Metal Mouth Message Board

I got my braces on about a year ago. I have ceramics on top and metal on the bottom. My teeth were not crooked, but I had a big overbite and there were lots of gaps between my teeth. From day one, I was wearing chains and things moved quickly. At my last appointment, the ortho said one side of my mouth (the molar area) was not shifting much and it could be due to the chains. He took them off and used some kind of silvery grayish tie-wire instead. Since my last appointment, I've felt a lot of shifting on the side he wanted to work on, but I've also noticed an increase in irritations inside my mouth. Why? I'm wondering if the chains provided some cushioning around the brackets or if it's because things have shifted around in my mouth significantly in the last couple of months? I thought there would be less mouth irritations when teeth started settling into their normal places.

Thanks!

I have Damons so I dont have powerchains, so to close up my extraction gaps my ortho used what I think yours used on your teeth - a thin silver meal wire. He threaded this wire through my brackets and twisted the two ends together until he felt it was tight enough (and boy, was it tight!). He then clipped the extra down and tucked the twist next to my bracket to keep it from poking me.

I didn't get any irritations in that area until a few days ago. I think because of the minor movement of my teeth, the twisted end shifted and started poking/rubbing the inside of my mouth. I woke up a few mornings ago with shredded up skin in that area.

My problem may be similar to yours. All I did was take a pencil eraser and bent back the part that was poking me, and I keep a blob of wax over it as well. In 2 days, with salt water rinses and normal good oral hygiene, my mouth isnt irritated anymore. I would try that.

ah ok

Mindy: I hope it gets better soon. I have self-ligatating brackets and have a powerchain on now. I have also had wire ties and powerchains on at the same time on my uppers. I had an adjustment on 6/14 and since that time I have developed a serious "oral ulceration". Sure, makes me want to eat less (which is a good thing). I think it is due to my teeth moving and the addition of a powerchain that covers all of my teeth. I guess these things are really working .