Metal Mouth Message Board

Alright So it's Official I go in on 12/17 for impressions and xrays, What should I expect this day? I will make my appt for a few weeks later (surrounding my pay days @ only getting paid 2x a month) to get my tops then a few weeks after that for the bottoms. I plan to be braced by the end of January. I can't wait I'm so excited... I've been searching the forum and studying... It's also going to help that I'm currently on a weight loss journey and this will help me not that i've had any issues stay further away from my fav junk foods, starburst, tootsie rolls, and much fast food. Also another question how often are the colors changed? Should I expect to be bracketed and wired the same day? I'm ready to get this show on the road! Any advice or suggestions are appreciated.

I got my impessions and xrays and my braces on the same day, I don't know about everyone else. But impressions can be a problem for some, they made me gag so bad but you might not even experience that. But congrats on getting braces!

I got my impressions done and then got x rays done a few days later. About 2 weeks later, I went back in and ortho discussed my treatment options and then I got my braces put on a couple of days later

Your bands get changed each visit. My visits are once a month, so I get fresh clear bands once a month.

Some people get spacers a couple of days before they get braces put on. Others get fully braced straight away, It kinda depends

Hmm... so I see I will have to call the ortho office tomorrow and find out what's what.. I'm excited to know what's going to happen on what visit and my orig consult was June of this year so it's a haze! I do recall him asking me if I have a sensitive gag reflex he said the impressions could do that... Can someone explain exactly what happens for impressions?

basically they put trays in your mouth filled with stuff, mine was goopy but I guess it just depends and you have to keep it your mouth until it sets. I hated impressions but my mom had braces and she said her's wasnt bad at all

2inlove04 wrote: Can someone explain exactly what happens for impressions?

When I had my impressions done, they put foaming material into trays and you bite done until they set. Usually a tray for the upper arch and one for the bottom arch. Similiar to a mouthguard that an athlete wears. The worst part is when they pull the tray out, it feels as though your teeth are going to be ripped out with the mold. I also had to bite down on strips that were heated, (maybe wax strips) so they could take individual impressions on specific teeth.

They took various photos of my face - smiling, not smiling, looking up, looking down, mouth open a bit, mouth opened wider, profile shots, shots of the upper and lower arch. For some of the photos, I had to hold a mirror in my mouth because the photo is taken off the reflection of the mirror. I had to hold plastic things that kept my cheeks away from my teeth during some of the photos.

Next came x-rays, these were simple. I had to sit in a machine while this contraption goes all around your head. It takes about 8 seconds. You can not have any jewelry or hair barretts on. If you hair is in a pony, you have to take it out. For another xray, I had to bite down on some metal object that had a groove in it, you put your upper teeth in the grove.

They are able to see every xray and photo as it is taken so if you need a redo, you can do it right away. The whole process goes by quickly and is painless.

We're any of you braced the same day?

I was not braced the same day and I wouldn't want to be. I want my ortho to fully examine my xrays and molds and then devise a treatment plan before braces are put on. Getting braces the same day was never mentioned and I would question it if they wanted to do put the braces on.

Although, I have read that some people did get braces the same day as impressions/xrays. My question is, how do they know what they are fixing unless they examined the records? Maybe this is common for "simple" cases. I don't know....

2inlove04 wrote:We're any of you braced the same day?

I'll be getting braced the same day as I do the molds / x-rays. Only my uppers though.

Snowglobe32 wrote:I was not braced the same day and I wouldn't want to be. I want my ortho to fully examine my xrays and molds and then devise a treatment plan before braces are put on. Getting braces the same day was never mentioned and I would question it if they wanted to do put the braces on.

Although, I have read that some people did get braces the same day as impressions/xrays. My question is, how do they know what they are fixing unless they examined the records? Maybe this is common for "simple" cases. I don't know....

Good point. I think orthos do it differently, depending on where you're going. I'm not really sure how complicated mine really is. I have a deep bite, that's misaligned on one side...and a tad bit of crowding on the bottom. That's it. Overall, I have pretty straight teeth. It's the bite that's the issue.

I'm having another consult with my ortho this week to get all the details before my brace date. I'll see what she says.

I don't have a great gag reflex, but the impressions were fine for me. This was the first time I had these done and was a little bit worried how I would react to them being in my mouth, but it was totally fine. The Ortho kept talking to me (I couldn't answer though! lol) which took my mind of it I guess.

I had the first part of my consult in September, the 2nd part in October then my upper braces were fitted in November. Impressions were taken at my first consult, along with photos of my teeth and profile. Treatment plan was then sent to me about 2 weeks later by post. X-rays were taken at the 2nd part of the consult as well as a description of treatment plan in person.