Mouth Forced Wide Open for a Long Time

Contraptions (made of stainless steel maybe?) that fit onto the outside & the inside of the mouth that forces you to "Open Wide" your mouth and stay that way while the doc takes his time examining inside - are these used at times during a Doctor Physical? Has anyone had one used on their mouth? I suppose they may be more common at the dentist, if anywhere. But having one of these used seems to me like it would be extra humiliating, leaving you feeling unusually vulnerable and helpless - so it's of interest to me. Has anyone experienced this? & what are they called?

You may be referring to a lip retractor. And YES, I had one placed for an hour… to keep my mouth WIDE open… while braces were installed…

During oral surgery recently, to remove a growth. It was extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately the results were negative.

I had some dental work done this year and my mouth was open for a good while using those bite blocks. I don't like it - my mouth gets sore afterward and I don't like the increased difficulty of swallowing or feeling like I'm forced to use my mouth to breathe.

YES! During a root canal, my mouth had to be propped open for what seemed like ages, but in reality was only about an hour. As someone whose jaw hurts when being told to open wide (if I open too wide), this was more torture than the procedure itself. Almost.

When I had wisdom teeth removal surgery the oral surgeon used one to keep my mouth open while they operated but since I was under anesthesia and unconscious I wasn't experiencing it. But they did warn me beforehand that there could be some risk of jaw tension and nerve damage from the surgery. In my non-dental medical fantasies, I do sometimes think about my mouth being held open by one of those stainless steel expanders.

Yeah, back in the day when I had my 4 wisdom teeth extracted it was called a "dental dam". It was not steel, but rubber. Fit over your mouth and covered your lips as well. Even though I was under Anastasia, the dentist needed the whole area opened for the surgery. Don't know if this is what people are referring to or not?

I've never had one of those metal things before but I find them hot. I've had a bite block in to fill a cavity. It wasn't too horrible. Better than having to exert the effort of keeping it open myself I guess.

Have a search for e.g. "spider gag" - not as impressive as the proper medical devices though. Anyone used one?

I've had metal dental gags (the ones that go on one side of mouth) and bite blocks used. There are different types of gags (the whitehead--think it's called--looks super interesting) but the ones I had looked like a wrench or scissors at the base and then had mouth retractors at the other end. Mouth was always sore afterwards. Never had anything like that used anywhere other than the dentist.

I’m surprised that in this day and age, that dental treatment is still painful, and uncomfortable. At least in the United States, it’s very expensive, and many people can’t afford it, even with insurance.

The device used that is the stereotype device that keeps your mouth open is known as a Jennings mouth retractor or Jennings gag although modern dentists use a different tool I just had a root canal done last week. I'll ask him the name of it today when I have them replace the temporary crown.

@JJM It's uncomfortable but it shouldn't hurt. If it does- patients need to be brave and speak up and tell the dentist to stop and give them something extra. There's no reason to suffer and there are several numbing agents that can be used to block pain.