Metal Mouth Message Board

I had 3 teeth out before the braces, and now only have 2 gaps, so yes, braces alone can close extraction gaps! Of course it would depend on the treatment, but if your ortho is trying to close the gap, chances are it will happen.

I'm so frustrated and over it that im nearly in tears. After 7 months of being braced, ortho decided to put brackets on my very back teeth, having originally started from the second back ones. That brought pain, shredded bleeding and swollen gums for about 2 weeks, then I got about a week pain free ...

Oh what a tease ... getting them off only to have them go back on again! Have fun while they are off and eat everything we are all dreaming about.

Glad you got a better ortho ... just goes to show that you should trust your instincts when it comes to things like that.

Truthfully ... I don't. Yesyes, slap on the wrist for me, but I never have, and now that it's even more hassle ... I just don't.

I was all set to get mine done as a 'reward' for getting my braces on ... and ortho had a fit. He deals with my tongue ring coz he knows it's not going anywhere, but he severely discouraged the lip ring, and now i'm braced I know why. It really would get in the way, not to mention probably get caugh...

Vegetable soup!

(Yes, soup ... how boring. But it stains my ligs!)

Mine has scratched off in places ... but I have a feeling it's just where my tounge bar scraped it.

I don't think it would scratch easily with normal day to day things though.

Spacers hurt ... but unfortunatly it's just the start of a long painful process.

Pain killers will become your friend, but you will learn how to dose yourself so you don't wake up in agony each morning.

Personally ... I wouldn't, but some say they do.

I would call ortho and pop in for a quick trim, but that might not be as easy for everyone else.

Or even better ... call ortho and ask if you can clip it?

I have just 'normal' braces ... but for the first 2 or 3 weeks I couldn't chew. I've had them for 4 weeks now and all is fine ... so don't worry, they will settle down and you will be able to eat normal (although soft) foods soon enough.

Seriously, call your ortho. Mine were like that, and I thought they were 'supposed' to be. The whole right side of my tongue was cut open from it, and eventually my mother called ortho because she didn't think it was normal. It wasnt. He forgot to file them down. 5 minute appointment with him and a ...

I'm also 22 and have had the same 'are you a teenager' question from a kid.

I find braced teens looking at me, so I smile at them and 99% of them smile shyly back at me, or look sympathetically at me.

Some of the suprised 'she's like me' looks I get are kinda cute.

My ortho told me no to whitening toothpaste ... but I still do :o I'm a big coffee drinker, so my theory is that the whitening toothpaste will mainly keep the staining down. I've never been one to follow instructions though. At first the braces feel huge ... it feels like they stick out so far, but ...

I have 4 normal teeth extracted (not wisdom teeth) extracted then a week later got the braces on. I was really self conscious (and after almost a month with braces I still am) but people's reactions have been all positive. Most people are only curious as to why I've got braces at my age (mind you, i...

I call them ulcers too, must only be americans that call them something funny (I'm Australian). I've had my braces on for a week now too, and can eat really really soft foods only if I chew really slowly and only on one side of my mouth! My teeth are still really tender, but the trick is to try and ...