Metal Mouth Message Board

Dr. J, I am at a crossroads in my treatment and don't know what to do... My ortho. recently told me that I would be done as soon as the minor crowding on bottom is corrected. However, I am having a problem with the front top arch. My bite looked great about two months ago...a nice overjet of about 2...

Hi docs, I wore a "triangle" elastic configuration (elastic on each side around upper canine, lower canine, and lower first premolar) for about four months. I am now wearing "upside down" triangles (elastic on each side around upper canine, upper first premolar, and lower first p...

I have been wearing elastics since day one (over a year now w/ different types of configurations) and when he would put them on me at the office, he used what seemed to be tweezers....maybe you could hold the elastic with the tweezer and start it on the first loop and just pull it w/ the tweezers to...

Hi docs, I have also read on some previous posts that open bites are corrected by elastics...just to clarify, for a bite that is slightly open due to the front teeth being flared a little, did the wire close those teeth down or did the triangle elastics I had do it? Just curious b/c I did not wear t...

Hi docs, I have a question about whether a centered midline is required for the best result......I have wore "cross-bite" elastics for about six months to correct a cross-bite on my right side (top 1st molar was in a little) and then triange elastics to work on my open bite.......this work...

Hey docs, The elastics are closing my open bite very nicely...however, when I bite down or try to talk, my two upper front teeth hit the bottom ceramic brackets. After reading some prior posts, I'm concerned that this hitting will chip my front teeth...also, as I said, it is very difficult to talk o...

Thanks for your responses, Dr. J.

My ortho. grinded the tooth down even more
to allow me to get my mouth closed a little more.
I guess I will have to hope that tooth floats back.
Thanks again! :)
I guess unintended consequences in orthodontics
is just part of the journey sometimes.

Dr. J., I saw my ortho. this morning about getting that second molar back to its starting position. All he did was grind the molars a little. He said the best way to get the upper second molar back was to just let it drift back. He said it would take about a week. However, these molars are way off n...

Hi docs, I previously wrote that during my treatment, a slight cross-bite formed on my left-side in fixing cross-bite on the right side and centering the midline. The ortho. tried to fix the new cross-bite by bracketing the flared second molar on the upper left side. He said this would pull the teet...

Hi docs, I hit a snag with my treatment and would like your opinions. In correcting a cross-bite on my right side w/ elastics and centering my midline, a cross-bite formed w/ the first molar (and tooth in front of first molar) on my left side. When I smile, my midlines are lined up perfectly, but yo...

Hi, About an hour after I got a new wire, I took a sip of very hot coffee and instantly felt the molars on my left side seem like they pulled/moved. I know that the wire is activated by body temperature...but will drinking very hot beverages aid the movement of the teeth by activating the wire at to...

Hello drs., I have some major concerns about my current treatment and any advice would be much appreciated. My treatment started about fourteen months ago to correct a cross-bite on the right side and a slightly open bite (also my midline was considerably off to the right.) Also, my second molars (n...