Metal Mouth Message Board

Has anyone had trouble with the powerchair not being big enough?

I had a power chain applied to my front teeth and the tech had MAJOR trouble applying it. Finally after several tries with severe pain, he got it on only half of the brackets on two teeth (the brackets have 4 little prongs on them, he could only get it 2 of them). The pain was excruciating, the root on one of the teeth was burning from the pain. It really felt as if my roots of my teeth were being pulled out. (Word of explanation...I have a gap that's almost a 1/4 of an inch, so the powerchain REALLY had to stretch a long way)

Thank goodness for ibuprofen! The pain is ok now, it only throbs a little bit. And as long as nothing touches it, it's ok

Right now I plan to wait and see if the powerchain will hold. I can't take the pain now for them to go back and reapply to all sides of the bracket....maybe I'll call them next week

I've got to ask - did your ortho double check after she put the powerchain on? I would be tempted to call if the pain isn't better within 5 days or so and just make sure it was the correct size.

Reply to fins...no the ortho didn't check after tech put them on. I didn't realize they weren't all the whole way till I was in the car. The pain is/was too bad to even consider going back up there for a few days

KK...thanks for the encouragement. I do agree powerchains do work quickly. I can already notice some small movement even 24 later. If I do go back I'm going to ask about the size of the powerchain. It had to have been too small to cross my gap.

Hi KK,

What's the difference between powerchains and continuous powerchains?

I just got my first powerchain on my upper braces a few days ago. I thought all of the powerchains were continuous (meaning all of the chains are connected).

thanks,

ssfw

ladygal-
I hope your pain is subsiding by now. I got powerchains the day I was braced and one side hurt horribly. The other side never did hurt as much as the other. I think the initial powerchains combined with braces was horrendous, painwise, but the powerchains I had in various spots later on never hurt quite as badly as the inital powerchains. Maybe the worst is over for you.

Thanks again to everyone. The chains are doing much better. I did (kind of cheat) put the powerchain on completely.. I just took my dental threader and floss and just pulled the powerchain onto the other side of the bracket. It hurt again, but nothing like it was last time. It's great to see the movement. I'm hoping in a few months the gap will be completely gone. I still can't bite, but the pain is gone unless something touches the teeth in a funny way

One neat thing I've noticed is that my 1 yr old son has the same gap as me as does my Mom...I guess I know now that it is genetic. Her's never grew to be as wide as mine, so I'm hoping my little boy won't have the same problem I've had.