Metal Mouth Message Board

I ran a search, but found few posts about them.

I currently have lingual braces, but have had a really terrible time with them. I'm four and a half months in, and still need silicone wax on the front upper and lower teeth at all times. Literally 24/7. The left side of my tongue has a sore that will heal for a week or so, and then be awful again for three weeks. I'm using a prescription mouthwash given to my mom when she was going through chemo; it has lidocaine in it to soothe the pain, and something else in it that helps heal. But it's ridiculous that I'm this far in and still having to fuss so much.

So tomorrow morning I'm calling my orthodontist and asking about changing my treatment to (hopefully) something clear on the front of my teeth. He carries Simpliclear, and I thought maybe Damon, but I'm not seeing it now.

Any pros and cons that I should be thinking of? I've read that the ceramic brackets are larger. Has this posed any problems for any of you? Should I push for the Damon system, as it sounds like they're smaller?

Any suggestions on things that I should be thinking about or questions that I should ask are really appreciated. I'm feeling really bummed out that I'm wasting money on the Incognitos, and am sort of embarrassed to have to change treatment plans. I don't want to be known as That Patient that they all dread.

Thanks, folks! This site has been invaluable to me.

Hey Norrie, I was wondering what the problems were that you mentioned you were having but now I know. Wow that sounds awful. I considered lingual braces but after reading this I'm glad I didn't go that route. The Simpliclear look very much like my braces so it's a good choice for you since you like how mine look. You will have to deal with the lig staining issue though unless you can get them changed out more frequently or do it yourself. The only suggestions I have are (1) ask if your Ortho can get the Damon. (2) I initially was only gonna get clear braces on my top teeth since I was used to only showing those teeth when I smiled but, my Ortho said that the price was the same in which case I figured. Why am I gonna pay for brackets that I'm not gonna use? So since I paid for both upper and lower I decided to have them all clear. And guess what? It was the best decision I ever made!!! I love smiling now more than ever and even show my lower teeth now that I do. Lastly, my final advice since you've already had 4.5 months of discomfort is to do as I did if you do switch to traditional braces. Day 1 of having my top braces I noticed that the inside of my lips were beginning to get cut up like I was told they would but I couldn't have that bc I had a hot date that weeeked and didn't want my mouth all cut up. Day #2 I bought a lip protector which is a thin plastic strip that covers the braces entirely so they don't rub against your lips. I wore it for 2.5 weeks while the little damage that was caused in day#1 healed. It seems that little damage on day #1 was all I needed for my mouth to form thicker tissue so when I stopped using the protector, the brackets no longer hurt my inner lip. The next month when they put on my lower braces I did the same thing. On day #1 I let them be to cause a little damage and prep my mouth to form tougher tissue. On day #2 I used another protector (they come in pairs) but this time I only used it for a week and all was well. The only time I've had to use wax is when I had to cover springs but I only had those on for a month and they're gone now. I hope all goes well for you on Tuesday, best of luck.

Have your orthodontist work with what he's comfortable with and what's in your price range. Self-ligating ceramic brackets are going to be the most expensive kind, conventionally-ligated metal ones the cheapest. There isn't really any substantial difference between different brands of the same type of bracket, so no need to specifically request Damons vs. say, SmartClips or these Simpliclear things...

Norrie, how did it go? Did you get a chance to talk to your ortho about changing your braces?

chichi wrote:Norrie, how did it go? Did you get a chance to talk to your ortho about changing your braces?

Sorry, Chichi! Just now seeing this. I updated in my thread in Our Stories, but forgot to do so here.

He's more than willing to swap out if I really want to, but he thinks that I'm doing great with the Incognitos, and that I can push through. The sore on my tongue had healed by the time that I got to my appointment (of course), so I was feeling a lot less down about the whole thing. He suggested that I take some time to think on it, but said that I can call to book removal at any time.

Since the sore healed up, I've been doing just fine with the Incognitos. I'm a little bit embarrassed about what a giant baby I turn into when I have one, but they are seriously miserable. Tongues are just not meant to rub against metal when they're raw. But everything is good now, I'm eating normally again, my adjustment went well, and I've chilled out and am not being quite so ridiculous.

Thanks for checking on me!