There are little raised ridges on the insides of my four metal molar bands. I don't know for sure what they are called, but whatever they are, they lacerate my tongue every time I try to eat or speak. My tongue is swollen and tastes a little like blood... and it hurts a lot.
I tried to cover the ridges with wax so I could eat and speak without getting cut, but the wax just fell right off.
Does anybody know of anything that will help? Duct tape? Liquid latex? Glue-on mini marshmallows? Anything at all?? I'm starting to get desperate here.
I wash with Peroxyl (oh, how it burns my tongue) and salt water, but trying to heal it that way won't do much good if it just gets cut open again every next day.
My tongue vs. CRUEL molar bands - help!
Moderator: bbsadmin
I know what your talking about, I have them too. They never bugged me and I have them on tops and bottoms. I asked my orthodontist a few appointments back what they were and he told me that they were to help rotate teeth 
. I don't know if he'll use them or not, but if they're there I think he will... Why would he put those types of molar bands if he wasn't going to use them?? Well as for your pain, I can't think of anything that will help aside from wax. Hope it gets better!
. I don't know if he'll use them or not, but if they're there I think he will... Why would he put those types of molar bands if he wasn't going to use them?? Well as for your pain, I can't think of anything that will help aside from wax. Hope it gets better!-
pinkdiamond
- Posts: 35
- Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:53 pm
Try Brace Eze from www.udent.com it has helped me and it will stay in while you eat . its a little pricie but for me it was worth it
Pinkdiamond
Pinkdiamond
just offering moral support...that pain will go away. one day i swore i had little razors in my mouth, slicing up my tongue. but for about two weeks now i havent even felt them...it's like they aren't even there. now, my front teeth hurt like hell. and i'm going for an adjustment next week so that could start the pain all over again. who knows? just keep trying the wax if you can. this isn't a solution, but i seriously locked myself in at night and didnt talk to my roommate or answer the phone because not talking helped a little. dont' feel bad about doing that. or napping! take care
four bicuspids removed 1/3/06
clear uppers and metal lowers placed 1/5/06
timeframe for braces: 24-30 months
Lin,
I had the same problems, all 4 of my molar bands have cleats on the inside and it just killed me at first. My tounge hurt, it was swollen and I couldn't talk. Like everyone says, lots of wax. I then starting just using wax at night. Now I don't use any wax. It's like my tounge learned just to stay away from them. Oh yeah, and lots of warm salt water rinses.
Good luck. It will get better.
I had the same problems, all 4 of my molar bands have cleats on the inside and it just killed me at first. My tounge hurt, it was swollen and I couldn't talk. Like everyone says, lots of wax. I then starting just using wax at night. Now I don't use any wax. It's like my tounge learned just to stay away from them. Oh yeah, and lots of warm salt water rinses.
Good luck. It will get better.
3M Clarity up front, rest metal--20 Jan 2006
Debraced 20 Apr 2007, 15 months total in Braces
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Chr1ssy711
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:24 pm
- Location: rockville, MD, USA
i also have "cleats" on the top 2 molar bands. They were used to attach small rubber bands to the teeth in front of them to spin them around. thank god that is over with because it impaired my speech and was pretty painful. After the buttons on the other teeth were removed i though these would come out too but she said they couldn't i told her they bothered me and she tried to push the pointy part more toward my teeth but they didnt really change.... my tounge got used to it, but sometimes they still hurt. In the beginning the spikey part actually pierced my skin and my tounge got stuck in it, i had to pull it off with my hand, i told my ortho that and she just bend it alittle, and it stopped.
(for adults: these things are horrible for any oral sexual activity...grr..lots of wax)
Well all i can say is it will get better, and just use lots of wax.
(for adults: these things are horrible for any oral sexual activity...grr..lots of wax)
Well all i can say is it will get better, and just use lots of wax.
Chrissy, 20
ceramic Braces
http://www.myspace.com/chr1ssy711Myspace
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ceramic Braces
http://www.myspace.com/chr1ssy711Myspace
http://www.chrissytina.comMy Photo site
I hear ya sister
Lin I had the same problem with my bands and with the wax. My husband finally convinced me to call my ortho and let them know what was going on. So I did and they asked me to come in for any emergency visit(not an understatement) he was able to bend those poky parts down and I haven’t had a really problem since then. I still feel them every once and a while but nothing like before. It was like someone had a taser gun hooked to my tongue and would pull the trigger when my tongue would come into contact with one of those spikes. Yikes and Ouch!!!! Good luck and it will get better 
Got my braces off 9/20/07 after 19 months and 3 weeks. WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!
I'm glad to know I'm not alone (but it's too bad so many people out there suffer this... it certainly wasn't the kind of pain I was expecting).
My temporary fix:
I used up just about the rest of my wax last night. Here is what I tried... I brushed my teeth clean and then used a cotton swab to dry off a molar band and its molar. Then I breathed in and out through my mouth heavily for 30 seconds to try to further dry the tooth/band with airflow. I swabbed the tooth/band again with fresh dry cotton. Then I quickly jammed a 1" long strip of wax on the inside/cleat-edge of the molar band, and molded it over the entire inside face of the molar, its two molar neighbors, and slightly overtop of them. I repeated this for the other problem molar bands.
The wax was really hard to get to stick on my teeth, since my tongue is big enough (especially swollen like now) that it is hard to keep it aside and from touching the molar/band while I try to dry them. I just kept trying, trying again, adding wax until it stayed put and until it felt like there was more wax in my mouth than metal! Don't be deceived, all of this took me at least 30 mins to do.
Then, on the half of my tongue that was really super cut-up and swollen, I rubbed in a pea-sized glob of bubble-gum flavored Ambesol until that half of my tongue was completely numb. After the wax and that Ambesol, I enjoyed the most blissful 15 minutes of my life since The Time Before Spacers and Braces. It felt like my mouth didn't hurt for a few mins.... it was really wonderful! I'm not sure it's a good practice to ingest so much Ambesol at a time, or have it on the tongue, but to me it was worth it.
I'm hoping that if I can keep this up for awhile, the tongue might heal. Then I can see how bad the cleats still are, and if they are still so horrible, I think I'll head back to the ortho's and beg for mercy. I am not ruling out duct tape, though. Ha!
There is no way I am taking this wax out for as long as it is staying put. One glob has "cured" itself in overtop, it has been there for a day and a half... it was a magical wax glob that managed to stick really well and stay put even while eating/talking. I know it's bad not to brush/floss under the wax, but somehow even rotting teeth sound better to me now than tongue-lacerating.
My temporary fix:
I used up just about the rest of my wax last night. Here is what I tried... I brushed my teeth clean and then used a cotton swab to dry off a molar band and its molar. Then I breathed in and out through my mouth heavily for 30 seconds to try to further dry the tooth/band with airflow. I swabbed the tooth/band again with fresh dry cotton. Then I quickly jammed a 1" long strip of wax on the inside/cleat-edge of the molar band, and molded it over the entire inside face of the molar, its two molar neighbors, and slightly overtop of them. I repeated this for the other problem molar bands.
The wax was really hard to get to stick on my teeth, since my tongue is big enough (especially swollen like now) that it is hard to keep it aside and from touching the molar/band while I try to dry them. I just kept trying, trying again, adding wax until it stayed put and until it felt like there was more wax in my mouth than metal! Don't be deceived, all of this took me at least 30 mins to do.
Then, on the half of my tongue that was really super cut-up and swollen, I rubbed in a pea-sized glob of bubble-gum flavored Ambesol until that half of my tongue was completely numb. After the wax and that Ambesol, I enjoyed the most blissful 15 minutes of my life since The Time Before Spacers and Braces. It felt like my mouth didn't hurt for a few mins.... it was really wonderful! I'm not sure it's a good practice to ingest so much Ambesol at a time, or have it on the tongue, but to me it was worth it.
I'm hoping that if I can keep this up for awhile, the tongue might heal. Then I can see how bad the cleats still are, and if they are still so horrible, I think I'll head back to the ortho's and beg for mercy. I am not ruling out duct tape, though. Ha!
There is no way I am taking this wax out for as long as it is staying put. One glob has "cured" itself in overtop, it has been there for a day and a half... it was a magical wax glob that managed to stick really well and stay put even while eating/talking. I know it's bad not to brush/floss under the wax, but somehow even rotting teeth sound better to me now than tongue-lacerating.
Lin, I'm re-posting the above pix and hope they show. My molar bands have metal projections that may be called cleats. What my tech does is to put a ligature on each as a sort of "cap." At first I didn't realize it, but those little colored things are just plain old ligatures. The upper left one always comes off (and no doubt goes down my throat) every 2 weeks or so. The tech gave me some extra ligs to take home, and this time when it came off, I was able to put another on by myself! It wasn't that hard.
Some days I still use wax as well. You will get used to making wax work - it's hard at first. One trick is to make sure the finger you are using to transport the wax into your mouth is slightly damp - lick it first or something. That way it will not stick to your finger as you are attempting to fasten it to the tooth.
Well, I'm very happy because I just got back from my emergency visit to the ortho's. A clinician there flattened my molar band cleats for me... she said they were sticking out quite a bit (especially the top two). She kept running her latex glove/finger over it to test it, and it kept snagging her glove something awful. But she smushed the cleats down as much as she could.
I tongued over them afterward and now they are rough, but not painful like before. They just feel like metal bumps now, instead of safety pins snagging my tongue and slicing it up. IT'S GREAT!!!! You all were right that I should call. I am SO glad I went in there and asked them to fix it. The rough spots I can now adjust to... but I don't think anybody should have to suffer through cleats that snag.
I tongued over them afterward and now they are rough, but not painful like before. They just feel like metal bumps now, instead of safety pins snagging my tongue and slicing it up. IT'S GREAT!!!! You all were right that I should call. I am SO glad I went in there and asked them to fix it. The rough spots I can now adjust to... but I don't think anybody should have to suffer through cleats that snag.