Scratchy molar bands

[CLAmom]

I have had my braces almost 48 hours and honestly, it's not bad at all. The only real worry I have is the scratchiness on the inside of the molar bands. Yesterday I went in to have the TPA bracket ground down and that did help a lot, however, the metal there is so sharp and pointy. I may have to go back in for some more grinding. Can anyone tell me if they were extremely bothered by this and is it possible to get used to something so sharp and scratchy? My tongue is super sore especially on one side despite lots of wax & salt water rinses. Like I say, the rest is very tolerable but I wonder how a person can possibly get used to the metal scratching. Will I have to pile on the wax forever?

[CLAmom]

Thank you for your encouraging words, Lucyloop. I know I am new at this so it helps to hear from others that things will get better.

[stclair5211]

I am going on 3 weeks and can say you will totally forget about it. All my molar bands are still scratchy/rough from the glue I guess, but your tongue will toughen up. One of my bands was like a knife blade at first and I almost went back to tell them to fix it! Now I run my tongue over it all the time and it doesn't bother me! If I can brag here a little, I only used wax once. My thought was the less I use it the faster my mouth will adjust to all the hardware.

[Orth-ohno!]

Immediately after getting my bands on, I had a lunch meeting with a friend. By the time we were done, I thought I was going to bleed to death with the beating my poor tongue was taking from the bands! (Even wierder, I couldn't figure out exactly where the offending piece of metal was?) I used my sonic care to brush around the bands, hoping it would help smooth out the rough edges...and it did! I used wax on the offending area for the next three days and now I am completely used to it. I'm not sure whether the offending area went away or my tongue just toughened up- but I'm happy either way! Use lots of wax, rinse w/ salt water and in a few days all should be better. Your body is an amazing instrument- it will figure out a way to deal with the offending foreign body when given enough time! Hope this helps

[CLAmom]

I think the scratchiness most people refer to is on the edge of the molar band where it meets the teeth. What is shredding my tongue is different. There is a small protusion on the inside of the band for attaching a TPA. I don't have a TPA nor will I be getting one yet the pointy thing is on there anyway. When I feel this thing with my tongue it is rough, sharp, and needle-like. The skin of my tongue actually catches on it---OUCH!! Like I say, I did have it ground down some but I think I'll have to get more polishing or something like that. I guess maybe I sound like a big baby about all of this but the rest of the brackets don't bother me at all including the big wing-nut looking thing on the cheek side of the molar band. I'm thinking it's just not right the way it is. Anybody else had this concern?

[jcdamon3]

I had this experience with something other than the molar band this was after an adjustment so I had by braces 4-8 weeks when this happened. It was razor sharp. I just couldn't believe it. And then once your lip/tongue gets hurt on it, it is just like torture. I thought that I was going to have to go in and have them do something about it. It was a Friday night though. I toughed it out and by goodness my mouth just eventually got over it. I used some wax and stuff and eventually things got tough.

So three days seems to be the magic number. By Monday I did not feel the urge to go storming into the Ortho office! Not that I would have stormed in. Just trying to be dramatic.

It is just so strange that something that hurt that bad could later on not even be felt. Amazing what our bodies can do to compensate.

I would wait three days and then call.

[CLAmom]

Thanks jcdamon 3. I guess it's hard to believe right now that I could ever get used to this, but your comments have given me encouragement. This metal scratching/cutting is really the only thing that has been bad about my experience so far. I'm really pretty excited about having actually gone through with the whole process of getting these babies on so I don't want to get too bummed out about this part. I'm going to keep on keeping on and if I have to cave in and call the ortho it won't be until Monday.

[jcdamon3]

Let us know how you do!

[CLAmom]

I woke up this morning and by some miracle I am feeling MUCH better. I took out my wax to brush my teeth and it's been 2 1/2 hours now and I'm still okay. I don't have ANY wax in right now though I may have to use some later. I would never have believed that this is possible but the scratchiness is BETTER. It still catches me when I swallow especially on the left side but it's not intolerable. This is a real boost to my attitude and I want to thank all of you for your kind words once again. What a huge help it has been to get on this message board and get such terrific advice.

[jcdamon3]

TERRIFIC! And tomorrow will be even better!

[CLAmom]

Has anyone ever taken matters into their own hands and ground these suckers down? Although the scratching is better I still am bothered by these cleat things on my molar bands. I'm so tempted to go shopping for sandpaper or something to smooth these suckers out!!

[jcdamon3]

I only have one so I may have considered it if I had four of them. It does drive me nuts. I don't know why they can't make bands that are smooth if we don't need the darn appliance! Definitely talk to the ortho if they are still driving you nuts. I finally had them push down my hooks on the outside and that helped quite a bit.

[lessantizle]

hello all, im brand new to the forum. i got my braces on yesterday and the molar bands are killin to the point that i had to join the forum and look for people with the same problem. How are things going with it, any progress? I have the exact same problem as you, the bands are connected to my first molars, and the little hooks on the inside of it just rip my tongue up especially on the left side. I cant eat, i cant swallow, i cant do anything that involves the movement of my tongue. I got mad today and went at it with a clamp and clamped the hooks down a little but i stopped cause its seemed i was doing major damage to everything else, so it still pokes like crazy. I tried wax but didn't like it, i mean if this is an ongoing problem i have to find a different solution, i cant put wax in my mouth everyday for a year, right?

tell me please how it went

[CLAmom]

Believe it or not you will get used to it--mostly. I haven't worn wax for about a week but occasionaly the cleats still slice at my tongue and it hurts. I did go in and have them ground down just a bit on my 2nd day in braces and that helped a tiny bit. There have been several times in the last 2 weeks that I have been tempted to go back in and have them buff some more. I've stuck it out, though and most days are pretty good. It truly is amazing what you learn to put up with and also how tough your mouth and tongue get after awhile. I never would have believed it at the beginning. I'd say if this is really killing you to call your ortho and ask them to grind them down. If the wax bugs you too much, there is another product out there called BraceEze that is thinner and smoother. It's easier to use and feels good but I have a hard time keeping it in place because it seems to sort of melt and smear around my gums so I've only used it a couple times. It's worth a try, though.