Metal Mouth Message Board

It seems that instead of spending time adjusting to the brackets and wires - I'm annoyed by teeth ramps that were recently added to my teeth. I had one small one before my fall last week….and now I have 2. One in particular feels taller than the other side and it doesn't quite match the top teeth. So when I mash down (whether eating or waking I find I'm grinding my teeth!) I can tell that the tooth above it is "soft". But even more than soft - I'm annoyed by its presence. I keep tapping it around and checking it with my tongue.

Backtracking a bit to my story from last week - I fell on my driveway (black ice - and yes I was being careful but it got me anyway). The fall was so quick I didn't even have a sense of needing to put my arms/hands out to catch myself. I did a face plant - got a gash in my eyebrow, hit my eyesocket on my right side, my right jaw too, and managed to break a tooth on the upper left. Thus - the bicuspid that was broken and then removed - had been part of my bite that didn't need a ramp/bumper to match the right side. It was the side that had the carriere' and elastics and this was the extruded tooth….and it is no more.

How did you manage with bumpers/ramps on your teeth? Eating was already a challenge - it is even more challenging now.

And are you overall annoyed by the presence of ramps/bumpers?

Believe it or not you will get used to it to the point where you no longer realize it's there. Depending on how long you have them in,you will probably forget how it ever felt to close your mouth completely. But at this point it will no longer be uncomfortable. I've had mine for a year and still need it

I've had mine since January now. Annoying as hell but you get used to them, and at times don't notice they are there.

Do you get the feeling they are not level? My right side hits but my left doesn't. I can't decide if I need to ask the ortho to take down the taller one or build up the left.

I'd rather not have them…..but if I must have them, seems they would be less bothersome if they were level. Thought they were level the day they put them both in - but after a few days, the right one is definitely taller.

I have had some major bumpers in my mouth since day one (Nov. '14) and all of my molars touched to start. Day one, I had around 4 bumpers at one time, next 6 with only 1 bumper and tooth touching. I have 3 now with only one bumper and tooth touching down in my mouth but all of my teeth are pretty close to touching. My whole mouth has been moving and shifting constantly and during adjustments when I had bitten down without the hardware in my mouth after they had removed the wires and bumpers, only 2 of my teeth themselves were touching on the right side last time and on the whole left side of my jaw/molars I had a space that could have my tongue just barely slip in between. I was alarmed as I felt like my jaw was now messed up but I have seen progress of leaps and bounds since then. They kept reassuring me from the get go that they couldn't move the brackets because my jaw and teeth needed to balance itself and that it will be annoying for quite some time. I couldn't smash food properly for eons and things like spaghetti noodles could only be swallowed in about one inch sections. I eventually managed with one side of my jaw once it leveled up and it's not on mind all the time anymore but to be honest, you eventually don't care and go for the gold because you are desperate to eat foods like a pelican if needs be. I do a pretty good job now and eat pretty much anything I want (noodles and lettuce are a tad annoying) just a little less pulverized. I will have bumpers on and gaps possibly for another 4 months or so but I'm seeing a straighter jaw that I didn't realize needed straightening and it will be totally worth it. It's really hard to trust the Ortho but I can see why they couldn't abolish them or move the brackets. Good luck!

I have bumpers on my molars so my teeth don't fully close when I bite....it is a bit frustrating, but as others have said, I'm starting to work around it by cutting foods into super small pieces and using my tongue and palate more to smush food and swallow it with little chewing involved! Definitely going to be sticking to soft foods for awhile though!

Had them build a tower in my mouth of those things at my last visit. Needless to say, in my sleep, the first night, that tower was destroyed.

So are the bumpers placed to correct the bite? I forgot to ask the orthodontist before I left the office. This is day 2 of Braces for me and it's quite annoying to eat. Eating has become more of a task than a joy...

Bite blocks or turbos are typically used to prevent biting off brackets. Instead of having top teeth bite the lower brackets the bite blocks prevent the mouth from closing that far. That's the most common reason. They might be used to prevent intrusion of some teeth too.

Yes eating with them is a pain, but they do wear down a little and you'll get used to them. I've had mine for about a year; the whole time I've had my lowers on. The first week was awkward the second not too bad and by the third I just about forgot they were there and started using them to help mash food, because my molars no longer touched.

Ok. Thank you! That's a relief.

This is still a struggle for me. I've almost been in braces now a year and my molar ramps (bumpers) are just as annoying today. They added more to my ramps a few months ago - and that was helpful at the time. I felt more level. NOW I feel some of my teeth touching finally but the ramps feel too tall - and the teeth on each side that is above the ramp - hurts. I think they are too tall.

In fact, the elastics I'm supposed to be wearing pulls the top down to the bite ramp - and they hurt and one tooth scares me - it feels loose.

That and one loose tooth side - the teeth in front of the elastic feels like it it hitting the teeth below - on the inside edge of the tooth. I stopped wearing my elastics last week and couldn't call or go in because the office was closed over Christmas/new years.

So although my teeth look great, I'm still very worried about my bite.

Tomorrow I go for my regular appointment and I'm going to make sure I ask about them.