Metal Mouth Message Board

I had an adjustment today and I noticed that my ortho accidentally put my top wire in upside down-I knew this because he had bent the wire to push one tooth a certain way and after the adjustment the bend was pushing on the opposite tooth. I have the Damon brackets, and in a moment of frustration an...

Wow, I totally have the opposite problem- my gums are growing wild. Some of them have started to grow over my back brackets...gross. I suspect that is also caused by bad hygiene problems. I hope some healthy chewing on granola and pretzels after the braces are off pushes them back, like cuticles or ...

Thanks everyone. For years I have been going to an amazing dentist in my area, but I decided to make a cleaning appointment with this new dentist to kill 2 birds with 1 stone since I would have to be going there to support my husband anyway. I'm glad I have this dentist to return to. He has chocolat...

A month ago I found a new dentist who takes both my husband's and my dental insurance, so I could make a PROPHY CLEANING appointment and go with my husband to support him during his cleaning (he has bad dental phobia). Well. It went so badly: The dentist was the only one in the dirty office, running...

Thanks everyone. I guess I just kind of feel like I'm in 'pretend braces' because I don't have molar bands, elastics, posts, power chains, appliances or anything yet, and there has been no pain thus far. Just for grins (ha ha), I am enclosing a photo of my Before smile- where my lower jaw looks pret...

wonky, are the lower brackets placed at the same vertical position on all of the teeth ? Or are the brackets placed lower on the side where the wire is lower ? I too have a mismatch in the planes of my upper and lower bite surfaces ... my upper teeth are higher on my right side than my left, but my...

Hello, I am in my 4th month of treatment, and I am shocked at how strange and mismatched my mouth looks now. I tried searching the board for info about slanted archwires- the archwire is straight but it slants across the teeth (see my photo for the top teeth- it starts higher on my right and slopes ...

Just noticed that replacement brush heads are $20 a piece -uff da!

Just saw this advertised on drugstore.com - the Ultreo sonic/ultrasound toothbrush. Apparently the thing puts out ultrasound, which has been proven to shake particles loose from things. The idea is that it will shake the plaque right off your teeth. Anyone have one of these? Thoughts? The price is r...

I have been chewing gum almost every day since I had my braces put on. Almost like Violet Beauregard. I recommend Trident with Xylitol...apparently the Xylitol is actually good for the teeth? Plus this brand has never stuck to my equipment. Gum has been a lifesaver for me in lessening the throbbing ...

I am also in Damons and have gotten my wires changed at both of my adjustments thus far. I like it, because the first few hours after a wire change I finally feel some pain, which satisfies me for some reason. So far my treatment has been 99 percent pain and drama free and therefore kind of boring (...

Yeah, I got swollen glands only on one side of my neck a few weeks after I got braces. I felt fine otherwise, but it bothered me. I might have had a canker sore at the same time but I never correlated the two.

I just got the rest of my Damons on today (I had some test brackets on to see if I had allergies). However, the ortho did not put anything on my back molars. Will he end up putting bands or tubes on them later? I was pretty relieved I didn't get those bands, to be honest.

Well, I think if you got braces the thumb sucking would almost certainly stop. What happened with me was I was too afraid to suck my thumb for six weeks, but the day I got out of boot camp I tried to plug my thumb back in. However, my teeth had moved so much after six weeks that my thumb did not fit...

Yes, he did specifically mention that he is using nickel-free wires, actually. I don't know what the difference is in performance, but if what you say about the brackets is true then I should be fine.