Metal Mouth Message Board

This board and the people on it are great, but I think I need to step away for a while. Sometimes I think ignorance really is bliss, and a lot of the messages here suggest to me that I'll never be free of this mouth stuff, and I get so frustrated I could cry. I got braced in March of 2005 and my braces were supposed to be off by now. Well, now I've got a slew of goodies to look forward to, including jaw surgery, f@#$ing power chains and eventually retainers – which everyone seems to end up wearing for life. Nearly a year and a half into it, I still can't stand the feel of stuff in my mouth, and now it seems like I'll be stuck with it forever.

I'm sorry to be such a downer, but down is how I feel right now.

Hi there I am sorry to hear you feel that you can't come and take part of this wonderfull site, cause for me this site is an absolute blessing right now, I get my braces on Thursday, esitimated time of wear 3yrs...........so I'm sure I to will have my ups and downs, but we are all individuals with different feelings and takes on things, maybe just think of it that way, you are getting a whole lot of info from different sources, you take what ya need and discard what ya don't.............but don't let go of a really good source of help that I have found that this site offers, both with good news on havin braces and surgery and some with some bad news have havin braces......................I hope you hang on and keep in touch....

Cor1

Nothing wrong with taking a break, that's for sure. Sorry you're having a hard time. I get discouraged sometimes, too and just need to do something else for awhile. This board, I have to say is pretty awesome though for newcomers or if you just need to vent. I don't read every posting but just take a quick look here and there and see if I can add something to the conversation or not. These are all just opinions & comments here--nobody can say for sure what your experience will be. Take it all with a grain of salt and hang loose the best you can. Chances are, you'll feel better in time.

March 2005 isn't that long ago. It can be really tiresome wearing braces so I definitely know where you're coming from. Sometimes it seems it will never end. I try to take it in small chunks of time 4 months at a time to make the "sentence" more palatable, otherwise I'd go nuts watching my bite get better then worse, then better.... you get the idea. I think a break is a great idea.

The retainer honestly, is not that horrible. Once you get to the wear only at night phase, it's a piece of cake and very easy to get used to.

I'm sorry you've hit a bump in the road. You're right, sometimes you have to take a break. I got to that point when doing research on my daughter's speech delay. You get depressed after reading the extremes of something. Hang in there and check in with the forum when things are looking up or you need a boost. We're all in this together, some longer and some shorter. Good luck with the rest of your journey. Hopefully, things will be looking up from here on in.

I'm really sorry all this is hitting you all at once and maybe a little break is in order. I can only speak for myself and my experience. I will have these things on for 2.5 yrs then retainers for another 10 months at least. It will be my choice to keep using them at night for the rest of my life. Only because I feel that all of this work would be worthless if myteeth shift again.I have powerchains on and for me there has been NO pain at all and I have extraction gaps to close.That is only a discomfort for a minute while the ortho changes the powerchains. After that Ihad no pain at all. I hate to say it but "this too shall pass" . One thing I do, not to feel down is think of all the other things that could be wrong with me besides my teeth. I thank God each day that I don't have a fatal illness and that my only discomfort in life is wearing braces. When you think of how much worse your life can be ,that sort of makes you realize how bad it really isn't. We will be here for you...

Gennel

Hey, I see you are having a rough time there... We'll all feel sad if u take a break but u gotta do what u gotta do ! I understand that sometimes it can get a bit irritating and frustating, I have been through some ups and downs myself too. Come back whenever you're ready again! You will be welcome! Good luck with everything,


Joe

My husband had really bad teeth and got braced about 12 years ago. He had to wear them for over 3 years and now they look fantastic. After he got his removed, they cemented some kind of wire around the inside of teeth and I guess because of that, he doesn't need to wear a retainer. He has never worn a retainer and in all the years since his braces came off, his teeth haven't moved at all. Maybe that would be an option for you too instead of the retainer.

Erin

Lillers,

I totally understand where you are coming from. When I first started this journey I found this site and scared myself half to death by reading the message boards, that I didn't read them for a while. But then as time went on I came back and read a few things at a time and realised that I was getting myself worked up over nothing. Everybody's experiences in braces is different so don't be put off by what other people say.

This site is a great source of knowledge and support to help you while in braces.

I have been braced for 4 days now and I find it hard, the constant brushing, thinking about what I can actually eat. Worst of all I find it really hard to speak as I think that I have a lisp (though people tell me that is all in my head, but i think they are just saying that to be nice!) sometimes i wonder what the hell i have done, but then realise that i have to go through it as without treatment my teeth will just get worse and I don't want to regret my decision of not going through with it 10-20 years along the line.

Only 17 months and 26 days to go!

lau xx

I hope you feel better soon...........I have had blue days too! It is a pain in the neck having these things in your mouth !! I'm 40 so if I can do it you can too!!
In the end think of that beautiful smile you will have the rest of your life that no one can take away.
As far as the retainer, I'm looking at it as part of my nightly routine: wash face, brush teeth/floss, take out contacts, put in retainer.....

Joy!!

Lillers:

It really boils down to your expectations being set at the beginning of this process. Right from the start I knew I would be having to wear a retainer for the rest of my life (at night at least) and 24X7 for the first year. Both my dentist and my ortho told me that. I knew I didn't have to have surgery and if my ortho told me now half way through my treatemnt all of a sudden that I needed it I would be quite shocked. It was never discussed. If you didn't know anything about surgery and now all of a sudden they are talking surgery you have a right to be upset for sure.

Regarding powerchains - they really aren't all that bad. Yes, they make your teeth hurt for the first few days but in the grand scheme of things they are no big deal.

Look at the big picture. Braces will be a small blip on your radar when you look at your whole life.

I look at this site as a way to gain info and to help others once in awhile. I recently found out about a very cool retainer that I will be asking my ortho about from "jaws" in the "Braces Story" forum. Knowlege is power baby!

Lillers, sorry to hear your disappointing news. However, do you really think the course of your treatment has been affected by whether or not you read these pages?

For myself, one of the most important things I have learned from this forum is that the debanding date they set for you is really and truly just a guess...not to expect anything until the day they strip them off.

I find the encouragement I get from my metal mouth friends much more uplifting then being scared by others treatment methods.

You guys are the best!!

I just got back home after a few blissfully relaxing days of visiting my mom and dad, and found a very thoughtful private message in my email in-box. Well, after that, of course I couldn't resist checking out the board again to see if anyone had responded to my Poor Little Me post, and sure enough, there were all of your kind replies.

Because I'm insufferably lazy, here's a cut n' paste from my email to the private message – pretty self-explanatory:

"When I posted that message, I was feeling very frustrated and more than a little sorry for myself, but I'm (more or less) over it now, at least for the time being. I think my biggest mistake was getting ahead of myself and checking out too many posts dealing with later stages of treatment (e.g. power chains and retainers). Clearly it's more adaptive to take it one day at a time , which is what I'm trying to do now.

To answer your question, my treatment is definitely not about esthetics. Not that I'm without a healthy degree of vanity, but more to the point, I was told that my overbite was wearing away the surfaces of my teeth to such an extent that I might eventually have to replace said teeth with dentures. Yikes! So no, stopping treatment is not a realistic option for me, and I couldn't, at any rate, bring myself to give up now that I've put in so much time and money."

Anyway, you guys have made me feel so much better. I'll be here for the duration, and maybe longer.

Peace out.

Yipee!! Welcome back!