Uneven front teeth

[nellarmonia]

I am so distraught! I had some brackets repositioned yesterday and last night I realized my two front teeth are uneven after being straight for months. The dr isn't in on Fridays, but support staff is so I called this morning. They (obviously) can't move the bracket without her and the assistant looked at my chart and pointed out a bracket on one of those teeth was moved (which really wasn't helpful because I knew that) and said I'm "just in an awkward phase right now." The dr won't be in until after New Years at this point so I can't even have her look just to make sure it's correct. For the first time in 6+ months I'm regretting this decision. I'm seeing a bunch of extended family for the first time in the next 2 weeks and now my teeth look worse than ever. I guess I'll have to practice a smaller smile for photos.

[lambchop]

I've been in braces for 29 months now. The amount of 'two steps forward, one step back' 'progress' has been amazing. It's all part of the process. Try not to worry too much about it. You are your own worst critic, and 99% of the folks you will encounter won't notice a thing. Enjoy your eggnog!

[nellarmonia]

Thanks, lambchop! I hope you're right. And thanks for reading my whiny, childish post.

[chichi]

Is it possible your teeth look uneven because they wore down unevenly from all the years they spent crooked? They usually reposition brackets based on root position, so your roots may be straightening up even though your teeth look uneven.

[nellarmonia]

Definitely not. The past 1-2 months is the first time I've been able to even use my front teeth since I was a kid. I'm correcting an open bite. I can see the brackets are on 2 different positions on the teeth.

I'm feeling better about it after a few days. Still not thrilled, but there's nothing I can do so there's no use being upset. Next time I have something like this I will be sure to not schedule for the last day the dr is in the office! Live and learn.

[agrace90]

I just got two brackets repositioned about two weeks ago at my last adjustment, they are a front tooth and a pre molar, on both sides of a canine. All three of those teeth are moving and looking worse than they did before. I trust my ortho and nothing is irreversible, obviously the point of braces it to move teeth and they're doing their job. I think you'll be fine until after the holidays when you can get back in if your super concerned. Good luck!

[chichi]

Definitely not. The past 1-2 months is the first time I've been able to even use my front teeth since I was a kid. I'm correcting an open bite. I can see the brackets are on 2 different positions on the teeth.

I'm feeling better about it after a few days. Still not thrilled, but there's nothing I can do so there's no use being upset. Next time I have something like this I will be sure to not schedule for the last day the dr is in the office! Live and learn.

Try not to get too worked up over it. Just remember that you're still in braces and your ortho is always able to reposition brackets or make bends in wires to fix this. From what I've seen, things like this won't really add time to your treatment unless that was supposed to be your last adjustment or something.

Keep your head up and trust your ortho. Your teeth will look amazing when you're done and these few weeks will be nothing but a story to tell.

[nellarmonia]

Thanks for the encouragement agrace09 and chichi! This board keeps me sane through this process.

[WiredOldLady]

I was told that I'd probably go through an "ugly" stage...right now, my front teeth that used to be very tight, are now spreading out to where I have spaces that I never had before. My ortho says that the spaces will be drawn together later on, probably with power chains.

Not going to worry about it only 3 months in...now, if I was going to be debonded in the next month or so I'd be raising hades, but since I have at least a year to go, its not a big deal!

Go enjoy your family, make sure you have extra nog in your eggnog and have a blast!

[fosterp]

This is completely normal. They have to move teeth into weird positions in the process of putting them in their final position. It isn't as easy as just lining the teeth up in one shot.