Why do braces make me bite down so hard?

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Invisalignee
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:10 pm

Why do braces make me bite down so hard?

#1 Post by Invisalignee »

I have no idea what's going on at all...my braces force me to bite down, or I get tricked into biting down, or something along these lines happens.

However, every 2 days or so, I get into a cycle of biting down really hard and somehow it feels right! Like it should be doing that. :?

I even have bite blocks on my molars but even those don't help. Why am I biting down? Does anyone else have this problem with braces causing your uppers and lowers to bite really hard?

It hurts alot, it hurts my jaws, it hurts my cheeks and it hurts my forehead too sometimes. And it's hard to stop too, it's like a habit that happens unconsciously. I snap out of it like 4-5 minutes into it, and then it gets very hard to stop from doing it. It's just crazy!! :(
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TumbleDryLow
Posts: 999
Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:19 pm
Location: Michigan

#2 Post by TumbleDryLow »

I think I know what you are saying, and you aren't alone. I have a similar situation going on, and I am actually going to bring it up with the ortho at my next adjustment. You should do the same. My molars don't touch at all because I have a quad helix (not the palate expander, just the wire and spring contraption that moves the molars outward) and it has these tube things on the molar bands that stick out into my cheeks. These tubes hit the metal stuff sticking out on my bottom brackets, and that's my only contact point in my mouth. I was told that until the molars are pushed outward this is what my bite will be like. Problem is, I find myself clenching down really hard on this contact point for no apparent reason. I never had a clenching, grinding teeth issue before, so I can only assume it's due to the new hardware in my mouth. It's totally unconscious like you as well. I'll notice I'm doing it, and then I will have to consciously relax my jaw. Anyway, I'm hoping I don't need them, and they can hack off those tubes so I can a least get some semblance of tooth to tooth contact again.
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Lisa65
Posts: 3469
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:12 pm

#3 Post by Lisa65 »

I've had phases of that too. And I would wake up from of the pain because i was clenching my teeth in my sleep. I'm not sure why it happened and I never asked my ortho, but it went away after a while.
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Invisalignee
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:10 pm

#4 Post by Invisalignee »

I will bring it up to my ortho also. I hope it's not doing any damage like knocking them out of alignement or something...

It feels so weird not being able to bite down completely though, it feels like I have to do work to keep them from not-biting, and when I forget, it hurts lol. These braces are playing mind games too now!! :lol:
Last edited by Invisalignee on Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
* Expand the gums > DONE! :)

* Invisalign treatment > DONE! :)

* Braces correction > UNDERGOING :|

* 3 Implants > NEXT YEAR! :(
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kittymeow84
Posts: 239
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 11:03 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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#5 Post by kittymeow84 »

The metal bits on my top and bottom molar bands used to touch and I also would bite down hard on them.

It just felt really unnatural that my back teeth weren't touching. They've moved now so the metal doesn't clank but now I find myself just doing little chomps (without opening my mouth), just to see how my bite is progressing.

Hopefully your teeth will shift quickly and the feeling will go away. :)
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