Metal Mouth Message Board

My ortho said that on my next visit they are going to put some springs on my crowded lower teeth to help separate out, and begin moving the rear ones to the front. Any of you have springs? How do they work, what do they look like?

Brandy

Brandy I had a spring put on my lowers for about 4 months or so. I was so glad when it came off. It really messed up my lower lip on the inside. It got toughened up over time. I am glad I had it on though, cause it did the trick of moving my wayward lower into place. Here is a few pics.

BEFORE


AFTER

Good Luck!!

I have four spings in my mouth to move my crowded teeth. There is one on the top teeth and three on the lower teeth. The only reason I need wax is to put it on the springs. They tear up the inside of your mouth. With wax they aren't a problem though. When they first put them on those teeth were the most sore, not horrible but more sore than the others.

Here are some pictures:

I had a spring on for about 3 months. I didn't bother me very much. It was a little rough but I never had to use wax on it. I only had to use was on the molar hooks I have. tge spring does tend to make one or two teeth sort of sore, like when you first get your braces or an adjustment. The spring tends to keep working - so those teeth are constantly moving. I was glad to get mine off but it was really more because I knew that I had made progress rather than because I was in any pain. Just be careful of getting the toothbrush got it the spring!

Thanks Ladies,
Lynn Wow! what a difference! Kelly, my crowding looks very similar to yours so your pics were very helpful also. I can't wait for the springs as that just means we are moving forward. He could've put them on today and I would've been happy!

JC thanks for the warning about getting my toothbrush caught in them. I hadn't really thought about that but I guess it definitely could be an issue.

Brandy

Hi Brandy

I have two springs across two baby canines. My Ortho is trying to create a little more space there so that when they bring down the impacted canines they have enough room.

I've had the springs on since January 24, 2006. I did feel more pressure and soreness when they were first put on, but it went away in about a week or less. I remember I was too sore to floss between those teeth that night, since they were pushing on the adjacent teeth. I was able to floss the day after though.

They just look to me like little springs, mine are about a half an inch in length. Since they are on my upper teeth, sometimes when I move my lips, my lip get stuck on them. I also kept playing with them when I first got them on. Sometimes my tongue would get stuck on the spring and the spring would cut my tongue. My tongue just has to mess with all the stuff in my mouth, hard for me to stop.

Best of luck to you, and don't worry springs are not bad at all. (at least not for me)

Shawnie

I had my 5th adjustment today and got brand new first time springs on my bottom arch today. Here's my new 'stuff':



The teeth behind the springs aren't attached to the brackets. It was quite an interesting adjustment, lots of stuff going on. Had a powerchain up top taken off, got one powerchain over two teeth on the bottom, and springs. Got told elastics are coming up for me. Fun!!

Awesome pic! I think that is what mine will probably be like. Do you mean the teeth behind the springs are not attached to the archwire? wasn't sure what you meant when you said they werent' attached to the brackets.?

Brandy

Apologies about that, I meant the brackets behind the springs aren't attached to the wire, not the teeth. Or the teeth weren't attached to the wire, something like that! I didn't realize that until I was trying to take pics of today's adjustment.

Apparently, I'm getting one of these lovely things in a couple of weeks time. I don't know if it's going upstairs or downstairs, nor whether it's to open or close a gap. Something to, er, look forward to.

Here are my fashionable springs...




Mine weren't painful after the initial adjustment. I am happy to announce that I got mine off last week! They attached the 2 teeth they were trying to make room for...now THAT was painful [/img]

I have two springs on now. I had one, it was removed after a month and was put back on at my last adjustment. I think it did it's work though at this point and will probably come off at the next adjustment. The other will need to stay on longer. They feel huge in my mouth and catch a lot of food, but they don't hurt and I don't use wax so that's pretty good news. Hope you have good luck with yours.