Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi everyone... I'm new here. My name is Tori. I am 33 years old and just got my top braces on Thursday. I have four missing adult teeth and one retained baby tooth. My ortho is moving my teeth around to allow for some permanent adult implants where my adult teeth are missing.

I knew my mouth would hurt but I had NO IDEA how much my tongue would hurt. It has four sores on it... top and bottom. The little metal cleats or hooks on the INSIDE of the back molar bands are ripping my tongue to shreds. It hurts so much that I could actually cry. I keep loading them with wax but it still hurts like hell!

Does anyone know how long the excruciating pain will last??? I've read it will get better but when? It kills me to eat anything and just talking hurts like hell too! WAAAH!

Oh no!! Congrats on getting braced, and boooooooo to the sores And sores on the tongue are awful, I had some from my turbos.

The administrator of the site recommended Rincinol PRN to another AW'er who had mouth sores - I gather it puts a protective coating on and allows the sores to heal. She noted it's available at the drugstore in the dental section. Maybe try warm salt water too. Other than that, maybe see if your ortho can bend the hooks in a bit so they don't stick out so much, I've seen other posters have luck with that. And wax, if you can keep it on.

Sorry you're having a rough time, hopefully you can find some relief! Hang in there...

My understanding is that molar bands sometimes have hooks on the inside that are supposed to be used for elastics. If they're causing that much pain, you might be able to get them filed down. Alternatively, just try to keep some wax on it until your tongue toughens up. I really liked the silicon based "wax" for this, instead of the regular wax. Believe I picked it up at my ortho's office.

I had horrible tongue sores from hooks on the insides of my molar bands. I ended up getting tweezers and twisting the hook back and forth until it snapped off best thing I ever did!

You should call your ortho's office and ask them if they would at least be able to flatten the cleats a bit more. I don't have them on the inside of my molar bands, and they may be there for a reason so make sure that you ask before doing anything to them yourself other than wax. There are a few people on here who called their ortho about them and he/she had them come in to have them flattened or removed.

Welcome to the board and congratulations on getting your braces! I'm sorry to hear that you are in so much pain right now. I agree with what the others said- give your ortho a call and I'm sure he/she will either be able to file down the hook or give you advice if not that.

Feel better soon!

I had to get my molar bands filed. There was a metal edge that was quite sharp and cutting my tongue. The orthodontist was really good about adjusting it for me and even fixed another one that was not that bad.

I have 8 hooks too. It took about 5 weeks for me to go without wax during the day and I still use it at night. I still occasionally catch a hook on my cheek too. The pain is much, much better.

Hi Tori,

I'm very new to this too... no suggestions to offer at this point, just sympathy!

I find the molar band hooks are hurting my tongue unless they're covered in wax. As soon as I start to eat anything, the wax comes off and then they poke my tongue... as soon as I'm done, more wax goes on. Also find it hurts to talk without the wax on.

catsteeth -- it's reassuring to hear that you were eventually able to go without wax during the day.

V.
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upper molar bands attached about a week ago, lowers scheduled for this week, brackets & wire the following week

Hi tori*anne!

I'm pretty sure that tongue pain has subsided (atleast I hope it has). Those molar bands are a real beast. I wonder if anyone's tongue has snagged on them (a very graphic picture comes to mind> I probably shouldn't watch scary movies ). I still get sores occasionally from mine and I've had them for a little over 5 months. Thanks a bunch for stopping by my thread, I'll do my very best to keep up with your progress.

I find it takes like 4-7 days to get used to a new movement and have the tongue or lips heal. No fun I know!

I have the same miserable problem with the brackets on my back teeth, upper side. The ortho put those on last week and I couldn't eat for three days until I could get back into the office to get it fixed.

Well, it turns out that the girl that put the brackets on didn't put some sort of poly material on the "prongs" that are tearing my tongue all to pieces! When I went back for the repair another girl fixed the first one's mistake and it improved things about 40% but the things are still killing me!

The wax helps improve my speech but it comes off as soon as I bite down on something. My wife is a nurse and warned me that, if I damage my tongue, with the mouth a harbor for bacteria, larger problems may loom.

Now I am in the process of deciding if I want to continue this agony or call it quits and have the braces removed entirely. It's a heck of a decision since I have paid for the entire treatment up front....so it will be money down the drain. But I'm not too sure I can tolerate this for another 18 months!

Obx don't get them off!!! Your mouth will get used to it...honest.... and it will be soooo worth it in the end.

I've wanted mine for years and so all the blisters and sores are going to be worth it. haha.

Obx, Kitagirl is right,

It would be best if you kept them on. if you get them off to soon, not only will your teeth revert but they could revert worse than they were before the braces were placed.

It's not all that great at all that first week, at the most the first two weeks but it gets better and life goes back to normal (except when it comes to flossing ). Just stay in there. Things will get better. It'll be almost as if they're not even there.

I go in for my first adjustment on Monday, its been about 6 weeks since I got braced. My tongue only hurts on the left side, I have a permanent sore from rubbing against the cleats. I've asked 3 times to get them to push them down but they keep telling me its the best they can do.
Also the bracket on that side is on a crown and it has slipped down so that the edge of the bracket feels like a knife slicing little bits of tongue off!!

If they can't do anything to help me, I going to ask them to load me up on wax!

Using the wax will certainly help but is of no use when you eat or drink something warm or hot. When you eat, the wax comes off and down the hatch it goes!!!! When you drink something warm or hot the wax melts and...yep....down the hatch it goes!

Someone else on here mentioned that it's really strange how we can put a man on the moon but we can't seem to be able to invent a set of orthodontics that are tolerable...and that is so, so true!

On the bright side...I've had my braces on since last August (7 months) and have lost 20 pounds! My diet has changed tremendously needless to say.