Metal Mouth Message Board

I had another "details" appointment today. One small detail that was a surprise to me is that I had a bracket off and didn't even know it! I think it was from a rather tough sandwich I ate at a deli in town. The bread was quite hard so I took it apart to eat it...apparently I made that choice after the fateful bite

Anyway, they rebonded that bracket, added a bigger wire bend for my one central top incisor that refuses to line up. Then she added two new hooks to the bottom archwire and now I have V elastics 24/7 and class II at night.

After she put the new elastics in, she said that there would be a small problem with opening my mouth!!! My husband will love that.

I have my Moose elastics in the V and will use smaller Impala elastics for the class II.

I was a little upset that my next appointment won't be until August 15. I guess with vacations for the office staff and maybe families juggling vacation and appointments, I have to go 7 weeks!!! I've gotten used to the 4 week schedule to finish this stuff up...I could have had 2 appointments in that time period. I was hoping to have them off for my 25th HS reunion, not so sure that'll happen now.

Oh well, perfection is the goal!

I just took a closer look at my new elastic configuration and I noticed that the bracket they put on to replace the one that came off is one of the NEW damon III's. They're all metal and VERY SMOOTH!!! I will see if I can get a close up shot of it for ya'll I kind of wish they were all like this one.


Here's the website for it:

Damon 3 MX

Here's a picture of my new elastic configuration. I took them out to eat this morning and the pain went away immediately. Not a lot of incentive there to put them back in...

This picture's not clear enough to see the new bracket...also the elastics cover it. If it stops raining here today, I will go outside and get a nice clear shot of it.

Wow Jennielee! The elastics are very impressive! How do you remember where each one goes? I wore mine for the first time last night and it was a struggle to get them in- and I've only got a very simple configuration. Best of luck with the elastics, hopefully the time will fly.

Hi Jennilee,

Im due to get damon3 braces on top and bottom of my teeth. I was wondering about the Opals you have, Are they made by Damon too? do you know the difference between these and the full damon method (placing ontop and bottom of teeth) .

My ortho's never mentioned them....... not the opals anyhow
however he said the clearer ones don't work as effectively if they are clear, how are you finding the progress?

Just curious if U know....
ive only just joined this board, ive been on the site everyday since finding the link from my orthos website.

Hey Bell, At the very first day I went see my orthodontist, I asked for clear braces and she said clear braces moves slowly so she suggested me to use metal because it move faster I was told. Damon 3 are good and faster too. Good Luck getting barces in 28 days. Let us know how it went. Take care.

Good morning Bell and Sugarangel!

My uppers are made by a different company altogether. They're made by Ultradent. Here's a link to the site: http://www.ultradent.com/products/produ ... 23&pid=186

Basically, they snap open and closed instead of using ligatures and are EXTREMELLY smooth as you can see from the company's photos and mine as well. They are (as far as I know) the only self ligating clear bracket so they are a good combination with Damons.

They have not slowed my progress down so far. So far, no problems that they've detected....

I have an appointment this morning so we will see how they're moving.

If you click on the first page of my story, (the WWW below will take you there) you will see how quickly my uppers (with the clear brackets) moved initially. The bottoms (with metal) were much slower to straighten out. As SO MANY patients and even the doctors on here have said, it's the orthodontist's skill and the wire that move the teeth, not the brackets; the brackets just hold the wire. Damons are a nice bracket for me in that they're so small, part clear and there are no colored ligatures to stain as well as having 10 minute wire changes.

I think you'll be happy with your Damons, Sugarangel, BEST WISHES TO YOU!!!

I had an adjustment this morning and I have been happily watching my ticker go down to my Oct debanding date but it looks like that was a dream.

My front teeth aren't torquing enough so they're going to give me 3 more weeks with this wire and then bump me up to a thicker one (thickest possible for torquing) to try for 4 more weeks and THEN if it's not done, they will replace my upper brackets with regular Damon 3's. THEN wait for the job to be finished. (minimum would be 12 more weeks). Realistically, I'm not expecting fewer than 16.

Also it seems that my bite is still about 1.5 mm off on the left and about .5 on the right so I am wearing my double elastic config on the left 24/7 and the V on the right 24/7 with the class II added only at night. These are my ortho's instructions...I'm no renegade!

I know that I want them to be perfect, but it's so sad to have to reset the ticker!!!!

Aw. Sorry that you had to make a new ticker. The longer I have these things on, and the closer I get to debanding, the more impatient I get!

I hope your wire changes and elastics do the trick..hang in there!

Jennie, I'm sorry to hear you have to wait longer I know this won't make you feel any better, but at least your ortho is giving you any schedules: mine refuses to let me know if we are even half way there yet. I have no clue in which year my Get Naked Day will be celebrated! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, hoping that all the tricks your ortho has in mind will work and you'll be braces free sooner than you now think

Hi JennieLee81,

I'm sorry your debrace day has been pushed back a bit , but your teeth are looking fantastic and that is the most important thing. You've come such a long way so far, it really will be worth the extra bit of time to get it spot on. I'm so envious as I haven't started my brace journey yet - am very impatient to start (hopefully in the next couple of months) and can't wait to be at your stage

I'm sure the time will fly by, and b4 you know it, it will be celebration time!

honey- think of how far you have come in comparison to a few more weeks- don't think of it as a set back, but as a precaution so your teeth stay wonderful instead of taking them off early without properly finishing the process- i'm so proud of you, and can't wait until I'm that close! [lol] at least you can see the horizon, i'm too afraid to ask!

Thanks everyone! I do feel a lot better after I whined to y'all and your kind words definately help!

belmikry, you are SO SWEET!!! And SO RIGHT! The majority of my time in braces is behind me; I will be more patient. I PROMISE!

bracedagain you're right, the whole estimated time is truly an estimate. When I first had my consult, they told me 18 months then in my paperwork it said 18-24. I just kind of grabbed hold of the 18 and denied the 24.

joplin thanks, again...your teeth look GREAT!!!

swiss1 you are very kind to say such nice things about my teeth! THANKS!!

To everyone else, so many of you , this is the nicest place in the world! I can't imagine how I would feel if I'd only had my family to complain to...they would not have been a sympathetic group. They've grown quite bored with my teeth.

CHEERS to you all! Keep up the good work both in tooth movement and in being so supportive!

lol- isnt' it funny how bored your family and friends get of you talking about your teeth??? I'm so glad you mentioned it! I'm not allowed to send anyone progress pictures, or make them look at my brackets-

glad to know I'm not the only one! I think my boyfriend will shoot me if I ask him if my front teeth have moved a mm again!

I have to admit I was eating cashews almost daily for about 10 months (you're right Kiwi, they are softer than most other nuts so are much kinder to the brackets) and then I broke a bracket on a rather hard piece of toast in a deli sandwich and it was my "last freebe" so I am NOT risking it with any of the no no foods now. But they never caused me any trouble, they just moved the wire all around.

Of all of the no no's, cashews are the things I miss the most.

When I do get to eat them again, without guilt or fear, I will enjoy some for you, Bracedagain!

Thanks everybody stopping by and chatting!