Metal Mouth Message Board

i got my braces yesterday! well, i got the top done yesterday - they're the inovation clear brackets, and everyone says they can hardly notice them, which is exactly what i wanted. in two weeks i go back to get my w-arch put in, and then after that does it's job for about 3-4 months, i'll go back to get the bottom braces put on. the bottom will be metal, but i don't know if they'll be self-ligating or not.

my top and bottom arches are both narrow, but my top is more so. my orthodontist wants to fix that first, because he thinks i'll be biting off all my brackets if he puts them on now. i also have lots of crowding that apparently makes it difficult to take care of my teeth and gums properly.

i had spacers put in a week ago to prepare for the w-arch, so those went back in after they put on my brackets, but my mouth still feels so much better than when i first got the spacers! and at least i can chew now! my front teeth feel a bit like someone punched me in mouth, but it's not unbearable.

my orthodontist says i'll be able to see a big difference in the top teeth before i get the bottom braces on ... i can't wait!

Hi! How is it going so far?

well, it's been a week (and a day) ... a couple of my brackets have really been bothering me, but i've been using the wax on them and that makes it okay. also, i could chew for a couple of days, but i think i might have overdone it because my teeth have been hurting again, so i'm back to "mushier" foods for a while.

i know i'll get used to them eventually, but it's kind of like i forget about them overnight, so i still get a little surprised when i wake up in the morning. and they're always the first thing i see when i look in the mirror. then in a few months i'll get my bottom teeth done, and i'll have to get used to them all over again. blah.

i've been doing everything the orthodontist told me to do regarding brushing/flossing/avoiding certain foods/etc. i'm worried, though, that they're going to tell me i'm not doing a good enough job. i always get that at the dentist, because of the crowding ... it's hard to get into all the little nooks and crannies, so to speak.

my next appointment is next wednesday! then i have my first post-braces teeth cleaning (ugh) the tuesday after that. i hope the extra attention i'll be paying to my teeth and gums for the next couple of years makes a difference at the dentist.

I know what you mean about the crowding. I hope that once I get my braces on I'll be able to do a good job too.

It sounds like you are doing your best and that's all you can do, right? Hope your next appointment goes great!

i had my w-arch put on today ... right now, my teeth feel just like they did after a day in my spacers (ugh). so i guess i'm back to soup/yogurt/applesauce/mashed potatoes/etc. for a while.

just when both sides of my teeth were finally touching top-to-bottom again (that actually happened yesterday! i was so excited about it because it meant my teeth had moved, lol), i had to get this, and now i'm biting the bracket part of the molar band on one side, while on the other side, the teeth don't touch at all. my ortho says it will be "several" weeks before that's over with.

i'll be stuck with this thing for 6-8 months.

they also replaced my arch wire, and i had no idea that opening and closing all those brackets would hurt so much! fortunately, though, that pain didn't last.

i get my teeth cleaned next tuesday, and my next ortho appointment is in eight weeks.

and one of these days, i might try to get some pictures up here.

W-arch, is that like a TPA? Well congrats on closing up your bite! I'm still working on that and hoping it comes along as quickly as yours!

as best as i can tell, the TPA and the w-arch (there might be another name for it ... that's the name my ortho uses, though) are very similar, but the shapes are a little different. meryaten posted a picture of one in this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=23652.

mine is so much more narrow though! i think getting the spacers in to prepare for it was what caused my bite to be off.

Oh man, I hope the soreness goes away quickly. It's not any fun! Did it hurt when they put it on or just afterwards? I'm getting a TPA next month. Has it affected your speech?

the only part that hurt while they were putting it on was when they told me to bite down for the placement, which i had to do twice - once to make sure it fit, and again when they glued it into place. my teeth were still sore, and i haven't bitten down that hard on anything since before i got my spacers.

it's affecting my speech a little bit, but that seems to be going away already. all afternoon yesterday, though, it felt like my gag reflex was "on." i tried to say "six-thirty" last night and that even made me gag! it's difficult to swallow right now, too, since my tongue can't go where it's supposed to go.

also, the pain is better today (yay)! it still hurts to bite down, but it doesn't hurt when i'm just sitting here.

the day before:


the day of:


yesterday:


the best picture i could get of my w-arch:

Ahh....now I see why it's called a "W" arch. Let's cross our fingers that it gets your teeth on the move! Looks like a pain to clean around, hopefully you won't need it long!

i got my teeth cleaned yesterday and everything was fine ... just have to have a filling repaired next month.

the reason i have to write about a boring routine teeth cleaning, though, is because of what my hygienist told me when she was finished: "your gums look good for someone with so much crowding!" every time i've been to the dentist for the past several years, they've always said, "now, you need to make sure you brush at least twice a day, and make sure you floss correctly, and use listerine, and blah blah blah" ... all the same stuff every single time even though i've always done exactly what they've told me to do! now, it appears all that work has finally started to pay off (talk about delayed gratification!). now that i have braces, i figure all the extra attention to my teeth and gums can only be a good thing.

Leave it to the pros to know what they're talking about huh. Glad you had a good cleaning!

Wow you're gonna see so much improvement!