Metal Mouth Message Board

You've been through the wringer. I really hope that this round of braces "works" and brings everything where it needs to be.

And I bet you could eat candy cane-flavored ice cream.

Congrats on taking these steps! You'll see...pretty soon you'll be smiling and showing your teeth even though you have braces!

Don't forget to take photos so that you can compare before, during, and after!

Thanks for the link re. the wires. I will check it out! I am a geek about things like that. I actually did hear the ortho tell the tech. which gauge wires to use, but by the time I wrote this post, I'd forgotten. Seems like the bottom rectangular was 20x25 and top round was 18, but don't quote me o...

Surely men's restrooms have paper towels? Wrap your retainers in half a paper towel before putting them in their case.... My initial reaction is to say, “genius!” but your solution seems so obvious that I should probably just say, “duh!” Maybe I’ve heard too many stories over the years – and repeat...

I learned the fun doesn’t entirely end at debonding…. :roll: Retainers definitely beat braces, but as a guy I have one specific gripe about the standard retainer cases. Here’s the problem: I quickly figured out that when you’re out for lunch or dinner and need to pop out your essix and give them a ...

This is interesting to me, and I wish I knew more about how the ortho decides which wires to use when. I have just the opposite configuration from you: I was upgraded to a rectangular wire (not sure of gauge) on the bottom arch at my last appointment, while my upper arch remains a round wire. My bo...

I had my second adjustment today...got a new rectangular .014 x .025 Ni-Ti wire on top. Shew, I can really feel it! My next adjustment is on Valentine's Day, and they'll upgrade the lower wire to this type then.

Otherwise, the orthodontist said everything's looking good. Yay!

OK, errbody, I posted some progress photos on Flickr.

Here's the album. I take a photo every week, but don't want to post every photo. At the end I'm going to string all the photos in a time-lapse video (she said, with the best intentions to actually do it...).

Happy New Year to all!

So you might have the braces on by now...if it is any consolation, I was really ready to get started with mine, then once I was at the ortho's office, I had a pit in my stomach! And then afterward, when the orthodontist asked me if I was feeling like "What have I done?" I said "Yep!&q...

Oh dang, you also have a posterior open bite. (That's my main issue.)

I also have Damon brackets, but I went with all metal.

As EmilyTravels mentions, you have beautiful teeth. I hope the treatment time is shorter than estimated!

Bracefacemom47 wrote:

Ali wrote:

Bracefacemom47 wrote:Mine hurt only where the band hooks are.

That's where I get the most irritated. I only use wax when it's really bugging me or if I have to talk a lot.

I know right? I wish i could just not talk.

Bracefacemom47 wrote:Mine hurt only where the band hooks are.

That's where I get the most irritated. I only use wax when it's really bugging me or if I have to talk a lot.

rubyteeth wrote:do you have progress photos anywhere we can see? just out of interest to see how fast things change even at this age!!

Just saw this! I haven't put the photos online yet, but I will try to do so soon.

Yes, it's pretty crazy how our bodies hold and manifest tension and pain.

First, congrats on getting your braces off!... Hey, Ali. Thanks for the nice comment. I went to your thread and it looks like you just recently got rolling. Good luck with this round two for you. I can’t really imagine that there’ll be too much to write about now. That’s probably a good thing. Just...