoyance, which is now good.
It feels so very strange having hulking huge gaps in your teeth though - kinda unsettling. I've noticed that my front teeth have shifted, one of my lower incisors now overlaps my canine, I suppose it's progress.
I can sorta eat biscuts now! well I can eat them, it's just that the fun factor is not present, which kinda defeats the purpose of eating them.

lol, pretty much nothing else, other then I nearly flossed one out, I was in the shower and I just started flossing one of my molars and then I discovered that the floss was stuck, and THEN I remembered why.

I dont think I really need to post anymore abou the spacers, you poor people get the idea of my ramblings.. and if I sum up enough courage I might even post pics.... might.....

TuZZi - that's so not good! especially with your front teeth - are they in a weird alignment for this to be occuring my fronties were fine. aww >.< you got a day off? not fair, I had to go to school that day, but then again it sounds like I got off spacers easy, just hang in there TuZZi!

MyTime - You got pink stuff!? not fair! everyone in the area has green. Default green. I'll have to add my ortho to the hitlist for not getting festive colors


-M@

Well, it's 9:19 AM and I get my braces at 11:30.

Damnit, i found a picture of my teeth - sorta. I had a party a couple of years ago and one of my friends 'discovered' our new scanner and had the bright idea of pressing all our faces up against it and getting scanned, I still have mine, and it shows my teeth - sorta. There arent really any good pictures of my teeth because I've gotten so good at hiding them

[img][img]http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/8725/teeth19rk.png[/img]

^ may take a couple of goes to get right though....[/img]

I think I got it... You cant see how bad my teeth are though which is good. I have massive canines, I hope they dont get ground down though I like looking like dracula....

Anyhows, I'll post again in about 4 hours to tell how my banding went

-----Ice now has braces-----

I tell the story, for those of you who have braces, you can start ignore now

11:15 finally rolled by, and after a brief stop to get a drink for my mum, we walked into the orthodontist's office. There were so many people there! most of them had braces too. I saw one boy go in with braces and come out with shiny white teeth which he proudly showed off - I cant wait untill that is me!!

THe whole time slot had been pushed back because the ortho arrived late.. so after waiting half an hour extra I got called in with the other girl. The room we got led to was massive, with 5 dental chairs in it. The nurse put me and this other girl in chairs side by side. The Nurse then explained that the ortho would come around to each of us and fit molar bands on, and then added that the glue that would be used tastes 'really, really, really bad!'
The ortho rolled his roly chair (I want a rolly chair now!) to the girl, and after a couple of minutes of grunting on her part, finally wheeled over to me.
He said it was excellent that I wore my spacers in the whole time (? you can take them out?) handed me some sunglasses and the real fun began.
All four of my molar bands snapped easily into place and was a perfect fit on the first go. He then filled up my mouth with these little cotton pieces that looked like obease cigars and snapped the molar bands back on - plus this disgusting glue.

It was the worst thing I have ever tasted in my life. f o u l. I hope I never have to have it in my mouth again. It tasted kinda latexy, but super sour.

The ortho then wheeled himself back to the other girl. The nurse asked me to get up slowly and rinse. It was so creepy having the molar bands, my molars were covered in some sort of white stuff and my mouth no longer closed properly. When I tried to spit my tongue got caught on the bands and I managed a sort of projected dribble.

Mum then came over and admired my bands, and pointed to where the girl was. The ortho was slowly sticking the bracket on, and then adjusting it like he had obsessive compulsive disorder, and the brackets werent even in the middle of the tooth!

Then came my turn. The nurse put these very cumfy lip seperatory thingies in my mouth, and all I had to do was sit back for ages and let the ortho put the brackes on. He first got a cotton bud stick and smeared stuff all over my teeth, and then started glueing the brackets on.

After he had done this, the worst part in my experience happened, the nurse put this blue lighty thing on my teeth to make the glue set, and it took AGES and the beeping of the thing annoyed the f*#$k outta me.
FINALLY I got up, and my dry lips got caught on the bare brackets and held my mouth open in a silly looking grin, I had little hooks on the ends of most of my brackets. I then got to choose colours, which was easy, I had though about this already. Gold and Silver. Altinating.

This part wasnt pleasant. The ortho wheeled over to me and man-handled the archwire and ligatures into my brackets. Finally I was almost finished.
The nurse then showed me how to wear my rubber bands, from my canines to my back molars. I was shocked when I first looked in the mirror, all my brackets were facing different ways and were ultra zig-zaggy! [sarcasm]then the nurse gave me a lovely bite plate [\sarcasm] for those who are lucky enough not to have it, it's an awfull piece of plastic to prop open your bite so you dont bite your brackets off. I hate it! It stops my molars meeting and pops out all the time and feels loose.

all in all, braces werent as bad as I expected. Since we dont have a digital camera, I got dad to take a before photo of my teeth, and an after. I'll post them up when they get developed

-M@

I just got braces and an EVIL! bite plate. Do you eat with yours? I can't, have to take it out Anyway, good luck with your braces and bite plate!! )

Thanks Larissa! THe ortho said to take the biteplate out to eat as a last resort as I can damage my brackets if I dont. I also have to take it out when I play clarinet/flute or tennis.

The only good thing about it is that it's blue

I just registered for this site and found the posts by Ice. What a HOOT! I guess a sense of humor is going to be important. Keep up the posts Ice-you had me laughing out loud!! Are you in the UK?

Hi privatepilot!

Sorry I took 7 days to reply, I was away on music tour, which I'm about to write about. I'm glad you find my posts funny, I'm one of those people that you take an immediate disliking to, so I try to make up for that

So like I said, I went on music tour, I play clarinet and flute, in the band I went with I was a 1st clari, which is good, because thanks to braces my flute playing really sucks . well, it's not that bad, my technical stuff is there, It just doesnt really sound like a flute

Most of our clarinet section has braces, when I first got them a girl next to me, BD (sorry, I really dont want to post names here, we'll just call her BD) showed me her bottom lip after playing with braces for a couple of months. I wish she didnt, it looked like a sponge that has been around since your mother was a girl :\ I really dont want my bottom lips to turn into a dingy sponge. They look too sexy

The first day:

We just got settled into our rooms, we were going on music to in Canberra and we were staying at the YHA. (Youth Hostel Association)
lunch:
Sausage sizzle (with white bread! not good for braces damnit! >.<)

Dinner:
*uggh, I forget.....*

Second Day:

We played with the Duntroon Military Band for 8 hours. they were cranky complain and really needed a kick up the a*s. But they were good.

Breakfast:
Corn Flakes. (egh. not good)

Lunch:
Sandwiches with wite bread (nouu! , Braces now looking like a hedge)

Dinner:
Stir Fry. The kind with small noodles. Once again, not good for braces!!!

Third day:
We performed at the Canberra City band in front of 2 1/2 thousand people. yay! (I tried not to smile after the sandwiches)
Perfomed again (we did the show twice.)

Breakfast:
Yougurt (I though I scored there. Soft. Pulpy. Then I went to brush my teeth and found that it had strawberry crap in it. >.<)

Lunch:
once a friggin gain, we had white bread sandwiches. I dont think my teeth will ever be the same...

Dinner:
SPAGHETTI! AAGGHHH! I looked like I'd lost a war with a vine. But all people with braces did, so sucked in ^ ^

Fourth day:
We went home (zz)

Overall it was a great tour, and I feel sad for those who dont get the opportunity to play an instrument. It's fantastic. Braces + instrument is not so fantastic but you'll live

THe braces during the tour:
I slept on my right cheek. I know this because I developed a number of small craters on that side. Then one of the hooks scratched my cheek, it became inflamed, and so it got swollen. Then both top and bottom hooks proceeded to eat my cheek. I tried to use wax but it dont stick to molar hooks good !

So yeah, that's going on a music tour with braces for those who want to know. No walk in the park but not too bad. Bai all!