Metal Mouth Message Board

Hey there!

I'm Tracy, 29 year-old wife and mom to two toddlers in beautiful Seattle, Washington.

Last week I had my (only) two wisdom teeth extracted, and today was my B-day. I got upper brackets installed and spacers put in between all four 1st/2nd molars in prep for my molar banding next week. I'll get lower brackets in 2-3 months once my upper arch spaces enough for me to not bite the lower brackets off .

Here's my smile this morning at 10am:


And this afternoon at 1pm:


Yep, I picked coral pink ligs! I'm such a geek!

Madame Ortho says I'll be in active tx for 24-30 months. It feels like forever!

Welcome Tracyface! There's always room for one more. Coral pink, nice and bright! It;ll make you smile more to show off them pretty colors!

Thanks, MissSmiley and KK!

I've officially entered the 'hit in the face with a baseball' phase -- OUCH! Off to peruse the site for pain relief ideas.

Congrats TracyFace!

I too am having to wait for my uppers to budge around a bit before I can get my lowers braces. I've had so many people look startled at me and ask if I'm getting my bottoms braced too (because they obviously need it).

The spacers are OUT! Holy heck, that was a really uncomfortable week. I felt instant relief the second the ortho assistant popped them out. Now I have four shiny molar bands to get used to. They're a tad sore, but nothing I can't handle. And? The ortho removed the cleats for me! Score!

First adjustment set for August 8th. Ortho says I'll get a stronger wire. I also asked the receptionist for a copy of my consult photos, so I'll have those to post and use for reference as my teeth move. Very exciting!

Hi Tracy - I'm just behind you - have spacers in (coming out in 5 days!) and am getting metal braces and bands on Monday. I can't wait to have the spacers out - whatever they do next has to be better!!!!!

Babs, you're in Seattle too! Enjoy the lovely weather this week.

Yes, I was really excited when she mentioned that she was clipping off the cleats. In lurking around here I saw lots of complaining about mouth sores due to those darn cleats... I'm glad I can avoid that.

Hi Tracy
So you are in Seattle too! Well I am in Kirkland, so close enough...I'm looking forward to getting started on Monday - I'm planning a weekend of eating in preparation!
Babs

Day 3 in molar bands

The lingual edges of the bands are really irritating, especially where the ortho clipped off the cleats. I think she left a sharp edge that should have been filed down! I'm using wax on the buccal hooks, but nothing I have tried has been able to take the sharpness away from the lingual side. I'm going to give Mme Ortho a call and see if she'll have some sympathy on my poor tongue.

My first adjustment was today, and my ortho was very happy with my self-care and progress. Woo hoo! My top central incisors are coming out very nicely, although the left is moving faster than the right, so I have a bit of a 'scissor tooth' look for the time being. Mme Ortho says this will correct itself very soon. When the assistant took out my arch wire she gave me a few minutes to floss... bliss! It took two minutes to do my whole upper arch, and I felt like a million bucks. Then she put in a stronger arch wire and hooked in my second molars (my previous wire only went back to the first molars). I let my daughter choose my lig colors this time-- she picked TEAL!

Here's my progress so far:

Before banding


First day


First adjustment (6 weeks)


And a bonus shot today, showing what it looks like when I try to touch my front teeth together. That's a lotta tongue back there! I can't believe that someday I will be able to touch ALL of my teeth together at the same time!



I've got a little bit of tenderness today, and the new arch wire is going to take some getting used to in the back of my mouth. I may have to bust out my wax for the first time in over a month! Things are going well. I'm happy with my decision to do this, and with the amazing progress I am seeing after only six weeks of treatment. Yeah!

Yeah! A good adjustment! Your new lig color looks really nice too!

Hey Tracy - it looks great! I had my 1st adjustment this week too, but I didn't notice any changes

Hello there Tracy! Hurrah for getting to floss freely at your adjustment! It looks like things are going well and I love your choice of lig colors!

Take care!

Just stopping by to say Hello, Tracy! Your braces look great -- love your daughter's choice of color!

My second adjustment was this morning, and I was happy to tell the ortho assistant that I barely remember that I'm in braces anymore! Sure, I brush more often and I have to be a little more careful about what I eat, but I have absolutely NO pain or discomfort, and my gums and cheeks are perfectly free of sore spots! Hooray!

I had my ligs changed, but kept the same arch wire. Mme Ortho says it's still doing its job just fine. She added a second wire to my central and lateral incisors-- it's twisted around each of the four brackets and looks kind of cool. She says it's to keep my teeth from forming large gaps as they move outward and into their new perfect spots. She took a lot of time checking the alignment of my molars and measuring my overbite, and estimated that I won't be getting my bottoms braces for another 4-6 months.

Here are some pics of my progress!

My $6,000 smile:


Touching my molars together, to check out my deep overbite:


A profile view, to see how far my front arch has come forward:


See how far back my lower arch is angled? My upper arch used to be even worse! Hooray for progress!