Rebraced? whats the shortest time you've had between braces?

[Chicagogal]

I'm in a bit of a depressed place right now, marching to my doom today to get braces again...only 16 months after they were removed and retention was started.

I know lots of people on here are getting braces again as adults following an adolescent stint, but what is the shortest time anyone has had between bracing? what were the circumstances (bad retention, bad ortho)?

If this forum has taught me anything it's that misery loves company and that I'm thankful for the optimism of those who aren't miserable

I'll include pics because I'm vain and I want to remind myself of all I've been through. blarg!

[amyhenna]

Dude, I'm sorry to say this when you already say you're depressed, but you're kinda freaking me out...did you wear retainers? If so, what are we supposed to do/ can we do to avoid this?? Is it just chance? SIXTEEN MONTHS???

[Tobilei]

Ugh I too am sorry although I think your teeth are looking fine? And I too would be interested as to why you need them so soon after they were taken off. You have my sympathy, this is not something I would like to go through again ever let alone in 16 months!

[Chicagogal]

Well I appreciate the sympathy, so sorry to bum anyone out!
I WISH WISH WISH I could point to something and say that it could've avoided it (i wore an advanced hawley retainer, with a bumper behind my front teeth religiously). The one thing I would say is not to jump the gun on being "done." Your ortho may tell you "well, we can likely take them off in six weeks" at that point, look in the mirror, take 100 photos and decide if you think you've achieved all you want to achieve and then keep them on one month after that just to make sure. I was so excited when he said that I was ready to be finished that I didn't point out how in the 9-23-11 picture (4 weeks before debanding) that one front tooth still wasn't where I wanted it to be and then rotated even more once the brackets were off, even with retention. your teeth/roots definitely have memory and they all want to go BACK! I should say that he offered to re-brace for free or I likely would've just lived with the results.

As unhealthy as permanent retainers tend to be for teeth and gums, that seems to be my only option for retention this next time around. never-the-less always a good reminder to spend a decent amount of time on retention (both wearing retainers and continuing office visits...insist on it!!)

[isthistaken]

Shouldn't the ortho be the one noticing problems like that, even before or if you don't? They are the experts! I'm not saying we shouldn't advocate, I'm just appalled that so many are forced to.

[TimSeattle]

If you've done everything correctly, your orthodontist's offer to rebrace you for free is the right thing to do, considering the short time you've been out of braces. Maybe part of the problem is that you had some major stuff done in a short time.

I told my orthodontist to take as long as she needed to do the job right. She did, and luckily I haven't had any significant tooth movement or problems since getting debraced. I wear essix retainers nightly.

[plugnickel69]

To answer your topic question, forty-nine years between treatments for me the first time. I'm hoping to go at least fifty years before my next treatment. There are others on this forum in past years who have had to be rebraced after a very short period of time. Unfortunately, that sometimes happens. I know I decided not to take any shortcuts in my treatment because I wanted as stable a result as possible. My ortho can't promise me that everything will stay in place but he seems very concerned about doing everything possible for suitable retention. At my installation appointment, our first conversation was about retention.
I wore a mouth guard for bruxism every night for about twenty-five years, so I guess I'll wear my retainers religiously.

I hope your re-treatment goes real fast and that they can be retained successfully. They can often place a fixed retainer on the uppers as well as the lowers. A fixed retainer would seem to be able to keep your upper incisors from rotating.

[JumpTheDitch]

Sixteen months, that really sucks!

Like isthistaken says, it should surely be the ortho that notices these problems. I think I'd be considering getting another opinion, then you can be totally informed about how your re-treatment can be expected to progress. This way you can be your own best advocate to keep your treatment on track. If you can be specific with another ortho (for second opinion) about exactly what you want from orthodontics, you can ascertain if it's possible, & what will be required to achieve it (in terms of time, as well as method). Should your original ortho conclude that what you want can't be achieved, you have a line of thought that it can.

I know there are fantastic orthos out there, but after my own bad experience, & from your story, I personally wouldnt trust the ortho blindly to achieve best results. I think your best weapon is to be as informed as possible & to be your own advocate. Good luck! Keep us posted with how you're going

My time between bracings will be about 7 years, though I have a year or so of expansion first. About six years between orthodontics. I fervently hope there will be no third time around!

All the best

[Dee17]

Oh, wow. I mean, my goodness. I hardly even know what to say after reading your post. I am just six months in with my braces and I can't imagine going through all this again. However, having said that, if my problem recurred, I would certainly opt to get braces again. Not happily though. You have my sympathy. I hope your treatment goes well this time around and is successful!

[peterataylor]

Hey. Sorry to hear about your woe. For me, the time between braces is 13 years. Although if I had been a little braver / richer, I'd have started my second round of treatment a lot sooner.

Good luck!

:)

[2XRound]

For me it is 5 years; yuck! back in for 18 months. How long are you back in for?

[jem]

I can't quite match Plugnickel, but 43 years for me!

Jem

[duherro]

Omg! I don't understand , so even after many years, the teeth start to retract into their original crooked position!?!?!?

[BracedSurgeryStudent]

Did you wear those retainers? I throw up a lot from mine but I still wear them.

[djspeece]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I have a general dentist who works for me on my team and he was telling me that sometimes at the conclusion of ortho the roots of the teeth end up at a slight angle to the jaw, although the tops appear to be straight. He was trying to make the point of why retainers need to be worn after the braces are removed. I too wonder if perhaps your braces were removed too quickly and wish you the best of luck for a satisfactory (no -- an outstanding!) resolution to your situation.