Metal Mouth Message Board

I am a trained I-Braces Orthodontist in Los Angeles area. Ask me any questions you want.

Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and your practice?

Thanks,
Lynn the site Admin

I have been in orthodontic practice since 1975. I am certified by Lingual Care as an I-Brace certified provider. They tell me that I have taken more courses on I-Braces than anyone else in the United States. I am actively treating I-Brace patients in the Los Angeles area. I have two office locations, one in Granada Hills and one in Canyon Country, California. My name is Martin Strassner D.D.S.

That's so great that you are here and willing to answer questions.

I got my upper linguals a month ago and lowers a week ago. And yes i do have a question. probably will have more as i spend more time looking at them in the mirror.

Anyways, in the lower ones, i see white glue in between my front teeth. they fill the space between my teeth so i cannot floss those teeth since i got my braces. That kinda worries me. Because although between my teeth are almost covered with glue, i still can see some little holes towards the roots of my teeth. So, since i cannot floss them at all, i worry that food might go in those little spaces.

I use waterpik but i don't know if that's enough.

When i had my upper linguals, i didn't have that much excess glue that would fill in between my teeth. And as far as i can see all of them came off within the first couple days.

So, do i need to go to my orthodontist and have those glue removed, or as my teeth move will they come off eventually?

Hopefully my post is clear enough for you to understand what i am trying to explain.

Go back to orthodontist and have him remove the excess cement.

thank you dr strassner. i went back and had them removed. feels much better this way.

i have another question. one of my lower left molars is missing. there has been a gap between the first molar and my other teeth for more than 16 years. over the years that molar leaned towards the gap. now with braces it is supposed to be corrected and the gap will be closed.

the last time i was at my ortho, i was told that i need my wisdom teeth extracted some time during the treatment. but my ortho told me that i should have 3 of them extracted and the lower left wisdom tooth should be left there because he is planning to use it in place of my "missing molar" there. i couldn't ask him much about it because he had to go somewhere. :\

now, how is that possible? all of my wisdom teeth are below my gum. so will i have a surgery to have that wisdom tooth exposed so that brackets can be attached to it? or do i need to wait until it is exposed naturally at some point in my life? how is it possible to make a tooth grow by orthodontic treatment?

any information would be much appraciated.

It could be either answer that you have given. Sometimes when you move the second molar foward, the third molar that was previously trapped under the second molar because untrapped and then just erupts naturally into the mouth. That is what he probably expects to happen. Ask him.

Dear Dr. Strassner:

My orthodontist set me up with some elastics over the weekend (straight up and down elastics from the brackets behind my upper lateral incisors to buttons placed on the faces of my lower eye teeth). She hopes to close my anterior overbite with same. Now, I work in a public facing job and cannot keep these elastics in during the day. My doctor seems to accept this, although I think that she might prefer if I'd keep the elastics in during my work day, too.

My question for you is this: generally, is it enough to keep these elastics in at night? Am I selling myself short here? My doctor didn't insist that I keep these things in all the time, so I suspect that she thinks that I will get enough movement by wearing elastics overnight.

I appreciate that this question may be diffult to answer because you have never seen my teeth.

Thank you very much for your reply,
Maclock

The elastics must be worn 24 hours a day to be effective. Nights only usually does not work.

I have sent an e-mail message to my orthodontist. Perhaps she will clarify this for me.

See what your ortho says, but if she recommends 24 hour wear, I'd seriously go with that. I've seen clients with a very prominent four elastic config. If there was any initial embarrassment, I got over it quickly.

Apparently, my doc thinks that part-time wear is just fine. She has a few other tricks up her sleeve to get my teeth to move if elastics don't do the trick.

If she can do what needs to be done, then she's worth her weight in gold.

Thank you very much for your replies, good people!

I have written for further clarification.

Hey Dr!!
I just had my 3rd adjustment and I am having a lot of pressure and pain when I chew. I had been fine for the past 2 months. Are these signs of progress?

yes