Anterior Bite Plate... :(. Difficulty chewing/eating

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#1 Post by **neas** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:27 am

I just got my braces/retainer fitted 2 days ago. Fixed brace on the lower teeth and a retainer on the top.

I believe i have whats termed in the industry as a deep bite, where my lower teeth bite into my gums rather than rest below the other teeth. I've been fitted with a Anterior Bite Plate retainer... that i guess is doing nothing but keeping my front teeth at a 'normal' distance from my mouth roof.

My problem is that i cant chew at all, i have a good 1cm gap when chewing on food (even though i've been told to wear the retainer while eating). So far i've been only able to eat mushy food, or very small bites and pretty much just swallow them whole.

My orthodontist said my back teeth would 'grow' because of this bite plate. I'm 24 and i doubt my teeth will grow at all now, so im a little confused and frustrated because wearing this thing is quite restrictive in eating, i cant eat out anywhere now at all.

Anyone had one of these in the past and can vouch for it actually working? I believe its to correct my bite so my front teeth lie where they normally should. I also have crooked front teeth causing an overbite but this isnt being treated yet i dont believe.

#2 Post by **Lisa65** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:05 am

Hi neas

There's quite a few people here who had or still have bite plates. Platinum's blog here

and iBorg's here would be good places for you to have a look.

Your teeth won't actually "grow" of course, but with the bite plate keeping your front teeth apart, your back teeth will gradually come out of the gum (extrude). This will also help open up your deep bite at the front. I'd imagine that once the bite has been opened you will get your top braces on. Getting them on now would put you at risk of biting off the bottom brackets, which is probably why your ortho has chosen to use the bite plate first. I can understand the frustration about chewing, but it should get a little better with practice and over time, as the back teeth are extruded.

Hope this makes sense. I recommend reading through Platinum's blog as she had exactly the same as you now have.

#3 Post by **cally** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:46 am

I've had one since April, except it's not removable. No, you can't chew well and 3.5 mos later I'm still not really "chewing" in a normal fashion. However, it IS working and hopefully within 5 more weeks this bite plate will be history, as my teeth are beginning to touch in a few places.

Hang in there!

Cally

#4 Post by **platinum** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:18 am

yep. I had a removable biteplate. I wore it one month non-stop, but I got bored and wore it only during the nights.... I asked the ortho why I have to wear this and his explanation was that it prevents of biting lower brackets. After one month I learned not to bite down too hard.
I was able to eat quite well after couple of weeks. It took some practise though.

I dont think my first molars did grow, but premolars did. They were in a lower level than first molars and incissors, so they were pulled up. Now one of my fisrt molar is pulled up by the second molar, which joined the braces two weeks ago.

I learnt to eat everything

. I just stop wearing the biteplate, because it caused a horrible lisp and did not look too good...

#5 Post by **neas** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 10:48 am

im determined to stick mine out, if the bite plate doesn't work i'll have to go down a surgical root to move my jaw and out a bit.

Tell me a bout the lisp too lol, im working on talking a bit better but sometimes i just totally slurr my words, kinda annoying. My good mates dont care though so its only at work that it annoys me.

I live in england so its all on the NHS (free!

) so i will keep mine in for the 6 months period. I will talk to my orthodontist during the first update in 2 months time.

#6 Post by **platinum** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 11:40 am

Well, then you ahve a motivation to wear it