Metal Mouth Message Board

I see that some of you are referring to your "buildups" (mostly molar, but I've seen other teeth can have 'buildups' too).

What is that?

I tried to answer the question myself, but whenever I google "braces and buildup" etc, the "build up" part comes back with "tartar build up" or "plaque build up" -- instead of whatever the physical ortho device is.

thanks in advance!

EDIT: I just found the answer in a different thread! Thanks!

Hi there,

"Buildups" are those "blobs of dental cement(?)" (as noted in another post) that the ortho might use if you are, for example, unable to close your mouth comfortably due to the movement of certain teeth and their colliding for a time until the appropriate space clears. In my case, this is what I have been wearing for 3 months now as my crossbite is moving very slowly and the two teeth (top and bottom) will "clash" and "hit" each other at this point if I were not to have the molar buildups. When I originally asked for them, the colliding teeth were extremely painful upon their hitting each other. Now, I would think that they wouldn't be quite as sore as they were in the beginning, but I still would be unable to close my mouth comfortably until the bite areas clear.

I'm sorry if my post still leaves you with questions if it isn't clear. The buildups are hard for me to describe except that they are akin to having "car jacks" in your mouth where there are only two real points of contact between the top molars and the bottom ones. They are quite hard to get used to in terms of eating (make sure to really cut your food up or you'll choke!), but when the teeth move and you get more used to having them (as used to as one can get!), they're fine. Still, I can't wait to get them off!

Anyway, I hope this helps you a bit! Good luck!