Metal Mouth Message Board

At my next appt I will be getting the final archwire for top and bottom. Anyway they explained to me that the ortho will put bends in the wire to tweak the teeth... How painful is that??? I can barely stand when the assistant is removing my ligs! I wonder how long I will have the final archwire too... I thought I had a year left in my treatment. Do you think I could have the same wire for a year? Oh and I am getting elastics next appt too.... It should be a good painful appt on Valentines day to boot!

I don't know about bends in the wire for moving teeth, but I have had my final archwires for 4 months and it's no more pressure than I felt after any other adjustment in my opinion. You may feel the normal discomfort but it will pass in a few days like it did for me.

Sim

Howdy,
I don't have a final archwire yet (!), but I've had bends in my upper wire a couple of times. I have a bend in my wire now. I really haven't noticed much difference between bent wires and straight ones. I guess there might be a little more pressure on a few teeth, depending on what the bend is supposed to be doing, but overall, it really isn't worse than the wire itself. If I remember correctly, the wires are bent before they are installed in your mouth. But, if they are bent while they are in my mouth, then I really didn't notice, so I would say that it doesn't hurt very much!

So, it depends on how you're doing with just the wires, I think. And, I have what I would refer to as some tenderness when my ligs are changed, but I think it's just because the assistant is pushing on the teeth a little. And, I'm a little tender for a day or so after that. Is your pain like that?

When I went in for my last adjustment a few weeks ago my ortho thought I was ready for my final wires (my extraction gaps had finally closed). He had a VERY hard time getting the wire on my upper teeth...it was a very physical, rough experience and he ended up putting ties on some of my brackets to make sure they would stay shut. But a few days later one of my doors opened up and some ties came off so I was back at the office. He had to down size my wire to an earlier one because some of my teeth are rotated and not really ready for the final wire. I learned that they save each of your wires in a little envelope attached to your file in case you need to wear them again. I was going to have to wear the final wire for about 5 months he thought. I don't know how long I have to be in this wire before trying the final one again. But I did have a week where I was excited to be able to say I was in the "final" wire. Just to have an end in sight is nice.

Becky

At my last adjustment, the ortho said I was ahead of schedule .
He said at my next adjustment in Feb, I'd be getting my final wires. He then said it was usually 4 months after that when they come off. If they aren't ready in 4 months, they keep checking every 2 months until they are. He said I may even be out of braces for graduation (one more semester )
As for the pain, I don't know. I would think it would be like any other adjustment. I guess it just depends on each person and thier individual case.

I'm not in my final wires yet... but I was told that the wires I'm wearing now could very well stay on for the rest of the treatment. And I don't want to scare you... but it hurt like you know what when these wires were put in. I have a bend in my bottom wire to try to get one of my molars to get in the correct position and it took a while for them to get the bend and all of my teeth attached to the same wire. I now have only metal tie wires on my teeth and it was the most painful part of my braces so far. However, a few hours and one Aleve after the appointment I was in no more pain/discomfort than usual (which is almost non-existant anyway). So, yes there was a lot of "pressure" and my teeth were very sensitive that day... but after that it wasn't bad at all... and they warned me that there could be a lot of pain after... good luck.