Metal Mouth Message Board

I second the importance of Attagirls question #4, whether your prospective ortho minds answering your questions. You'd be suprised how many orthos resent questions by their patients, interpret it as a lack of confidence in their ability, etc. I suggest that you ask not just about headgears, but the ...

Greetings everybody, This is my first posting since June, when I had 2 upper bicuspids extracted. The short-term treatment plan is to move the upper canines into the spaces previously occupied by the (extraced) bicuspids. This creates the spaces into which the upper incisors will be rotated and move...

Adult teeth on average move much more slowly than
children's teeth.

After my ortho decided I needed 4 teeth extracted,
he said to expect my treatment time to be lengthened
by 6-9 months, to allow the gaps to close.

I hate to be the wet blanket...but it is probably more common for treatment to take **longer** than the anticipated timetable. Lynn, the person who established this website, spent one month shy of 3 years in braces, having been originally told it would take 2. My original estimate was for 24 months,...

Dear KK, Thank you very much for the encouraging words, and the Ranbow passage. I had been thinking of contacting a speech therapist friend for a similar purpose, and am glad to not have to disturb her. I have 10 days before my first conference presentation, and will be drilling this alot!

Ah yes...elastics. I have powerchains across the gaps, running form the top canines to the top molars. Ortho said he will give mde a week to adjust to chains, then he will add removable elastics to run parallel to the powerchains. Now, correct me if I am being naive here. I saw the elastics developm...

So I had my extractions 2 days ago, top first premolars. Surgery was a piece of cake, took 5 minutes, no painkillers needed after the anesthetic wore off. Gaps are big, but I have to open my mouth very wide for them to be noticeable. Ortho says he does not expect my profile to be adversely affected ...

Regina Rose, I chose my child's orthodontist for my own treatment because he was highly recommended, is WONDERFUL with kids and teenagers, and I thought competence should trump all else. I figured as long as I was willing to make the committment, go through the bracing, that was what mattered the mo...

I have given much thought to this business of how ortho's are handling adult extractions. I too had been told repeatedly in my younger days that my teeth could not possibly be straightened w/o extractions. Eventually I started treatment with my children's ortho, a fine fellow who said that extractio...

The title pretty much summarized my questions. I have to have my upper "first premolars", "bicuspids", whatever they're called (4th teeth from the center) removed in 10 days. I am horribly upset about the prospect of the gaps showing when I smile, or even talk. I am attending a c...

Kathleen, thanks for your response. I am getting my archwire and a holding arch put on one hour following the extraction. So I naturally assumed they would put on the powerchains, elastics, etc. at that time. But now I will ask about that when I go this week to get casted for my holding arch. Perhap...

Hi, I'm the one with the ortho who said that extractions would the "worst possible outcome" for me -then 8 months later, went ahead and ordered 4 extractions. OK, so I have accepted that reality, and am now ready to move on, which is to say, agonize over the post-extraction routine. In 2 w...

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am not nervous about the actual extraction. There'll be post-op pain, but I had 5 gum grafts before banding, so I'm an old hand now at OS recovery. It's the gaps between my teeth that I hate to think about, and I'll hate the sight of them. I'm having the archwire r...

Hello everyone, I went for my second adjustment yesterday. Although there has been some definite movement of my upper teeth (the only ones braced right now) the ortho decided that I need 2 upper teeth extracted ASAP, and will eventually order the removal of 2 lower teeth. During all the pre-banding ...

I seem to have a slightly different problem on this score. Apparently I am not in enough pain. I was under the impression that teeth should feel tender right after adjustments, perhaps for a day or so, and then one might expect to just feel pressure, or intermittent tenderness. At any rate, that is ...