Metal Mouth Message Board

Well I finally decided to get braces at 37 and I am very excited for the outcome. I have ceramic uppers and metal on bottom. I'm also getting a TPA appliance soon and I heard horrible things about them. Has anyone had one and what can I expect?

Hi CherylCee,

I have not had a TPA appliance, but wanted to offer my congratulations to you and say Hello!

I've been braced since the age of 34. It has been a tough journey at times, but boy did the time go by fast. This is a great place filled with wonderful people! Welcome!

Best of luck to you. I look forward to hearing about your progress!

Thank you! This site has been wonderful. I knew exactly what to expect on the big day.

The problem I am having now is the little hooks on the inside of my back bands where the TPA appliance will go. It is killing my tongue and I can hardly talk let alone eat anything. I keep gobbing it up with wax but how long can i continue that for. My sentence is 26 months....thats a lot of wax!

Reading everyones stories it seems it will get better with time. Looking forward to eating again! It is amazing how many things you can eat without actually chewing! lol

I didn't have a TPA but I did have a quad helix. Simply put, you will find that everything that is put in your mouth requires an adjustment period. At first the TPA will be annoying especially when eating but you will learn what food to avoid and how to maneuver food in your mouth. I've heard TPAs can make an indentation on the tongue and thus be irritating--I know my quad helix was. Try some salt water rinses. I think that after a week or two you will be used to the appliance.
As for the hooks, I didn't have those but do have cleats on the inside of all my molar bands. That drove me crazy for a few weeks. The tongue toughens up after awhile. I don't even notice them anymore.
Congratulations on getting braced.

Yes I heard that too about the indentation...I also heard it is near impossible to pronouce S's and K's without drooling or spitting on those nearest you.

Should be interesting!

Oh yeah! Forgot about the speech thing, not to mention the extra saliva production. That was fun. But seriously, all that goes away too once you get used to the appliance and how to work your mouth & tongue around it. You stop producing extra saliva once your mouth realizes the appliance is there to stay.

Just stand farther away from people for the first week or two.