Metal Mouth Message Board

prescription or over-the-counter?

Out of curiousity, did you have an orthodontically-fitted guard for his mouth? This is what was known as a "positioner" when I had braces, and I can tell you, it is so fitted to the mouth that it simply does not fall out, and taking it out takes serious effort. Unless it is fitted for his ...

Somewhere there is a disconnect. Both Delta Dental and Concordia have policies where you get maximum (or any) benefit only by going to their providers. Indeed, one of Concordia's programs is called "DHMO Concordia Plus."

In all honesty, I really couldn't follow what the article was talking about. My understanding is that each arch is treated "individually" to a certain extent, as the issues are completely different on the two, so there is no reason to unilaterally say that extractions should be symmetric i...

I have to believe the employer is looking to hire the best candidate for the job, independent of issues such as braces, hair color, size of your nose, etc. If the job is directly looks-related (i.e. modeling), this will probably differ, but in a standard professional setting, braces generally do not...

Sometimes the ortho will put hardware on that is to be used down the road. Are the bands not attached to the rest of the brackets by the wire? Generally the orthos use bands on the molars as opposed to brackets because they provide more stability and the molars are like the "grounding" tee...

YMMV=??? Your point is very well taken that insurance regulations vary by state and by company. I've never been to dental school in my life, but as a social worker I've dealt with insurance companies to advocate for benefits for my clients and it concerned me when you posted about the "clinical...

Why do you feel so bad 'doing this to him'? - Because you love him! You don't want to think that you would intentionally do something to hurt him, so it makes sense to me that you are hurting, too. I have not had an expander, so I cannot speak from experience. I think, though, that you will have to ...

rsprouse I beg to differ on the pre-approval issue. Depending on the insurance company, some providers are "in-network" and some aren't. If the pre-approval is for an in-network, and the perio or other provider is out-of-network, the pre-approval is worthless. Are you a dentist or somethi...

This is the complete text of the article. To title it "being a vegetarian can be bad for your teeth" is irresponsible journalism at its worst. It was one stupid study where they discovered that oven-roasting ratatouille increases its level of acidity compared to stewing it. That's it. Noth...

My understanding of phlebitis (from when I worked as a nephrology social worker) was that "superficial" phlebitis - inflammation of the vein - was pretty common but did not often require medical treatment. However, if the phlebitis advanced to thrombophlebitis - where there are actual bloo...

Greetings. I didn't exactly follow why you were having the surgery, and what exactly the OS would be doing. One of my colleagues at work is numb from lower lip to chin; I've never asked him about kissing (he's married so I can do that without seeming like I'm hitting on him) but I will tomorrow. I f...

Maybe this was already asked, but: Why don't they just pull the tooth like a standard extraction? I'm guessing the change in plan came from the discussion of possible ONJ, but sometimes it is worthwhile to consider the issue of "possibility" versus 'probability." I don't know your bac...

Bear in mind I think the whole dental community is overcharging us all, but I think I understand where they are coming from. First of all, I think "sedation" is a euphamism for "how much time he was in the room." It's their best gauge of room time, which is really what you are pa...

Unless I'm wrong, bambulka indicated this problem has only arisen in the past year or so. It'd be one thing if s/he had always experienced this, but rapid onset of a problem like that seems to me to deserve specialized attention.