Metal Mouth Message Board

So I'm approximately 20 months into my projected 24 month braces drama, and two days ago at the appointment they:

- Removed my rounded wires

- Slenderized my two upper front teeth

- Replaced top wire with the heaviest-gauge square wire they have, with bends in it near the two front teeth to rotate them or bring them closer together to eliminate the "window" between them

- Replaced the rounded bottom wire with the second-to-heaviest gauge wire they have.

So apparently these wires are my "final" ones. Why are they so heavy-duty? Can someone explain why they go heavy-duty and square towards the end of the treatment? It's been 48 hours and I still can't chew, and oatmeal and oodles of noodles is getting old real fast. Never had the pain like this since I got on braces. Whew! Oh, and the big square wire has made the "braces lisp" worse, it's a little embarrasing to talk.

Laserjock, 30-year-old braces-wearing lisper

Hiya, Me too, I've just been given the second to last square wire on top. It's OK though and obviously I haven't been through as much as you, but I'm also interested to know why the wire changes at the end.

I got the dreaded square wire at my first adjustment! They changed the top 13 round to a 14 round. The bottom went from a 14 round to a 14X25 square. The thing looks like a piece of railroad iron. After that I accused them of being a branch of the Al Queda terrorist group. It put me on oatmeal for about 3 days. They told me that when I come back in December they will put one on top. I cant wait

I'm one year into my treatment, with one year to go, and just got the rectangular wires too. But they haven't caused ANY pain whatsoever! And nothing has moved since I got them in (almost two months).

Laserjock Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:33 am
Can someone explain why they go heavy-duty and square towards the end of the treatment?

My understanding is that the round wires are used to reposition the visible/crown part of your teeth, while the square wires help to reposition the roots when everything else is all aligned. Is that what others have heard as well?

I hope that your pain has subsided at least a bit!

Cheers,
Erica

Interesting...my square wire is a "19x25", and then there were some letters after it. The assistant said he can put a bend in a square wire and really bring the tooth into line. Whatever....it hurts.

Laserjock wrote:So I'm approximately 20 months into my projected 24 month braces drama, and two days ago at the appointment they:

- Removed my rounded wires

- Slenderized my two upper front teeth

- Replaced top wire with the heaviest-gauge square wire they have, with bends in it near the two front teeth to rotate them or bring them closer together to eliminate the "window" between them

- Replaced the rounded bottom wire with the second-to-heaviest gauge wire they have.

So apparently these wires are my "final" ones. Why are they so heavy-duty? Can someone explain why they go heavy-duty and square towards the end of the treatment? It's been 48 hours and I still can't chew, and oatmeal and oodles of noodles is getting old real fast. Never had the pain like this since I got on braces. Whew! Oh, and the big square wire has made the "braces lisp" worse, it's a little embarrasing to talk.

Laserjock, 30-year-old braces-wearing lisper

That is the wire that when they put it on it feels like the ligs are already on there, then the ligs, or powerchain gets put on and whoa! that's tight.
It will bother you for a bit longer than the standard ones, but you will get used to it. Hang in there, the biggest wire will be out of the way.

I got my finishing wire on at about 9 months, and the bottom will be on at 8 months with another year or so to go. Yuck.
Good luck and take advil if you need to.

I find it interesting that people are saying that their rectangular wires hurt. I've not had any pain in my teeth since the original getting braces on - even when i go for an adjustment now, I don't get anything more than mild discomfort - I must be mad wanting more pain! I have had 18x25 on top since April, and got 18x25 on the bottom earlier this month.

Well, it took over four full days to chew something without the use of Advil. Thanks to all who posted/commiserated...

I was suppost to have it now..but did not fit...so I will have it next time.... I am not sure if I look forwared for this...

erica wrote:

Laserjock Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:33 am
Can someone explain why they go heavy-duty and square towards the end of the treatment?

My understanding is that the round wires are used to reposition the visible/crown part of your teeth, while the square wires help to reposition the roots when everything else is all aligned. Is that what others have heard as well?

I hope that your pain has subsided at least a bit!

Cheers,
Erica

I don't think that is the case. I had my first adjustment yesterday and got the square/rectangle wire, it is 14x25. My teeth are not aligned yet. My ortho will be doing an xray at my next adjustment (10 weeks from now) to check on the root position to make sure they are moving the way he wants and not tipping onto each other.
Click the 'www' for pictures of my progress.....