Metal Mouth Message Board

I've been reading other people's posts and I feel so ridiculous starting a thread about my minor little problems! But I don't want to bore people to death in my life who really don't care that much what I have in my mouth. This isn't even the worst thing I personally have had to endure. I wore a twin block appliance with an expander in the top. The jaw relationship part worked really well but that type expansion wasn't getting me anywhere so we had to give up on it.

All I have right now is an "ALF", which my orthodontist said might work better for me than the plastic screw-type expander. It's a lighter but more constant force, and it's great. I won't ever have traditional fixed braces in my treatment except brackets on my lower molars to help them erupt (I'll have elastics from them to the ALF, I think).

The first couple of days I had this I found it almost impossible to talk with, but this is the 7th day and I sound almost normal. I do have a slight but consistent lisp. It sounds extremely pronounced in my own head but I recorded myself and played it back, and it's definitely there but it's not horribly distracting. It's still hard to eat because the clasps over my molars make it impossible to bite down properly and the wires behind my front teeth make it hard for me to bite INTO anything.

Five BIG things I have noticed different about this expander, for me.
1. In 7 days, my nose breathing has improved and my recurrent sinus headaches have not been recurring.
2. My teeth have moved more than they did in the whole time I wore the twin block
3. I have had NO pain. The pressure feels good, actually. I've poked myself on some sharp bits and my tongue/cheeks feel annoyed by the prongs and clasps, and the molar clasps gave me a feeling of having food stuck between my teeth all the time, but I haven't been wakened by the pain the way I did with the twin blocks. And when I have problems eating, it's not due to PAIN, like the twin blocks.
4. People can't see it! And I forget it's there unless I'm talking or eating.
5. The downside---I seem to remember being able to eat better a week into the twin blocks. Anything even REMOTELY fibrous is just impossible, unless I get it into a tiny enough bit to swallow whole. I seriously have not been able to manage vegetable matter or any fruit except for soft blueberries. I swallowed some peas.

The one thing I don't understand is the problem everybody with any kind of expander seems to have with bread, and with getting food stuck. Maybe it's just something I got used to with the twin blocks and don't remember the trauma at first, but I just let whatever is going to get stuck stay stuck. Then those food catching parts are plugged up for the remainder of my eating, and when I'm done I suck them out.

At some point my orthodontist will add a bar across the front teeth, which I'm not looking forward to, since at the moment it's not visible. At some point I have to get brackets on my bottom molars and some kinds of elastics to get my lower molars to erupt more, and I'll get some sort of appliance to straighten out my front bottom teeth. So, I'm trying to kind of enjoy this part of my treatment since it's like to just get less and less pleasant!

Anyway, that's where I am with my treatment. And no, I'm not sure how long it's going to take. Kinda depends on how my teeth cooperate, I guess, and how much I cooperate with all these removable things like expanders and elastics. Which is likely to be a lot, considering how much I want to get it over with!

Hi there!

In all my research on line I never heard of an "alf". When I read your thread I just had to look it up. It sounds very interesting and I hope you will continue to post your treatment stories and other experiences as this appears to be a gentler alternative to complete braces.

Good luck!!!

Hi, nothing much has changed.

This last adjustment (Monday, 4 days ago) she went a bit more vigorous and I've been a bit sore, but nothing to make me take painkillers or have difficulty sleeping with it.

The speech is really inconsistent. When I practice I seem to speak much better than when I THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN THIS IS SPAM REPORT TO ADMIN with somebody. I think when I practice I am planning out what to say beforehand and so move my tongue very deliberately, but when I am just talking I tend to revert to my old placement and people who were used to the way I talked before definitely look a little alarmed or shocked, and strangers look at me oddly and so far when I have tried to speak on the phone, I usually end up having to remove it. Sometimes I think, why not just have braces, but them I remember that a lot of people with braces STILL have to wear expanders, or bite turbos, or various other things that interfere with speech, and then I'm glad I'm going this route.

Hi,

Just an update, at my appointment Monday we took impressions for my next appliance, which will be like this only with some stuff on the labial side of my teeth to bring my front teeth back and get rid of the flare. I'm still wearing the ALF but she did not activate it this time, it's just holding things in place until I get my new appliance at the beginning of October. I also had some IPR. She didn't want to make BIG gaps (my teeth are really huge for my face and will ultimately have a lot of reduction) so I will have more of that done as these close up, probably every other appointment until I'm finished.

It definitely hasn't been a straight line as far as getting used to talking and eating, and the second activation was more uncomfortable than the first or the third, the next appliance can be activated too but she wants to start the reduction and bringing teeth back. I have petite features and so she doesn't want my smile overly broad OR have to leave my teeth too wide, and we are on the same page with that.

At this point I would say I am very happy with the ALF. I am completely comfortable talking and eating with it, so much so that when she said to pull my teeth back I could use an appliance like this that would have wires in the front OR invisalign, I said I'd rather stick with this system. The other thing is, because of the way the pressure works differently, because the ALF is very flexible, if you have something terribly important professionally and need to take it out for a few hours and then put it back in, you can do that and it doesn't traumatize anything (too much of it will slow your treatment, of course), whereas you really have to leave the invisalign in except for eating or cleaning or it's not good for your roots.

I honestly don't see any changes in my face. I did feel a lot of pressure on my nose and cheekbones but it all looks the same to me, which is fine because I liked my face to start with. I do feel like my upper lip is less puckery on the closed-mouth smile, and my tongue is actually able to rest on the roof of my mouth , or at least it could if I didn't have wire in the way. And my nose breathing has stayed good this whole time. I also had been getting horrible sinus headaches almost every day, like the kind that make you think maybe you have sinus cancer or something, and I haven't had ONE since I started wearing this thing. Not ONE. I had some days of weird constant draining when I would lie down, and I had to roll onto my side to keep from choking. But that stopped. So I know something has moved, anyway. And my central incisor was overlapping its neighbor lateral incisor, and now there is a little space. Partly due to the IPR but at least she was able to actually get to that spot.

I would definitely tell someone at this point that they should go for it if their ortho says they're a candidate. Now that I've had this time to get used to it, she said I only have to wear it 12 hours a day as a retainer, but I'd honestly rather just take it out to clean it and put it back than track time or have to remember where I put the case and stuff. It's THAT easy to talk and eat with.

I haven't been very good about posting updates. I'm actually wearing a second expander, since Oct. 3rd, which is modeled after that ALF but has a TPA arch. I'm finding it quite a bit harder to talk with especially since my most recent adjustment/activation 2 weeks ago. It's still not really a big deal for me to eat with it. I don't know, maybe I just have a high tolerance for food sticking there throughout the meal? Also if I don't keep hydrated and my mouth gets dry, the wires get a little scrapey on my tongue. But basically it feels OK, I just feel a little shy about talking. I go in two weeks. if things are good and there is enough space to draw things in, I get a wire soldered in front. If not, more activation, I guess. Here's a pic...to give an idea of why it is hard to talk with, the wires in front are pretty much level with the bottom edge of my upper teeth, they are not against the roof of my mouth. The TPA doesn't touch the roof of my mouth, either, although I feel like my tongue has pressed it up a little.

Is that a fixed or removable appliance? Very interesting. I imagine it would be pretty difficult to talk and eat with.

Removable. I think I'd cry every day if I couldn't take it out to talk. It really isn't that bad to eat with, but I can't say "ch" or "j" or "z", and basically all my consonants are somewhat distorted, hissy, slurpy, etc, except for "f", "P", "b"and "m". I can tell it's really hard for people to understand me and if I talk to someone I've never met, they kind of look uncomfortable, like they thing something is wrong with me but aren't sure what. I've practiced a lot but it hasn't helped. The good news is, it's done the trick, and now I am getting a new appliance made (I was mistaken, a wire isn't getting attached to this one, I got impressions for the next thing today), and in less than 3 weeks I'll get a new appliance to get rid of my overjet and gaps, and I'm also getting some type of active retainer-like appliance on the bottom to straighten those teeth out. More speech impediments, yay! But probably not as bad as this.

That doesn't look like fun. I have a TPA and I've had it for a week. I couldn't imagine more metal behind my teeth like that.

Hi, do you know if it exist something like your stuff to be used on the lower teeth? I think I could need it to open my bite...

concorde wrote:Hi, do you know if it exist something like your stuff to be used on the lower teeth? I think I could need it to open my bite...

Hi concorde, I don't know. This was a custom modification. Because the tongue attaches in the bottom, I'm not sure how the wires would reach around. But next Monday I'm getting an appliance on my lower teeth to help with general straightening, and the orthodontist confirmed that it would be wire and acrylic.

coda wrote:That doesn't look like fun. I have a TPA and I've had it for a week. I couldn't imagine more metal behind my teeth like that.

You get used to it pretty fast, up to a point. It's embarrassing to talk with, still.

Thank you for your answer! So next week we will know the news!

hey ellieb not sure if you are still active on here or not but I'd love to hear how everything is going for you. I have pretty much the same thing as you with an ALF and TPA combined. Only had it in a few days so far but struggling with talking still. My ortho went for a fixed appliance on front of my teeth at same time to cut down on treatment time. Only problem is it means my ALF/TPA is not removable!