Metal Mouth Message Board

Well, I was wondering how much I was going to hurt after my first adjustment, and the answer is: not much.

After eight weeks, the ortho decided he had a little more tweaking to do with my first wire, so he put on a half-dozen wire ties, swapped out the rest of the elastic ligs, and sent me on my way. My next appt. is in three weeks, and he's going to put in the next wire then. (He says I'm going up two sizes.)

The same with me no wire change for first adjustment. Just change of ligs but I don't know what she will do next time.

i had my first adjustment on the weekend (6 weeks after brace day). i was upgraded from a .014 to .018 wire. this new wire is massive compared to the previous one.

I was at about the 3 1/2 month mark at my first wire change. Lots of movement during that time.

At my most recent appointment, my orthodontist changed the wire on the bottom but not the top. This was the first time I haven't had the wires changed (Have had braces for six months). He said next time he's going to put bands on my back molars and I'll start with the rubber bands. I've been reading up on rubber bands; sounds like they can be a tad bit miserable.

I didn't get anything changed until 11 weeks in, and even then it was only the top. I still have the same wire on the bottom after almost four months, but hopefully the bottom one will get upsized next visit. My bottom teeth had a lot of moving to do, so my ortho said if he changed the wire too early I would just be in a lot of pain and it might actually make my teeth move SLOWER! Still noticing tons of progress though!

I had my first visit today - 5 weeks in - and my ortho changed my wire on top. I went up one size. He said I have lots of movement that still needs to take place on the bottom so it will be awhile until he makes any changes there. I go back again in 5 weeks.

I have had a pretty bad headache since about an hour after my wire change - feels like a sinus headache (forehead and along cheekbones)........ I rarely get headaches, and don't have any other symptoms, so I am guessing it is from the wire change. My teeth don't hurt at all but I feel some pressure. Is a headache a normal reaction to a wire change??

i only had 2 days of tenderness after my first adjustment.

Hi Breel,

I had my first adjustment last week with a change of wire. I had a slight headache/faceache for a couple of days afterwards but it settled quickly. Hope you are now OK.

Jem

I did not have my wires changed. I was in the same wires for 5 months. I notice loads of movement though. Then at my second adjustment I was stuck with 4 elastics for my over bite and a square thick wire. But amazingly no pain from either of them. My elastics have not bothered me at all. Only issue was canker sores from the elastics rubbing my cheeks.

Crazy question but what does changing the wire do? My first adjustment is 4 weeks away.

A new wire is usually thicker and/or a new shape. The "starter wire" is thin and fairly flexible. As your teeth move closer to their optimum positions, they need a thicker wire to complete movement. Moving from a round to a rectangular wire engages the sides of the bracket slot to tip your teeth around the arch's axis. Also, stainless steel or Beta-Ti wires can have bends placed in them in order to achieve specific movements where the arch shape itself can't get the job done.