Metal Mouth Message Board

Tennessee, I think you have to stick with it. It's a lot of money to spend not to be satisfied with the result. I know it's not guaranteed what the end result will be, but you have to use all the resources available that you've paid for. My dentist has advised that I will probably have to wear a cle...

Hi Annielorry, yep the site is great whether you've already got an IA or are considering one. Nothing like everyone's personal experiences to tell it how it is! I'm on week 10 with an upper aligner (with extra retainer). I can honestly say it's never been really painful, more just like aches and ten...

Hi Tennessee. I've got a composite on my front tooth to stop the bar riding up, so your dentist will probably do that on your next visit. Takes a bit of getting used to. Feels like you've got some food stuck under your lip! But as with most things with the IA, you get used to it!

Hi Tigger. Yes, I've gone slightly the other way too with a dry mouth, but I'm on week 7 so have had a fair time drooling everywhere, so glad things have dried up! Retainer brite seems to do a good job - I give mine a soak every morning as well as a brush withn toothpaste every evening - although th...

Hi Suicidtheory, your English is a lot better than my French, so no worries there. I've two teeth that need to move forward, two that need to move back and rotate round, and the front two that are slightly crossed and need to straighten ..! I was given a 12 week timescale (at week 7 now), but think ...

Suicidtheory -I'm the same as you regards speech in that it's not really improved since day 1. With the top expander fitted to the IA it means that your tongue cannot connect with the roof of your mouth - which unfortunately it needs to do to form quite a few everyday words !! For some reason, anyth...

Hi Tennessee. Thanks for the reasurrance. Guess it was just the shock of feeling the "wobble"! Had a look on Google and it seems quite a common occurrence. I obviously knew it was happening but just hadn't felt it before. Must stop being such a wuss ..!! Especially as I had laser eye surge...

Just taken out my IA this afternoon and felt that the tooth with the composite on the back of it is quite loose ..!! Has anyone else had wobbly teeth? Realise they have to loosen to move but not felt it to this extent before. A bit of a shock! Reluctant to put the IA back in again. My dentist is not...

Hi Hatemyteeth. Glad things are improving. Noticed some movement on both sides after about three weeks. One side needs more movement than the other, so currently looking a bit lopsided. Seems to have stalled a bit at the moment, but I'm due back at the dentists next week for some more filing, so per...

Hatemyteeth - glad you've had a slight improvement :) I'm coming up to the six week mark, which is hopefully half-way. Struggled at first getting it in and out and then developed a fairly good technique. But that went out the window last week when I had some composites put on my teeth - one on the f...

Hi Hatemyteeth. The goods news is that is does get better - in some ways. I was like you in that at first it felt so bulky and was making me salivate so much that I kept retching, but fortunately that only lasted for the first day or so, then I think my mouth aclimatised to having something so bulky...

Well, the halfway (hopefully) mark is in sight and my teeth are on the move. Had a couple of composites put on my teeth this week, one at the front and one at the back to hold the aligner more firmly in place and put more pressure on certain areas. But boy it makes getting the aligner out very trick...

Hi danasher 0912. I'm trying to wear my brace for at least 18 hours a day - more if I can. The only drawback to wearing it less is that it will take longer to achieve the end result. I think improvement in speech depends on whether you've got the extra retainer/expander fitted to your IA. This makes...

An expander is an extra spring retainer which fits behind the front teeth. When putting the aligner in you have to push the expander bar back behind the front teeth, which makes it more fiddly to put in. The expander has to be tightened once a week with a special key. Whether you have one or not I t...

Hi Pookie Glad that things are getting easier. How long did they say your treatment will take? The end seems a way off at the moment, but I'm hoping that the weeks will start speeding up. I agree with you about the speech - I just can't see that ever improving. I'm trying to perservere and not be to...