Metal Mouth Message Board

Regular appointment. Power chain all the way across on lower, with a new wire (same gauge though, 0.016x0.025). A 3-unit chain to close a gap on lower right - to pull wisdom tooth forward to close a gap. Rubber bands continue - no change. 2016-03-17: braces go on! 2016-04-21: adjustment #1 (0.014 Ni...

Thank you for visiting, lovely and tilly upstairs! Well, I had an "emergency" visit this past Monday. The closing loop in the upper wire has done such a fantastic job that the extraction gap is all but gone, which now makes the closing loop itself cutting into the gum. I felt a sting while...

Adjustment #20 was pretty routine. No wire change. Rubber bands will stay in the current formation. Extraction gap is almost all closed up (loop put in back in October last year). Since I am hitting the two-year mark this time, I asked how much more time I will stay in braces. "Definitely off s...

This post is a bit behind. My adjustment #19 came and went with not much excitement. Business as usual. What's been different is that I had a wisdom tooth extracted five days ago. This was one on the lower left and my ortho had recommended that it be taken out from the very beginning. Since it didn'...

Another new part of the journey - adjustment #18 brings on the rubber bands. Each rubber band goes on 4 teeth: canine/1st premolar on the top, and the two premolars on the bottom. The premolars aren't really touching at this point, so hopefully this will fix the bite. Really big pressure initially, ...

New wire on bottom: 0.016x0.022 Stainless Steel Activated the loop in upper wire to help close extraction gap. Happy holidays, everyone! 2016-03-17: braces go on! 2016-04-21: adjustment #1 (0.014 NiTi wire upper and lower) 2016-05-26: adj. #2 2016-07-06: adj. #3 (0.016 NiTi on lower) 2016-08-16: adj...

A quick photo comparison between spring 2016 and October 2017.

Adjustment #16 yesterday. Replaced upper wire - same gauge but with a closing loop. Finally we'll take care of the extraction gap. About time - extraction was back in spring 2016. :) My orthodontist worked carefully on the position and shape of the loop. He also told me that TMA wires work better on...

Hi, pitasyd and y MetalMouthBraces. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a message! Appreciate the kind words.

Well, it's adjustment #15 today. A good year and a half have passed. Hard to believe. I got new a new wire on the bottom: 16x22 CNT (copper NiTi). This is the same wire I got on the upper almost exactly six months ago. My orthodontist said, "we finally moved on to rectangular wire on the bottom...

Just got back from today's adjustment. This is #14. I got new wires on top again. Same size but stiffer, I was told. Package says TMA Alexander by ORMCO. I looked it up and TMA = Titanium-Molybdenum alloy. My orthodontist explains that this is useful for ceramic brackets (I have 8 of these on the to...

This is wonderful! So happy for you.

A quick update: yesterday (July 5, 2017) was adjustment #13. I got new stainless steel wire on lower. Also, a power chain was put on the top 4 (central+lateral) to help close a small gap that appeared between the central and lateral teeth on the left. So this probably means that we have finally arri...

What a difference the eight weeks made! Really happy for you. I started my braces about a year before you did, and it seems the year just zoomed by. I probably have up to another year to go. This is really one of the best things I have done for myself as an adult. Keep it up!

Atrixa / VioletStubbs, Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. Isn't it true? I had always thought that braces just fix my free-spirited crooked teeth. Never thought that they could also fix so many other problems - and then realizing that I have so many of these "other problems&q...