Metal Mouth Message Board

Going to the ortho tomorrow... possibly for the last adjustment before debracing. Anybody have any advice/opinions? I'd rather things get tweaked now than delay my debanding. PS. I have lingual braces.

Here's one more picture. Note I have one less premolar on the right side than the left side of my bottom jaw, therefore it will never be perfectly symmetrical.

Can i ask why you have brackets on the outside? sorry I just thought lingual were on the inside of the teeth only?

Your teeth look good and will look even better once the brackets are off, perhaps they could be even better with a bit of filing on the ends of the teeth so they are a little more even? but I'd be happy with your result. I am 5 weeks away from debracing and I definitely want a little bit of shaving down on a few teeth as they give an illusion of not being straight sometimes.

I have all those brackets on the outside since I need so many elastics. The orthodontist I have wouldn't do elastics on the inside which kinda sucks. Believe it or not, I currently have elastics hooked to ALL of those brackets! I don't think I would have bothered with linguals if I knew i was going to spend 6+ months with brackets on the outside like this.

I know my bottom incisors are uneven. Due to a bad bite all my life, some teeth got worn down as others never got used so they are uneven. I'm not really concerned about that. I think the teeth look pretty straight and I've got a good looking bite now. Figured I'd let others weigh in, as they don't see my teeth every day like I do.

Ah i see, didn't realise elastics were on the outside but it makes sense.

I think your teeth look good, I would be happy so that's a plus, and the shaving down thing would only be a minor tweak but not really neccessary if you dont think

I think they are beautiful! Not a thing I would change other than the filing. Congrats and I'm so so jealous!!

Your teeth look really good , I've never seen so many rubber bands. Just wondering is it difficult to talk/eat?? Do you have to always take them on/off ??

Thank you everyone! Just heard today at my appointment that my teeth are done but she wants to keep the braces on for at least another 5 weeks to make sure the teeth are stabilized and not as likely to move quickly. So excited!

I guess it's almost a record number of rubber bands that my ortho has prescribed at one time. She said she typically does 1-4, almost never 6 but figured since I was tolerating (key word... tolerate) we should do it to keep everything on track.

Yes, I always have to remove ALL of them to eat anything. I've gotten pretty quick at taking them in and out, especially since I like to snack on food. It also makes it tough to talk at times. It sounds like I have marbles in my mouth, but I guess I have a good excuse and strangers don't usually ask or give me weird looks. And of course the strength on the elastics are extra heavy 6oz so it limits my ability to open. I can open about two finger width, maybe an inch and a bit wider if I try really hard.

The end is near!

Good luck!