Metal Mouth Message Board

Long overdue.. I am 22....

had spacers in the past week or so and those hurt and now these funky things were put on my teeth? OH BOY.


They just feel weird and already my teeth feel a little sore.. I am sure the next 1-2 weeks will be hell...

But it will all be worth it one day? it better be.

Ortho said 1.5 to 2 years.. but dont they all say that? well I am hoping that I can get them off in 1.5

Braced: 4.9.09

Congrats! I was also braced at 22 and I'm 23 now. Been braced just over a year. Hope your adjustment period here in the beginning goes smoothly. Don't be afraid to use wax and pain meds

yup and 9 hours later my teeth hurt already:( definitely using the wax... the brackets keep on rubbing against my mouth.

You will be adjusted to them in no time Im still amazed how little i notice these giant chunks of metal in my mouth!

I thought I was going to wake up this morning and wake up to horrible pain.. but I didnt? First thought that came to my mind was well maybe the ortho didnt tighten the wire enough, but the teeth do feel sore and I cant chew.

Besides that, the spacers WERE so much worse than the braces! anyone else feel that way?

Hey Magster.....

Spacers were definitely the worse part!!! I had to have them twice. The first time was pretty awful....my teeth are so tight they had a really hard time getting them in. I think that's why braces seem like a breeze to me now. Those spacers broke me in really quick! I am soooo thankful I never that to have those evil things again!

I got my braces in July 2008 and turned 22 this past November. I'm so glad I didn't have to get spacers.. I've heard they're the worst. I mostly got braces to fix an impacted canine, which I also heard can take a while. Well, almost 9 months later it is almost fully down and pulled forward where it belongs. I can't stop touching it.. lol

I thought I would die without my regular food the first week of having braces. I didn't.. lol But man.. it sucked. I got powerchains this week and my teeth felt like I had just gotten braces.. had to go back to eating mush again. They're starting to feel better now.

ahh ya.. MUSHY stuff.. currently sipping on my "strawberry banana smoothie"


oh well.. PATIENCE.. I guess.. But i am not very patient at all

i have to say something that i know a lot of people will hate to hear..but i just need to be honest. Okay? So here goes....(lol)

If I could, from right where I am RIGHT NOW, go back to myself last July when I was thinking of getting braces on, I would say "DON'T DO IT!!!!! DO NOOOOT!!" LOL. Of course, I may, at the end of treatment, wish to come back to myself RIGHT NOW, and say "HANG IN THERE! IT'S WORTH IT!!"

I also want to say...spacers were NOTHING compared to what I'm going through now! NO COMPARISON!! :'(

That being said...I had my top braces put on last July, but not the bottoms. It was uncomfortable...but not painful. Sure, my teeth were tender and sore, but that's understandable. It was also hard to get used to these poking things in my mouth, but that soon faded and now I don't even notice them.

Then I got my bottoms put on this past Tuesday. I had to have spacers for 3 weeks for these (only had spacers for 24 hrs for the top bc they decided I wasn't going to get molar bands on top). Sure, they sucked. They kind of ached and hurt..and I did want to rip them out of my mouth. I was kind of annoyed and realized what everyone else was talking about...how they were worse than the braces.

HOWEVER...I've had the bottoms on since Tues afternoon and have felt NOTHING but pain almost CONSTANTLY!!!! My teeth ACHE so bad. They HURT. There is PAIN. OUCH!! I want to CUT the archwire and let my poor teeth have a break! On top of that, I can't eat..and when I try to, the insides of the molar bands dig into my tongue...and I'm just so miserable I want to rip ALL of these things out of my mouth and be done with it. :'(

That being said...this probably will happen only to a few, rare people...and I know I'll be okay and make it through and PRAY i'll get used to the bottoms like I did the top. But I will NEEEEEEEEVER forget this pain. It hurts so bad that I'll chew on anything nearby - my tshirt, a washcloth, towel, pillow case. It's like I'm teething. And NO amount of medicine has been able to touch the pain yet. I hate it

SORRY for being a downer.

To avoid yourself disappointment, don't expect to get them off at the lower end of the time scale, if it happens consider it a bonus. In fact, it might take longer than they quoted, but I'd look more towards the latter end of the quoted time.

Save yourself the heartache when 15 months comes and goes.

As far as the inside of the molar bands....those hooks (cleats) are horrible. I had those and kept getting my tongue stuck on them. So one day I asked if they were needed and what could be done about them... They advised since I was not getting any extra appliances that they would be used for, they flattened them. Since then they have been a breeze....I highly suggest asking about this!

It sounds like I am somewhat lucky.. it seems that a lot of people have molar bands and whatnot. I asked my orthodontist about them when he put on my braces, and he said he generally doesn't use them. I was so happy.. and luckily my impacted canine is moving right along.. I can't stop licking it lol

Well I have the bands both on top and bottom - now since I had the spacers and my teeth were in horrible pain for a week I chewed my food with my front teeth! like a rabbit


lol


but enough said since I had the spacers the bands dont bother me except when I eat my MUSHY stuff I feel like I have food stuck in there and the usual I want to dig it out with my tongue. OH MY POOR TONGUE! so instead I go brush my teeth.. yes I've become a freak about brushing my teeth in the last three days.


Either or, the back teeth dont hurt sooooo bad right now but my front ones? the ones I chewed with for the week I had the spacers? umm yes I cant even bite down even if I tried.


I definitely keep on thinking to myself, has it been 2 years yet????

Im at 3 days - I just hope this "getting used" to process gets easier..

because right now its driving me crazy..

magster wrote:Im at 3 days - I just hope this "getting used" to process gets easier..because right now its driving me crazy..

LOL. You & me both! I've had my bottoms for almost 6 days and my teeth are still hurting (though not as bad as at first, and not as constant) and of course i've got sores all over from things rubbing where it used to be nice and smooth before. Hang in there, though!! It DOES get easier!