Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm about 14 months into having braces, so everything is pretty much lined up now, except for one little thing: I've noticed a rather large and kind of sharp bump on my upper gum if I feel with my finger way up as far as I can push it under my upper lip. It wasn't there before. Sometimes I have to d...

My ortho did some "tooth shaping" which is not something I'm at all comfortable with. He tooth some enamel off of some teeth, and now those surfaces are rough instead of smooth like they were. It's been about a month now. I was told that the surfaces would get smooth again, but now how lon...

I like my retainers more than braces. True, the braces just sit there....but the retainers come out and I can brush and floss and have gorgous teeth for special events. You get used to the reatainers after about a month or so...at least I did. Eating is also so much more enjoyable now!!! My vote fo...

Whew! :D Well, I hope my experience will be better than most. My braces were really quite a pain in the beginning, and I was hoping things would only be better (maybe even total liberation) after the braces came off. Now how long are retainers used for full time before the ortho says it's alright ju...

My ortho hinted at my last adjustment that I might be out of braces this summer, which would mean 1 more adjustment, and then the next appt. would be "braces off" day. In anticipation of this, I'm now doubling up on my elastics to make sure the process goes as quickly as possible. (I asked...

Thanks for your support everyone! The pain I feel during the adjustment is when they're applying pressure as they put new ties and chains on. It's not nearly as bad when they're being taken off, but when the pressure has been off for awhile, then my teeth get much more sensitive for when they put th...

:P I'd love to tell them that, but I think they already hate me! :lol: I kind of wonder about my ortho. He's really rough with me. He always does everything real fast and not very carefully. Last time, I thought he was trying to pull my mouth apart! He said I might be done with the braces around thi...

Today is my 1 year anniversary! :D Now, you would think things would be alot easier by now. But when I go in for adjustments, it hurts alot! I can't help but sqwirm around or let out a groan when the assistant is putting the ties back on. It just really hurts! The last time I was there, the assistan...

Sorry, I don't have a camera to take pictures. Wish I did. This other wire I was talking about runs just above the archwire, and looks like another archwire. I'm surprised the ortho didn't tell me a word about it. It seems to span across all of my upper teeth. This was put in when he replaced my upp...

I am now at my 1 year point in braces! Just had an adjustment yesterday (and the ortho was NOT gentle! Nearly tore my mouth apart!) and now that I've tried flossing again, the threader keeps getting caught between 2 objects. After taking a closer look, I've now noticed that there is an archwire behi...

OK. I'll be seeing my ortho next Wednesday. I'll mention it to him.

If it's not really a blister, what else could it be that would resemble a blister and last for 3 weeks?

Well, I've been in braces almost exactly a year now, and now I have a large blister on the inside of my cheek that may have been caused by the braces rubbing against my cheek. It's been there for about 3 weeks and it hurts! I've been rinsing with salt water, but it's not helping. I've heard that if ...

Ok, I just got a reply from Dr. Rick. That sure was fast! He said that there is a law of diminishing returns, meaning that as time goes on, the results may in fact slow down. He said I should discuss with my ortho if I should continue or not if I'm happy with how things are now. Yikes! I'm not sure ...

Thank you all for the advice and encouragement. I will try to stay patient and look for changes to take place. Also, I did send my question to Dr. Rick to get his advice. I did ask my ortho at the time of my last appointment, but he's always really busy when I'm there and doesn't have time to talk m...

For the past 3 or 4 months now during which time I've had 2 adjustments, I have seen NO movement of my teeth at all. I've had braces now for 11 months. I'm currently using elastics to correct my overbite, which changed alot using elastics for the first month (and only 16 hours per day), and then eve...