Need some advice on finishing treatment

[snazzynazzy]

Hi all,

I hope you guys can help me! I am supposed to go for a "final evaluation" at my next appointment in a coulple of weeks and she is going to see if I can take 'em off! I love my new orthodontist, she is great! She does all the adjustments herself, not leave it up to the aides. Anyway, I asked her a question about my teeth last time and she gave me a long explanation about how my teeth are, I really felt like I was cared for well (unlike my previous ortho, who seemed just interested in making $$$). However, I felt unsatisfied with the answer I got. Basically, I asked her why my molars have a different bite on either side of my mouth, and she went into a detailed explanation of what an ortho looks for and how they determine when someone is done. But i dont think she answered my question that well. One side of my mouth feels wierd and clenchy, and the other side feels better, because the teeth don't touch as much. Also, I can feel the top surface of my tooth (I dont know if you know what I mean, but basically the surface that does the actual biting) with my tongue more on one side than my other. When I clench my teeth, there is lots of pressure on the right side and virtually none on the left (I like the left side better). I don't really know how to post a pic, so i can show you guys, but the main thing is that it feels uncomfortable that one bite is different from the other- aesthetically I don't really care, because no1 can see those teeth anyway. It feels that my uppers and lowers are not superimposing. she basically replied that it has to do with the natural jaw bone, and there will be differences. Before braces though, my teeth were pretty normal on both sides, I just had an overbite. Even after I got braces, everything was normal, and only after a few months did one side feel different from the other. I just wish they felt the same! Please help with this problem, I have no idea what to do. If you currently are going through this, or have gone through this and are debraced now, please tell me what your ortho has done or what (s)he doing about it. I am really concerned. Also, I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to post a picture. Thanks!

[stargirl]

I have the same sort of thing going on with my bite - one side touches more than the other.

I'm getting my braces off in two days... so nothing will be done about this. It bothers me a bit, but I assume things will settle eventually when the braces are off. I can't even remember how my bite was before braces but I'm sure that this is much better! In general, more of my teeth are biting properly, so I'm pretty happy about that.

I suggest that if you are still worried about it, you talk to your ortho again. But I don't think it's abnormal to have different a different bite on each side.

Out of curiosity, what were some of the things your ortho said she looks for to determine if someone is finished treatment? I'm interested because my ortho rarely communicates with me. One day she just told me that my braces could come off and to book a debanding appointment...

[snazzynazzy]

Hi Stargirl, and thanks for the reply. Not the answer I wanted to hear (lol), but I can tell you what she told me they look for. Ok. First she told me to bring my jaw forward, such that my lower front teeth were just past my upper front teeth, and I will refer to this position as "POSITION" so you don't get confused. Then she told me too look at my canines and molars. basically, they want your upper canines to be almost touching or touching your lower premolar. In the POSITION, your molars should be similarly aligned-- top 1st molar should be over bottom 2nd molar, 2nd top molar aligned w/ 3rd bottom molar and so on, on both sides. Finally, she said that in the POSITION, there should be a gap between the row of upper molars and the row of lower molars on each side. So that is why she said that My bite is pretty much complete, and I should be finished soon. Hope that was informative to you, and others! and to all the ortho's out there, I hope I explained it clearly and correctly.