Metal Mouth Message Board

I posted several days ago regarding my wires poking my cheeks very bad. I made it into the Ortho this morning for them to fix em'. The gal said they were short enough already so they couldn't be clipped any more. I insisted that they are tearing up my mouth very bad.....so she took the grinder to them and they are now much better! But....now the one side that was not bothering me is now poking the heck outta my cheek.

Will the sharpness back there get better? Will my cheeks adapt? The hygenist asked me if what I was feeling was the hook on the bracket, I said no, the horrible pain was definately from the wire.

I feel silly to keep complaining. The hygenist said my wire (still the smallest one since ive only had them 4 days) are hard to grind down....what do I do?

If the wire is poking the inside of your cheek at the back of your mouth, it needs to be clipped. As your teeth move and shift, often the wire will get displaced and begin poking you. There is no reason to suffer with this. You need to go back to the orthodontist and have them clip it again.

I already felt so silly being in there today....when she was questioning what I was really feeling. So she ground the 3 spots but now the one side on the bottom is KILLIN' me....I would feel so dumb calling again tomorrow yet again....but my cheek is cut open....and my finger is actually getting cut from touching it...ughhh.

Are you talking about the wire in the back? Have you tried wax? Silicon wax helps, also there is a numbing cream that numbs the area like they do at the dentist. Also you can take advil for the pain. Salt water rinses help too. Did you get a take a kit from your ortho? Like it should have stuff that helps your teeth, brushes, wax, etc. Your mouth will get used to it but it will take time. There is also Gly-Oxide, I used it a lot at the beginning and helps keep your mouth clean so it can heal. Good luck, milk shakes help too.

Yes I have wax and have been using it up until today. My mouth has pretty much completely gotten used to the braces. It is the wire sticking out of the very back bracket, my cheek rubs against it and its cutting. I keep sticking my finger back there (I dunno, hoping I can like push it in or something? he he) and ive noticed just how sharp it is because now my finger is getting cut.

I don't see why I should have to wear wax everyday for these wires, doesn't seem to me that it should be that way. My cheek is actually kind of going numb because its getting so cut open ;o(

From day 1, I had a small bent in my upper and lower wires that prevented them from shifting. Sometimes the wire poked me in the back for a few days but soon my skin became harder on those spots and everything has fine.
Do you have a small bent in your wire?

Nope, they literally go thru the bracket, stick out the back....and SNIP ....so the ends of all 4 brackets are extremely sharp. Literally I might as well go in the garage, grab some wire, take some wire cutters to it and stick it into my mouth. I find it to be rather weird that they leave wires so darn sharp in my mouth....like I said...its cutting the skin on my pointer finger from touching it and attempting to apply wax.

Could you ask them to try bending the cut end of the wire back on itself --so that it's like a little loop of wire aimed at your cheek instead of the sharp, cut end (if you get what I mean)? Also, to stop the archwire sliding to and fro, they might be able to fix it in place with a wire tie.

So far (famous last words) I've never had a poking wire between appointments, perhaps because of those bending and wire tie tricks. But I know how it felt during an adjustment when one end of the wire was jabbing my cheek for the short while it took them to sort out the other end. I certainly wouldn't want to put up with that for long, so I feel for you!

Appygirl82, my ortho put a bend in my archwire between the brackets on my 2 front teeth.
P.S. Not sure if you understood what kind of bend I am talking about.

Wax and silicone won't really stay on the back of a poking wire. You need to go get your wire clipped again.

Your teeth move a lot at the beginning of treatment. I was in my orthos office every week getting wire ends trimmed. I've never had them ground down as you have, but I had situations where the wire was taken partially out so the end could be trimmed. And yes, your cheeks will toughen up over time and you will find that you can tolerate a small amount of poky wire end. But until then, you need to get that wire clipped. Call them. Really. It's not a big deal.

Thanks everyone for your advice! The wires are literally not long enough to bend or anything like that, they only stick out just a tad bit from the bracket, not even enough to clip....but they are still just long enough/sharp enough to really tear up my cheeks....Im almost wondering if my cheeks will need to get used to them over time?

I guess my question to everyone is, when you feel your very last bracket is it sharp or smooth where the wire ends?

mine is clipped right to the bracket- I can feel no sharp edge.
When mine did poke out I tried bending it back but I just ended up moving the whole wire so that it poked out the other side!
That's probably what happened to yours when the asst. tried grinding it.

Usually after I get a new archwire, I can feel it behind my last bracket with my tongue. After a few days I always discover that it dissapears into the bracket and I cannot feel it anymore. I believe that it happens due to my arch expanding.

Mine are smooth--well, as smooth as a bracket can be anyway.