After Braces: Open mouth rest posture, pain and uneven bite

[Yusra]

Hello,

I just got my braces off 3 weeks ago. I know most of you probably feel jealous hearing that, but wait till you read my story. (and please share yours)

I got my braces in 2011, had them for 6 months, and got them removed since I was getting married. After that I got invisalign when I came back 2 months later to my ortho, which didn't work out for me because I wasn't a regular wearer of Invisalign. My ortho finally but me back on braces.
Everything was going fine until 1 month before I was getting my braces off. Teeth were all straight but I guess in that month, teeth shifted around quite a lot. I told my ortho that it's a bit odd for me when I close my mouth. It feels as if my teeth won't mesh or match up and I feel I'm biting down on one side before the other.

The day came, he sanded down a few teeth from one side after getting my braces off. Before braces, my rest posture was lips closed and I THINK tongue resting on the roof of my mouth, but lips definitely closed. Now, my rest posture is completely off. my lips want to close but I have to force them to close by suctioning and forcing my tongue to be on the roof of my mouth, otherwise tongue lays low and my mouth stays open with lips not touching at all. My ortho said it's normal, and my friend also had treatment from another ortho and had this same thing occur to her, meaning open mouth in rest posture and her ortho and dentist said it is normal. My ortho said my bite has changed so that's why.
However, it also causes a bit of a pain, because my jaws sort of get sore sometimes and my neck constantly feels stretched from the back and inside.

I'm going out of the country so a week from now is all I have to decide if I want to get my teeth sanded down more or something. My question is: considering this, should I get them sanded down more or leave them and see what happens in a few months? I'd rather have the crowding in my bottom teeth over an open mouth rest posture and neck pain. My ortho had permanent retainers put in the back of my lower teeth as they were the crowded teeth, none on the top. I also got Hawley retainers. If I stop wearing these Hawley retainers, will my teeth relapse to what they were before (no teeth were removed, just some filing in between teeth), and to what degree do you think? Also, did anyone experience pain like this or open lips/mouth rest posture? Also, is it true that it takes about 6 months to a year for teeth to settle completely in the rest position?

I'd rather have some crowded and kind of crooked teeth over this pain. Also I'm forcing my lips to stay closed because I know mouth breathing is not good, breathing should be nasal but if the mouth is open, it automatically takes up the job of breathing, especially if my tongue is laying low, not blocking the passage of air through the mouth and my lips not touching either.

I'm freaking out and thinking I should never have gotten braces in the first place. I don't want to convert to mouth breathing and I'd rather my teeth just go back to their normal bite, how many chances of that happening? Please help, it's all I can think about for the last 3 weeks and this feeling of uneasiness just won't go away! Thank you :(

[Kipepeo]

Hi Yusra,
I'm very sorry that you are not enjoying your new smile like you should be. I'm not a dentist, but it is my understanding that you shouldn't have your jaws completely closed when at rest. Your teeth should be slightly apart.

As for open lips at rest, I'm not sure here. Can you post a photo? And your jaws? Could it be they're not used to the new bite position?

Let me tell you this....I've been futsing around with my bite for quite some time. My ortho has said my teeth are all in their correct position for months now. It's me and my never ending quest for a good feeling, comfortable bite that's keep me in these things. I have to live with the way they feel 24/7, he doesn't live with them at all.

Going only on what you wrote above, I'd say hold off on any more equilabration, take your trip and see how it goes. You can always have more sanding if needed, but you can't put it back.

[Yusra]

Hi Kipepeo,

You're right, thank you so much for the advice. I can't get the enamel back so I might as well let it go and see what happens. I really hope this neck and jaw pains go away though and that I am able to somehow close my lips in rest posture easier with practice (don't even know if that's possible :S). As for the picture, I will put it up as soon as I can, I think I don't have enough posts yet to do that, but as soon as I can. My teeth are all straight like yours (read your story btw, sorry about everything you have to go through as well). I thought I would be all done. I regret that I went back to braces, I should have just left well enough alone after the first initial six months of braces, I was pretty happy and my bite hadn't changed. If only I knew...you know.

Good luck with everything though and I hope it gets better. By the way, do you think teeth will shift back into their old positions if I don't wear my retainers, just scouring for opinions.

[Kipepeo]

I do think they will shift. Wear your retainers exactly as instructed, and be sure to go to your ortho appointments after you get debanded.