Metal Mouth Message Board

Can anyone post a pic of the surgical hooks on your teeth? I'm curious to see what they look like. Thanks.

I may be able to find a photo of mine, I'll check today when I'm on my other computer.

Mine were thin wires that they wrapped around the arch wire and bent and twisted into a little hook. The sharp edges were tucked underneath.

jaime wrote:I may be able to find a photo of mine, I'll check today when I'm on my other computer.

Mine were thin wires that they wrapped around the arch wire and bent and twisted into a little hook. The sharp edges were tucked underneath.

CAUTION: Someone's asking for close-up pics of your braces!

snapdresser wrote:

jaime wrote:I may be able to find a photo of mine, I'll check today when I'm on my other computer.

Mine were thin wires that they wrapped around the arch wire and bent and twisted into a little hook. The sharp edges were tucked underneath.

CAUTION: Someone's asking for close-up pics of your braces!

Haha I think I can trust JBird! He/she isn't a rando commenter asking me to film myself with my mouth open, showing the inside of my mouth.

F'ing YouTube commenters...blegh!!!!

I tried looking on line too. No, I'm not a weirdo! I just like to know details. Helps ease my mind about this surgery. The thought of wearing hooks in my mouth for a few weeks, yikes. Wonder what they're for.

Jbird wrote:I tried looking on line too. No, I'm not a weirdo! I just like to know details. Helps ease my mind about this surgery. The thought of wearing hooks in my mouth for a few weeks, yikes. Wonder what they're for.

Sorry, I forgot to look on my home computer yesterday. I'm making a reminder on my phone to do it today when I get home.

The hooks are so extra elastics can be added. It allows for more specific movements that may be needed after surgery. In my case, I had four pulling my jaw over to the right since it was asymmetrical before surgery.

The only time I found the hooks unpleasant was when I was holding my lips closed. I had "DIY" hooks made with wires by the ortho though, so the "real" hooks might not be as bad.

Mine looked very similar to the hooks on stainless brackets; just a bit longer. They were crimped on the archwire in between several brackets but not every one. I might have had 3 or 4 on the upper and about the same on the lower. If you google search "surgical orthodontic hooks" you'll see some pics.

I checked my computer and the only photo I have, you can't really see them. I could tell though that I was wrong about what I said about DIY wire hooks. They were actual hooks like Nozzelnut described. I had completely forgotten about that...probably because I have no decent photo.

Thanks. That helps. I'll Google it too.

They are fine, no different to usual

http://i.imgur.com/ide6rNoh.jpg

Kobayashi hooks on upper/lower 1 & 2. Regular brackets on all other teeth.

Are these the same sort of idea as the little books on Damon brackets?

My hooks were fused to the wire. My orthodontist's office made it themselves; they took measurements on the previous visit and marked where each hook should go (in-between the brackets) with a marker.

http://imgur.com/a/lypEs

Honestly, they weren't as bad as I thought. I didn't get any actual sores in my mouth from them. A little irritation, but it went away quickly. After the surgery, the flesh in your mouth does swell and the hooks kind of get imbedded in your cheeks, which isn't pleasant, but again, not as bad as I thought. I was happy to get rid of them though. The biggest problem for me was that my lips would scrape against them when forming "m", "b", "p", etc., and my lips were already pretty beaten up from the surgery