Metal Mouth Message Board

Well, I am new here and this is my first post, but I have been reading for a little over a week. What a great place! I have to admit that some of the posts have scared me a little, but for the most part I think reading has made me less apprehensive, rather than more.

I get braced tomorrow morning and am a bit nervous. Thirty-two and been needing braces since forever. On one hand, I know I'd be much more "smiley" and outgoing if I weren't so self-conscious about my teeth, but on the other hand I think sometimes that this is a silly extravagance and I've made it this far with what I've got. I'm indecisive in all things, so this is just another thing to be indecisive about!

But here I go! I guess I'm not really indecisive after all, but I've put it off for so long...it just seems like there's always something more important to put my efforts toward.

Now I'm just scared, I guess. Of pain, of how people will react (I haven't told many people because I think they will start scrutinizing my teeth before I can get the braces on), of the 28 long months of irritation and annoyance.

So I went and had Mexican food before I got my spacers put in so I could pig out on chips and salsa, and tonight I'm going for Chinese just because I've read so much about not being able to eat for a while, and in two weeks I'll get an expander... Here I go...

So anyway, thanks for letting me join you.

Hi SmileyGirl,

Welcome to the board and congratulations on making the decision to get braces.

Don't worry too much, putting the braces on is not too bad. I had no problems with anything...I didn't like the lip expander but it wasn't a big deal, nothing was painful and I didn't get the taste of any glue that some here have mentioned. It really does depend on everyone...everyone is different.

I have also never had pain... ever...I've never taken a pain killer and I don't use wax. My teeth get sensitive and sore, but I don't classify that as pain. The first few days are the worse but you will get used to it.

Expect to be on a soft diet for a few days but you will be eating just about anything pretty soon.

Remember to rinse with salt water at least once a day and use wax if your wires or brackets are poking you.

What exactly is your treatment? What kind of braces are you getting? Let us know how it went, and good luck!!!

one thing tht helped me was to bring a radio with earphones so I could just shut my eyes and "tune out" what was going on above me....

Well, I was kind of hoping that I would be forced to give up a lot of my favorite foods so that I could drop a few pounds! With the metal spacers I wasn't able to chew at all at first, so I found myself trying to "chew" with my front teeth and then swallowing, all the while barely able to taste anything I was eating. I did think to myself, "Ok, why am I eating this? I can't even taste it..." It wouldn't hurt my feelings to be one of the ones who loses a little weight without even trying =D

But I got the metal spacers on Friday and they told me that I could come in after the weekend and there should be enough room by then to put the rubber (?) spacers in, so I was there Monday afternoon getting that done. That was a serious load off because the way the metal ones fit in, I kept feeling like any second I was going to lose one. (I did lose one about 10 minutes after my appointment and had to go back and have it put back in.) Turns out they practically had to yank the metals ones out, so I needn't have worried! But after that, I am able to chew a little bit easier with the rubber (?) spacers. My teeth have moved already, though, so I can't really bite down "naturally" so to chew feels kind of weird.

I am somewhat apprehensive about the expander that will go in in two weeks. A friend of mine used to work for a dentist and she had braces recently and when I told her about the PE she FREAKED, which freaked me out. So, I'm scared of the pain from that, and also whatever discomfort that will bring, and the fact that my friend insisted that PEs should never, ever be used on an adult. (I did speak with my orthodontist and he was very upset at my friend for freaking me out.)

As far as the chips and salsa: they're not really that much of a favorite, but the fact that I know I won't be able to have certain things has thrown me into a mentality of trying to get all that stuff in "one last time for a while." I did have Chinese tonight and it wasn't as good as I'd hoped "the last time for a while" would be anyway =| But, although I might feel like I want some of those things in the near future, at least I won't be regretting that I didn't have one last hoorah before the big day.

As far as my treatment and what kind of braces I am getting: I am almost embarrassed to say that I'm not sure!

I know I am getting metal braces on the top tomorrow and that they will be taking a mold for the palate expander that should go on in two weeks.

I was also supposed to get bands on the bottom molars but they didn't put the spacers in at my appointment last Friday. Possibly because I had expressed concern about the palate expander and my orthodontist was half convinced I wasn't go to go through with the braces, but maybe because they wouldn't have been able to put metal spacers on both the top and bottom teeth at the same time? I'm not sure...

Very soon, I think, I will have to have one tooth on the top left extracted. (My left, but I don't know if that means "left" to the dentist/orthodontist, and I know about numbering but I don't know what number it would be offhand.) I had one impacted canine on the right removed when I was about 16 when I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed. My midline is off, but I have no idea by how much. It is noticable enough to me and in fact I went to the orthodontist not caring about my crossbite (just one tooth) or the crowding of my lower teeth. If I had just been able to fix my midline I would have been quite happy because I've learned to smile just enough so you can see that I've got some teeth but you can't really see them very well! I was really just hoping to continue the half-smile with a little less self-consiousness about my midline. But, of course, my orthodontist wanted to go for the whole shebang.

So anyway, my orthodontist said he would put the bottom braces on in about six months since he wouldn't be able to put them on now because my top teeth would hit them. I will have to have two teeth extracted on the bottom.

And as this post is probably already longer than anyone will even bother to read, I should probably quit now! I do tend to go on...

IF your woried about giving up food, dont be. Yes its hard to eat for a day or two but within about a week or two i was eating everything and anything, chips, dip, candy, popcorn, nougat.

I got a powerchain yesterday and some stronger elastics and today im back on a mashed potato and soup diet. The most important thing is to drink protein shakes etc.

you've done the hardest part by signing up for all this work, generally people have discomfort with expanders and braces but nobody I have read about has experienced agony with this work. I had an expander put in with surgery (as have many others) and yes it has been difficult but bearable. Nothing a general painkiller hasn't managed to sort. Don't be afraid of the expander and if any consolation nearly everyone who gets one loses weight! I'm down 7kgs/14lbs. According to my ortho expanders are being used more and more with adults and from this site that seems to be the case in the US and here in Europe.

My molars have been sensitive to varying degrees ever since I got spacers in, but they've been better with braces. Sometimes one side hurts more than the other, so every day is kind of like, "Let's see which side I'll be chewing on today!"

I definitely haven't given up Chinese food. It's one of the easiest things to eat for me, since it's in small pieces and pretty soft. I don't really care about picking rice out of my wires and brackets. It's just a part of the process.

The good thing is I've stopped snacking at work so much, since I was all about chips and chex mix, and the crunchy things still bother me, especially when the crunchy things poke my gums where I had my extractions. Just not fun.