Metal Mouth Message Board

I saw another poster post the other day that he had recieved good results from using his fingers to gently put pressure on his teeth for them to move in a certain way. Does this work? Sounds well dangerous to me?

Newmetal

sounds like a receipe for disaster to me unless you want them to snap off, or you want to damage the roots or both

I wouldn't try it... though when I had to apply wax I had to use some pressure to get it to stick and I could see my teeth move a little during that process.

I think that if your ortho wanted you to do this he/she would say something. I would be too afraid of doing damage to the root/ bone/gum by messing with the process. I also saw that post the other day - remember that guy might have done damage that he doesn't even know about yet.

Eewwww...it's bad enough having to put pressure on them to get wax on!!! Wouldn't want to be pushing them around deliberately

I found in the initial few weeks that I had braces it felt good to gently wiggle or moreso, put pressure, on lose teeth. Certainly not moving them or guiding them in a direction, just some gentle pressure for a moment, and it helped the pain go away easier.
I think part of that was TMJ though. I went from unintentionally pounding my teeth together every night, to being unable to eat and feeling so much pain. The gentle touching or lighly chewing on something cold would help.

My point is that gentle touching could be helpful for pain relief, but never forceful or with an intention to move the teeth - I leave that part to the braces and my ortho.

I was wondering when someone might mention this.

I'm an obedient student/citizen/patient. I do what the DR tells me to do. Even when I read things on this forum that seem "innocent" I always ask about it - or ask the office that I go to about it. I'm paying for these braces - other folks aren't. So if something happens as a result of some advice I've taken from someone who is not a doctor - are they going to pay for it?

Nope.

X.

The first time around that I had braces, I went through my dentist because that's all my parents could afford. He actually encouraged me to push down on my fang help move it! And I remember even my own mom giving me this advice even before that, when my teeth were so obviously crooked. She thought it would just move down on its own.

Well, years later, after the fang started moving back up (this was a cheap job. I never even got a retainer) I thought back on my dentist's advice and decided, okay, I'll try pushing it back down. I was quite diligent about it, too, and I believe there was some movement.

My current dentist will not confirm this, but shortly after beginning my personal orthodontic treatment, the front tooth immediately next to it turned dark. I think I killed the tooth.

Years after that, I am in braces yet again, but this time I'm getting a quality job. My dentist has bleached the tooth.

Long story short: don't try to move your teeth with your fingers.