Metal Mouth Message Board

I got my TPA installed a few weeks ago and withing the first few days i began noticing that the tpa was leaving me with an outline of it on my toungue!!!! Needless to say I am a really worried that this will be permanent. Has anyone had this type of appliance before and have now had it removed.....is it permanent (the outline, that is)? oh yeah how long did you have it on for?

Hi dimplez23,

I have had my TPA since the start of treatment, so almost 2 yrs now. And, yes, I do also have the pretty imprint tattooed on my tongue! I'm sure it will go as soon as the TPA does so I shouldn't be too concerned about it. Sometimes its not noticable though and other times it is more prominent, I don't know why that is.

Fitchick

Thanks for the reply....yeah I hope that it does go away as soon as it is removed. Mine is suppose to work as an "anchor" so that my molars do not move when the rest of my teeth start moving...so not sure how long im going to hav eit on for. I also have a lower lingual arch and that is suppose to do the same... I just hope I get them both removed soon because they are very annoying.

Oh, I had one but eventually got it changed by a nance button bc my ortho said it would provide more anchor. I also had the TPA printed on my tongue, but when they changed it it disappeared.

I am also looking forward to have both the nance and the lingual arch removed, they are so annoying! (although I prefer the nance to the TPA!)

Really, this will go once the TPA is gone.

I had one for about 6 months. Some weeks after it was removed, this outline
went too. Isn't that great news !!

jorx: I had to do research on the nance button because I had never heard of it. it seems as if that would be a little more annoying than the tpa...but then again I wouldn't know.

clo: thanks for reassuring that this will go away. I didn't want to walk around with an imprint on my tongue forever!

I just hope that I don't have to wear either (TPA or Lingual Arch) for my whole treatment...but if I have to then I have no choice =(

I think most people do not wear the TPA/nance and the lingual arch for the whole treatment time, just until major movement is accomplished. So hang on, I'm pretty sure that at some point, perhaps unexpectedly, your ortho will remove them!

I was supposed to get my nance removed today, but she decided to leave it in place 'for a while', so as you can imagine I am very disappointed! I've been living with it since last june, and although I am pretty much used to it, I am really looking forward to have it removed.

For me the nance is actually less annoying than the TPA, maybe it is not the same for everybody, but the plastic thing prevents the wire to cut my tongue, and it is smoother. It fits pretty tight to my palate, so I have barely any food caught on it, and when that happens my waterpik -or these little interdental brushes- are magic. I've read that sometimes when you have it removed you'll feel like you have a 'crater' in your palate, I think this will be the case for me too, but I hope it won't be a problem! Oh, plus with the nance I can speak (almost) perfectly, while the TPA caused me some speech problems.

I think most people do not wear the TPA/nance and the lingual arch for the whole treatment time, just until major movement is accomplished. So hang on, I'm pretty sure that at some point, perhaps unexpectedly, your ortho will remove them!

I was supposed to get my nance removed today, but she decided to leave it in place 'for a while', so as you can imagine I am very disappointed! I've been living with it since last june, and although I am pretty much used to it, I am really looking forward to have it removed.

For me the nance is actually less annoying than the TPA, maybe it is not the same for everybody, but the plastic thing prevents the wire to cut my tongue, and it is smoother. It fits pretty tight to my palate, so I have barely any food caught on it, and when that happens my waterpik -or these little interdental brushes- are magic. I've read that sometimes when you have it removed you'll feel like you have a 'crater' in your palate, I think this will be the case for me too, but I hope it won't be a problem! Oh, plus with the nance I can speak (almost) perfectly, while the TPA caused me some speech problems.