Metal Mouth Message Board

I haven't been on in a while. Not much happened at my second adjustment. Same wire went back on the top and nothing happened with the bottom. Just went in for my third adjustment this past Wednesday. Finally got my lower arch wired! My ortho had to do a little grinding on my lower incisors to make t...

Just got back from my adjustment. Traveling to my ortho's office was a bit interesting, we're in the middle of quite a blizzard here in Vermont! I got my free-floating bracket reattached and moved up to a heavier wire. Since this was my first adjustment it was the first time out of the wire since it...

Hey, everybody! I've been really busy with work and school, so I haven't been hanging around here much. I've got my first adjustment coming up on Wednesday (yes, on Valentine's Day, how special :roll: ) and I'm really looking forward to it. Everything has been going smoothly. I finally got the hang ...

Yeah, the lower arch is not quite as wide. I never noticed it until today. Perhaps once my lower arch is wired up, things will eventually shift into a position that will allow me to chew like a normal person again. I hope, anyway. Other than this small inconvenience, I'm doing quite well.

Well, I made it all day without any real problems. Still getting used to all this extra gear in my mouth and the fact that I can no longer bring my back teeth together due to the tubes attached to the bands (they touch, preventing me from fully closing my jaws). I was expecting worse, especially bec...

I got my all four of my first molars banded today, but only had brackets bonded to my top arch. Now, my teeth don't close all the way because the tubes on the bands touch before my molars touch. Is this normal?

Just got back from the ortho a few minutes ago. Everything went mostly smoothly. The bands fit fine on the top, but the bottom spacers didn't make quite enough room. Both the assistant and the ortho tried to seat the bands on the bottom, and only one of them went on far enough (the left one didn't s...

Tomorrow's the big day, 8:50AM EST. I'm actually looking forward to it. Is that weird?

Ah, ok. I'm always interested to hear about this sort of stuff. Around here, we've also got sparkling water and mineral water but they tend to be a little fancier than club soda. San Pellegrino or Perrier are what people normally are thinking of they order sparkling or mineral water. Club soda is wh...

I reread my post, and I just want to clarify. I'm not certain that club soda will damage dental work, but it certainly is acidic. Less acidic than soda, but acidic none the less. If acidic beverages are off limits for you, club soda is something that's at least worth asking a professional about.

Is it silly to ask why they don't just smooth off these "seating lugs" as soon as they put the brackets on? I'm getting my braces on Wednesday, and I'll be out of town starting Thursday afternoon. Would it be wise to ask my ortho to grind off the lugs while I'm there on Wednesday to preven...

Club soda is just carbonated water, right? (sorry I'm in the UK and we don't call it that here) What is it called in the UK? Just curious... Club soda is acidic. When you dissolve carbon dioxide in water to make club soda, you get carbonic acid. Same thing that contributes to Diet Coke's (and other...

Others on the board have commented that they bit right through their Essix retainers in a matter of months because they are so thin. Guess it depends on how strong of a grinder you are. Hmm. This actually sounds like a reasonably good idea. If it is thin, I'd imagine it would have less impact on se...

I'll be getting braces on in two days, but I'm already getting curious about retainers. I've done a bit of looking at both Hawley and Essix retainers, and had a few questions. First, some background. I grind my teeth. Not all the time, but when I'm stressed it happens in my sleep as well as when I'm...

Will VT - We have the same b-day. I am glad mine is an early morning appointment (especially since I have managed to wedge a spacers all the way into my gum). Good luck! I've got an early appointment on Wednesday as well. My spacers really haven't bothered me that much, but it will be nice to get t...