Metal Mouth Message Board

Do they make molar bands with a smooth surface on the tongue side?

I have bands with the little grooves to accommodate head gear of which I am not going to need. Seems that putting in bands with grooves on a person who will not require their use is just adding grief for no reason...?

They're not only for headgear, they're for elastics too which you may need in the future.

GHW48 wrote:Do they make molar bands with a smooth surface on the tongue side?

I have bands with the little grooves to accommodate head gear of which I am not going to need. Seems that putting in bands with grooves on a person who will not require their use is just adding grief for no reason...?

Ugh! I feel the same way about mine! I had the assistant smoosh them down for me today, its about the 3rd or 4th time I've asked!

All of my molar bands have the elastic post and headgear tube and assorted accessories on outside (labial side), and they are perfectly smooth from the tongue.
Want to trade?

I have never seen 'accessories' on the lingual side of a molar band. I'm curious how it looks. Anyone have a photo?

They are called cleats and are way worse than brackets poking cheeks or lips.

You can see them here:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... lweQnsjNDQ

OMG.....they are HORRIBLE!!!

I too don't understand what they are for if you don't need 'em, cause they will cut your tongue up, so many times I have tried to put wax there.

I'm getting my molar bands put on next week...reading this thread doesn't have me looking forward to it too much! The spacers I have in right now are annoying and hurt a bit, but they're not so bad...are the bands worse? I'm getting 4 up top because I am getting an expander, and 2 down below...

For me the spacers were terrible too. I had 8, 3 of them metal. I couldn't bite down on anything. Everything I ate had to be liquid or mushy.

Maybe your bands won't have the cleats on them? I know all of them don't. Also, everyone reacts to these things differently, and if spacers aren't that bad for you, hopefully the bands won't be either

Went in today to get the remainder of the bands put on (top) for a total of six, I did ask the assistant if she could pinch the cleats down a bit, so she did and it isn't as bad, even getting a little used to them now, I think too that getting the spacers out was a relief -- between the spacers and the bands, the bands are the lesser of the two evils.

My molar bands have nothing on the tongue side, thank goodness.

ChristyD wrote:They are called cleats and are way worse than brackets poking cheeks or lips.

You can see them here:

Thanks for the photo & info. These look interesting, I'm curious to know for myself how they feel. I do run the tip of my tongue across the bands a lot.

The headgear tubes I have on 2 molar bands on aren't really that nice and are by far the pokiest things in my mouth especially if my cheeks are squeezed. Still don't know why I have them ..

Oh man. Getting used to those cleats was torture. It's hard to believe, but your tongue really does get used to them. I don't even notice mine anymore. At least the torture feels justified because I'm actually using mine to correct a crossbite

On a side note, for those who don't need the cleats, I discovered that they will come off the band due to metal fatigue. (Mine are a bit different then the picture posted here. Mine are more like a wing.) For awhile my bite was such that, when chewing, the cleat would bend outward toward my tongue. (Don't ask because I'm still not sure exactly how this was happening.) Upon discovering it, I'd bend it back. Repeat about 20 times and.....snap. No more cleat on that molar band.

^well judging by what you lot are saying, I'll have these since I am correcting a crossbite...I get my bands on next Friday...lucky me!

I know I hated those things and would get mad at my orthodontist because I thought he was just trying to torture me! lol but you get used to them I guess. They still suck either way

thankfully i agree with above that spacers were WAY worse feeling than when i got my bottom braces on. However I was wondering the same thing about my tongue getting all cut up from my molar bands. THANK YOU for posting this (so many who have/had braces had no idea what i was talking about). I don't think my are there for a reason either and i'd love to get them "pushed down" if possible.