Metal Mouth Message Board

Do you ever get bored and start picking at your brackets? I tend to do that sometimes.. I kinda wonder if I'll ever pull them off.

I lick mine a lot. I don't know why, but I need to stop!

Nope. Definitely don't fiddle with the brackets. But when I first got braces, I sure did run my upper lip over the brackets alot. Not outta boredom. It just felt weird and I couldn't help myself.

I don't pick at mine, but I used to lick them. Until I got a few tastebuds caught. Now I don't!

I used to play with the ends of the wires. However I had my first wires in for more than a year (!) so by the end, all four looped wire ends had actually broken off behind my molars. I guess I swallowed them. Gone, never to be heard of again! But when I had them they were bouncy and fun to play with. Now I have rebar in my mouth so even IF I had long enough overhang, it wouldn't move!

I lick mine as well, probably should stop that. I picked at my back molar bracket, and it seemed a bit jarring. I really need to stop pulling on them. I don't need to accidentally pull one off.

I lick mine and they cut my tongue and I've tried to pick food out of them witihout one of those little brushes and they hurt my fingers. They are so sharp (all metal). They can shred almost anything.

I was actually just wondering about this...lol. I'm am 7 days into my braces, and I lick the brackets and wire constantly. I'm always checking to see it my teeth have moved. Could this cause damage??

I didn't really do this when I just had my upper braces, but in the past week since my lowers were put on I've been touching my lower brackets quite a bit. I mostly do it when I am watching TV

I have three weeks in, with ceramics on the top only. My eye teeth braces keep getting stuck on my cheek. I feel like my dog when he gets his jowell stuck on his tooth,lol. I wish there were toothpicks that I could get that would relieve the pressure on my cheeks, just to air them out.

Picking- guilty as charged. Thinking about a work problem often tends to cause it. I also have a couple of ongoing tender spots that feel better if I push in the wire a little bit.

orangeracer wrote:Picking- guilty as charged. Thinking about a work problem often tends to cause it. I also have a couple of ongoing tender spots that feel better if I push in the wire a little bit.

Yeah, I'm wondering if my tooth issue was due to me picking at it.. I had one tooth that was really tender for about 2 days. I wasn't sure if it was due to picking at the bracket or if major movement was occurring .. but my tooth and gum were super sensitive .. even for flossing.

wasn't sure if it was due to picking at the bracket or if major movement was occurring ...

I would guess it's just moving as prescribed and getting sore as normal. If you think about it, the wires and stuff are working on the teeth 100% of the time vs. picking or pushing contributes maybe .01% of the total forces?

I posted a suggestion on your gum issues in your 'adventure' thread.

orangeracer wrote:

wasn't sure if it was due to picking at the bracket or if major movement was occurring ...

I would guess it's just moving as prescribed and getting sore as normal. If you think about it, the wires and stuff are working on the teeth 100% of the time vs. picking or pushing contributes maybe .01% of the total forces?

I posted a suggestion on your gum issues in your 'adventure' thread.

thanks! ...and I'm sure you're right. The pain went away a couple of days later. Thanks for the reply about the gum issues.