Metal Mouth Message Board

I went in to get my spacers removed and, I thought, to put on my 4 molar bands.

The assistant fits all the molar bands then the ortho comes in and takes them off then refits them, then takes them off. I thought he was putting adhesive on all of them..the applied the 2 bottom ones, then the top...then he took the top off again.

Then he orders the assistant to do a mold of my upper mouth. She does the mold then puts back in the spacers on top..thenI find out the ortho is ordering me a TPA device! Also they hooked nothing to my bottom molar bands...they're there for show?

So I came home and looked up exactly what a TPA was, and it does not look fun. I had my first "Ugh take it all out of my mouth, I quit!" moment. The only good thing is that the molar bands aren't hurting and neither are the spacers. But I'm still stressed out about the TPA! I have 1 month to worry about it.

Im not sure about the device that you are talking about, but they didnt hook anything up to my molar bands for a few months. They arent there just for show, they'll connect them to the rest of your teeth eventually

Yeah, the TPA kinda freaked me out too.

I just got my braces on, and the TPA, last Thursday. It's been five days and I am still trying to figure out how to effectively eat with a wire running across the roof of my mouth.

The silver lining of it is that eating isn't very fun right now, between getting junk in my braces and trying to manuver food around the TPA eating has actually become too complicated. Now when I look at those mini-snickers bars that are sitting in the office candy jar all I can think is how irritating it would be to eat it.

So I am eating much better then before the braces and TPA!



My tongue is still trying to adjust to it, though, eventually it will toughen up but right now it feels sensitive.

Luxekitty:

Didn't the ortho tell you that you'd need a TPA when you had your first consultation? I would think they'd be required to tell EXACTLY what they intend to do BEFORE you start your treatment. I'm at the same stage of treatment as you are right now. I hope my ortho doesn't have any surprises up his sleeve for me!

Don't be stressed out about that TPA. I had one for about 6 months,
talked here with a lot of others who had one. It is always the same, well
at least for almost all who have a TPA. First days to 2 weeks are the
worst. Some find it only annoying, others have molar pain. But it is
never that bad that it is unbearable. After that initial period, you get used
to it and then hardly notice it anymore. Until you eat something that gets
stuck up there. Yes, mine was all the time a real food trap. But that isn't
so bad. You'll get very handy in dislodging that. So, don't worry. It will
work out just fine !