Metal Mouth Message Board

Thanks for the advice KK... you are a wonderful resource here and I really appreciate what you do for everyone.

One of the metal bands they put on my molars was already poking my cheek as of last night and the wax really helped but made me wonder again about what's in it.
I wrote to GUM/Butler last week about the ingredients and never got a response. I made a phone call and was told I would get a call back shortly and it never happened. I made a second phone call today and FINALLY got a list of the ingredients in the ortho. wax:

microcrystalline wax, ceresin wax, petrolatum

Nothing too disgusting!! Yippee!!
The down side is that the first phone rep. said that they test on animals 'only when they have to' I need to do more research on exactly what that means to them and if there's a more humane alternative out there. If there is, I haven't found it yet.

So, I was trying take pics of my arches today (they didn't really turn out, hopefully the picture taking gets easier with practice) when I noticed that one of my brackets had come loose in the front tooth, near the incisor.

I called the ortho and they want me to come in on Tuesday to fix it. They say that it's not a problem to wait several days for the repair. How normal is it for a bracket to pop off within a couple of days like that? I wonder if it's something I did, but, I'm not sure what it could be.

So, I was hanging out with friends last night and noticed that my "f" sound had become a whistle. I looked in the mirror and noticed a slight (oh, so slight) gap between my two front teeth where one has aparently started moving forward!! Even with a broken bracket, some change has taken place in less than a week!! When I was in my car alone, I had some fun playing with it, blowing air through it to make it whistle. (Maybe I'm slightly crazy).

I took a pic, but, it's hard to see the gap due to the shadow.



Also, my cheeks are starting to toughen up. I didn't use the dental wax much at all yesterday and today, so, they must be getting used to these molar bands poking them.

One thing i still haven't adjusted to is that the brackets make it even harder to keep my mouth closed and the top of my mouth seems to always feel dry. I've tried drinking more fluids, but, they don't normally go up there unless I swish. Even with swishing, the affect is temporary. I'm sure that as my molars straighten out and my bite is improved, this wil be better but, right now, it's annoying.

Hey Vegetara!!

I have the same thing going on with my Fs- and I too have a gap between my front teeth that is brand new. I actually didn't know why my Fs were sounding funny- I just put it down to my braces. It's the only sound I notice- I think I still talk pretty normally.

Sadly however, I have trouble whistling! I can remember being little and desperately wanting to whistle, and then finally being able to do it.... back to sqaure one I'm afraid.

Congrats on the gap- it's great to see movement, isn't it?

Wow, it's great to hear that others had similar experiences with the whistling. Thanks for sharing.

I went to my ortho today about the bracket that came loose. they think that the tension may have been too much as the teeth started to move and that caused it to pop off. He recommended we just leave it off for right now and try again after the arch is widened a little.

I had come to the same conclusion myself prior to the appt. So far, everything this ortho says seems to make sense to me based on my own logic and what I have learned about teeth straightening from all you guys. I really appreciate all the information on this site and love reading everyone's stories. I read everyone's posts a lot more than I comment on them and I feel more informed about treatment and the procedures.

Well, it's been too long since I've posted in here. I've been absolutely swamped at work lately.

I had my first braces dream Thursday night. I dreamt that, without springs, somehow my teeth moved to the right spot to allow space for the other teeth to line up. It was really cool..then I woke up.

In reality, it's too soon to know if I'm going to need springs or teeth shaven or even possibly some teeth removed. The ortho wants to expand my arch first and see where we stand at that point. He explained to me that by removing too many teeth and pulling the rest back, it can flatten the tooth profile too much. This can accentuate wrinkles in the upper lip and/or cause the patient to lose her sexy *pout*. He explained it better than I did, but, it makes sense and I'm glad to hear that he is considering appearance outside of just the teeth themselves. Besides, my lips (especially the upper) isn't exactly what Angelina Jolie has, so, I don't want to lose what I do have.

I had a second bracket fall off 2 weeks ago Friday. Well, that's when I noticed it at least while brushing my teeth in the morning. I called the ortho, got in last Thursday to fix it (a week before the dream). I thought they were just going to leave it off like they did the other one. It's the corresponding tooth (#10) on the other side, and seemed to kind of be the same situation. This time, they decided to change the wire from a twist wire to a 14 gauge wire and rebracket both of the teeth. I go in for my official adjustment in about 3 more weeks, and will take pics then to share.

The new wire has caused me to go back to the sore tooth syndrome, where it hurts to chew. Somehow, I still manage to have not lost weight from the dental work.

Hi vegetara! Congratulations on getting movement so quickly! It's a pain those couple of brackets have come off, but reading other stories here it sounds quite common place so I wouldn't worry!

Hope the adjustment goes well - looking forward to seeing your progress pics!

I again phoned the NSW distributor due to not getting a reply to my phone call. I was told it's imported from the USA, and after a few minutes of checking with his superior, he assured me that there were no animals used or hurt in the production of Wisdom Wax for Braces!

Again apologies for not replying sooner!

No apologies needed. Thanks so much for checking up on this for me!! You're the greatest.


And, thanks to the words of encouragement from everyone on here. You guys really make the process so much easier.