Metal Mouth Message Board

I just got back from going to a consultation and they told me that I would have to wear full braces for 18 to 24 months. Plus he said since I have moderate crowding on the bottom and he would have to slenderize a few of my lower teeth. I don't if there is a better option but I don't want my to be flared out either.

Hi. I have minimal crowding in my lowers and my ortho also suggested thinning them down on the sides so they will lay flatter against one another and thus not turn later. It sounds like a good idea to me. He says he will do it after the teeth are straightened. I just got my braces on a few days ago and I'm due to have them for 6 months.

I don't have braces yet but I too was told that my bottoms will need to be slenderized. Sounds very common, so I wasn't worried about it

My ortho stripped mine, basically shaping them to make the teeth fit together so this is most likely the same process. It does make your teeth sore! But my teeth actually have moved in place more since that was done a week ago.

Hi. I had several senderized. Especially the front, upper two. Before, they were sort of angled and a little bigger at the bottoms. If I remember correctly, he senderized them two or three times as things progressed. He was very patient with me as I was really worried about having the teeth changed. He did a little and when I sort of balked at having it done a second time, he didn't do it. I realized a couple of weeks later that if I didn't have it done, I would have a a tremendouse black triange between those teeth and so I asked him to go ahead and do it. I think he did a great job. My Avatar is how I look today.

Good luck to all of you.

I had my teeth narrowed a bit about 8 weeks ago to make room for a couple of spacers for additional bands, but at my next adjustment, the ortho is going to be taking them down even more. It does make them tender for a while.

For those of you who had the "slenderizing" process done... How do they do it? I have this crazy image of dental floss made of sandpaper in my mind - ha ha! And I didn't realize they could do it with the braces still on. But that makes when my ortho said make more sense now. Please tell me more about it.

Thanks everyone, I will only let him slenderize them a little not more then a millimeter. I wish there was a different process other than them sanding them down. Has anyone had any alternative treatments?

Well, don't want to scare you, but my orthodontist used a dremal tool and a fine disk. He just sanded up between the teeth and then used the flat part of the disk to round over the edges.

I have seen him use a little piece of what I am sure is orthodontic sanding paper on other people - those who were using the plastic aligners.

I never had any tenderness in all the times that he slendarized my different teeth.

Good luck to you.

My othodontist used an abrasive strip to slenderise my teeth. It does feel odd and the teeth were sensitive for a while afterwards. However for me it was the only way to get rid of the black triangles and get the teeth to fit together properly.