Metal Mouth Message Board

Hello! I've had braces for about 6 months now and mostly lurk on the board. About two months ago, my ortho placed spacers inbetween the back two top molars on each side (I hope that made sense). Then a month ago he placed molar bands on each of the top molars farthest back.

So here's my problem... for some reason I keep getting food jammed up into my gum right between the last two molars on the left side. Right where the spacer was. I've used floss, a water pick, vigorous rinses, and the coolest little toothpick called a brushpick to keep the space cleaned out.... but every once in a while food will get so jammed up there that it gets snuggly wedged into my gum and I have to go in and have my orthodontist's assistant clean it out. The pain is exquisite.

I have an appointment this afternoon for this very reason. I'm going to ask while I'm there if there is anything they can do to keep it from happening over and over. I thought though that I would run the same question past you guys. I'm sure I'm not the only person this has happened to. I'm just nervous that my only solution is to not chew on that side until the gap closes up again... and who knows how long that could take?!!

Any suggestions for me?

Thanks!

Well, I'm back from my appt. No magic answers from my ortho. When I asked him if there was anything I could do to keep food out of the space, he just said to try and not chew on that side, and that I would probably have to clean that space out a couple more times before it healed up. Basically what I was expecting.

When I sat down in the chair, the first thing the dental assistant said to me was, "Have you tried flossing to get it out?" It took all my strength not to roll my eyes and say something snotty, so I just bit my tongue and said that yes I had tried flossing.

I did learn a new trick from my orthodontist though. He tied three knots right in a row in some floss and vigorously flossed the spot. Whatever was jammed in there popped right out. So, oddly, flossing is what fixed it... the assistant wasn't too far off after all. Before anyone tries this though, be warned, even though knots in the floss worked, it hurt like a mother

And as a parting gift, my ortho sent me home with some chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinse and ...... drumroll please...... a Sonicare rechargeable brush w/travel case!!!

I think he must have felt sorry for me