Metal Mouth Message Board

The end molars on the upper arch have not been bracketed and was wondering if this was common. Do you know if the end molars are eventually bracketed and why they may have decided not to place brackets on them when I got my upper braces placed about 2 months ago. I forgot to ask my orthodontist about it the other day during my first adjustment but will ask him about it at my next appt. I think I was a bit overwhelmed getting a powerchain on my upper arch, and was told he would move my Quad-Helix expander and will place my lower braces at my next appt. It was a great first adjustment appt.

ssfw

My back molars were not bracketed for about the first three months...which really made eating a lot easier since those teeth were pain free. Then I got bracketed and had to deal all over again with sore cheeks and wax!

But here's my speculation: I'd imagine that the molars, with four parts to the root might perhaps be harder to move than the bicuspids and these in turn perhaps harder than the incisors. .

I have ONE second molar bracketed because there is NO tooth in front of it, so he had to use it for anchorage, and that tooth tipped forward and inward in the process. Even with the bends in the wire, its still not uprighting. So far, I've been told that the tipping is relatively minor and it will be crowned afterwards anyway. BUT I see your point that the molar can be difficult to move....mine is not cooperating in the archwire.

I never had spacers.</gloat>

My end molars were not bracked until several months into my treatment. All I can say is enjoy it while you can. Brushing, flossing, eating are all easier without the molar brackets. Plus, those particular brackets chewed up my mouth something awful for the first few weeks. I had a hard time getting wax to stick because that area of my mouth is more moist than the rest. I never knew how easy I had it until those brackets went on.

I have damon's on and asked Dr. Damon about this last week when I went in for mouth guard.. I have brackets on my bottom 2 back molars but no wire through it. He said they do this with the light wire because it is too light and pops out a lot and they'll put the wire though my next appointment when it gets thicker.

don't know if that's why they do it for everyone though...

I had all my upper teeth (bar a wisdom tooth) bracketed since day one.

When my lower teeth were bracketed, the second of the second molars were free. They were bracketed at the next appointment.

I agree with KK - trying to floss back there is somewhat more difficult.

Thanks for the posts.

I thinks it's so great to be able to ask a question on this website when your next orthodontist appt. is a few weeks away. If it was urgent, of course I would have called my ortho's office, but for questions such as this one, it's nice to be able to get some feedback before my next appt.

ssfw