Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi! This is probably a long shot as my other posts regarding a tongue guard have gone unanswered, but what is the average time a tongue guard needs to be worn to be effective? Just want to mke sure I wear it long enough that it works and the tongue position will be maintained. My ortho said it was u...

Wow that is a lot of tads. I have seen those a lot on here but have not heard anything about them locally where I am from. I had an appointment yesterday too and had spacers removed. Those were not painful just a pain the butt. I kept biting on them. Had the lower tongue guard installed and he also ...

Getting a tongue guard installed on Monday on my lower arch. I having some questions for those that have had these sort of appliances: 1. How bad is the lisp and how long does it take to get used to taking with it in your mouth? 2. What was it like to eat? Did you have to cut stuff up? 3. Feel silly...

I am sort of in a similar situation as you. I had braces as a kid, closed my open bite, etc. Never had any appliances or head gear or anything the first time around. Just vertical elastics. So here I am 20 years later wearing full braces again because my anterior open bite was back and causing exces...

In January I hit my 12 month mark with braces. Originally I was given a treatment time of 12 months. So my ortho is open to trying anything and everything, as long as I am open, to tame my tongue thrust and close my bite. At this point, I am open to just about anything! At my appointment on Monday, ...

Is it uncommon or even unheard of to seek out an orthodontic consultation with another orthodontist when you are already in the middle of active treatment? Will an orthodontist do this? I really want a second opinion. I have an anterior open bite that is pretty much only open on the right side and a...

Hi all! It's been awhile since I posted. Had an adjustment yesterday and all I gotta say is OUCH! My teeth feel this morning like I just got them on! My ortho had been leaving my molars unwired in for the past couple of months to "take them out of play" to see what they would do. Well yest...

TMJJill, Thank you so much for all the info!! As for how far my bite is open I'm not exactly sure. I am more open in my right than my left. The left side is almost completely closed. The right was more open to start. When my dentist made the initial referral to an orthodontist she said that over tim...

Thanks guys for the replies! I emailed my ortho yesterday to get some more clarification as to what this all means and what the over all goal is. My bite is way improved! It's just not completely closed. From the front things look closed but on my sides you can tell it's still open. My dentist even ...

I used to have a lower bonded retainer that kept breaking. After fixing it several times, my ortho decided to just leave it off and said things had settled where they are going to settle. If you have removeable retainers too, then I would think you would be okay without the permanent ones at this po...

The first 2 times I had braces I had molar bands and you do get used to them. Your tongue and cheeks will adjust so hang in there. When they remove the bands, they have a tool that helps take them off and break the glue but will not break your teeth. So don't worry.

It will be okay. Just hang in there. Welcome to the club!

I'm in much the same situation. I get frustrated by my bite closing overnight but not staying put... :-+ But I was warned at the beginning of my treatment that sometimes it simply isn't possible to fully close open bites without surgery, and since I opted to go for a non-surgical route then there w...

Had my appointment this afternoon. I mentioned that in the morning that my bottom teeth hit the back of my top teeth but after taking my elastics out to eat and brush they never go back to that position again even with replacing my elastics. He said that I am gradually training my tongue to stay bac...

Had my ortho appointment today. He cut my wires so that I only have them in from second premolars on the top and bottom. He said he wanted to take the molars out of play. Then he said at my next appointment they will cut it back one more. I was very confused by this. He said my smile looked great bu...