Metal Mouth Message Board

I go to a smaller slower practice and the orthodontist has only one assistant. He does almost all the work on me himself while the assistant mostly sets things up and disinfects things afterwards. My daughter, on the other hand, goes to a busy popular practice where the orthodontist has several assi...

If you can't find the ortho brush heads, get the "Precision Clean" ones. I can't find the orthodontic specific ones for my Oral B Professional brush in the regular stores. I've been using the "Precision Clean" ones for several months with no problems. They do wear out faster with...

I can't tell anything is wrong from the photo. Looks perfect to me. I'd be thrilled.

Well, at my last dental appt, the hygienist raved about how great my teeth and gums looked so I must be doing something right. I don't consider my routine extreme, by any means, but it is very consistent. 1. Brush (Oral B electric) each morning 2. Rinse and use interbrush as needed after every meal/...

It definitely sounds like they are planning to put brackets on your other teeth and wait until teeth start moving to try the spacers again. My ortho resorted to metal spacers on me to make room for the blue spacers.

Pebs

I had spacers for a couple months! My molars really didn't want to move and make room for the molar bands. I came to actually LIKE the blue rubber spacers as they were a breeze compared to the metal spacers we ended up using. Cheer up. It could always be worse!

Pebs

I had the same problem at first and I definitely cut my tongue a few times (I could taste blood). I even tried gobbing on wax on the inside part of the band and that helped some but it didn't stay in place very well. Eventually, my tongue quit rubbing against the edges of the bands. It's fine now. S...

Hang in there. It does get better. . .and then worse. . .and then better again. I'm still pretty new to braces, about 6 weeks now. Some days my teeth are sore and some days they are less so. What's bugging me the most right now is that my bite is shifting and is definitely worse than when I started....

I know exactly what you are talking about. I HAD to use wax to give my poor tongue a break. One of my molar bands felt like it had a razor sharp top edge and one (on the other side) felt like the bottom edge was away from the tooth and was sharp too! What finally helped make the wax work: dry off th...

Mint wax is actually ok when I put it on but I hate tasting mint whenever I'm eating or drinking. Yuck. The main problem is that I've checked several local stores and they don't carry unflavored wax. It's all mint! Also, where can I find the silicon that some folks use instead of wax? I'd like to gi...

Thank you both for your replies. It's gratifying to see that I'm not the only one who would have thought the practices were objectionable. . .and to find out that perhaps they are proper practices after all!

Pebs

The other day was the first time I was in the orthos when other patients were present. The orthodontist and his assistant used hand gel between patients and between handling the phone and patients. They didn't wash their hands with soap and water that whole time I was there (just over an hour and wo...

I'm glad to hear that my story can brighten your day. Fortunately, I was able to see the humor in the situation, even as the washcloth dangled from my mouth. I'm just so glad I was at home and not at work. Oh my, electrokitty! Thank you for sharing your story - I would have just curled up in embarra...

You are definitely not alone. I was rarely taken to the dentist as a child, essentially only when I complained of tooth pain. It wasn't until I was an adult, working and on my own, that I started seeing the dentist every 6-months, as is recommended. I don't have any kind of dental insurance and pay ...

A brief update: one of the metal spacers fell out over the holiday weekend and it was such a relief. I was actually able to chew on that side again. When I was able to call the ortho and go in, he replaced the metal spacers with the blue ones. Oh, I am so much more comfortable. Thanks again for all ...