Worse before better?

[007Jaws]

Has anyone else felt like their teeth/smile looked worse while in braces, before seeing that better end result?

My bite is currently being opened on top to accommodate my upcoming bottom brackets. I feel like I have an awful, gappy, overbite now. I realize things will be closed up in time, but ugh, I hate the way I smile now. My appliance can even be slightly seen between a couple teeth too. It just looks weird.

[Bracesat57]

I know exactly what you mean.

While my top teeth have been straightened out nicely, my bite has become somewhat open in areas. Also, my bottom teeth have been fanned out and there are gaps where there never have been before.

I trust my ortho 1000% and can't wait for each new step along the process.

I am enjoying watching all the changes even if it a little different from how I thought things would progress.

[30andbraced]

Yes! I absolutely feel the same way. I am 30 years old and have had braces on for almost 3 months now. I am being treated for an open bite, cross bite and some mild crowding. I definitely see progress in the crowding and the shape of my upper arch but my open bite has gotten totally worse. It freaks me out completely! I am hoping I didn't make a mistake. I know I need to trust the process and be patient but I cringe at the idea that my teeth would be worse off than before!

[vaselina]

Yes, it is extremely discouraging. I thought my teeth were straight before, but now they actually look like I need braces.

[Sosowired]

Hang in there! Your teeth will look way better very soon, you're just in the stage where there's a lot of movement. Gaps are good :)

I wish I could post a pic here of my gappy, gnarly front row 3-6 months in. A massive gap developed in between my front teeth (about 3mm) and two other big gaps between my laterals. I also had a Suresmile wire which was all bendy and exaggerated every single misalignment! Also, one of my front teeth came down lower than the other when they'd always been even and I was freaking out.

After 6 months I had heaps of room for my teeth to move and my ortho put a powerchain on my teeth and - voila - gaps almost totally closed in one month. My top tooth retreated back too. I'm now way more confident smiling in photos now with my braces than I ever was without them!

[EWUgal15]

Has anyone else felt like their teeth/smile looked worse while in braces, before seeing that better end result?

My orthodontist warned me right at the start that it would look like things were getting worse before they got better. And my overbite definitely looks worse since I started treatment, but I'm not worried. I have a lot going on in there and everything feels like it's moving the way it should.

[SkyWolf]

When I originally went for my consult I thought my top teeth would need little to no work and that the bottom ones only needed to be straightened but I was so wrong and the braces really showed that. Several times during treatment things looked really bad and horrible and then he managed to straighten them out and make them better. I love my finished result so yes it is perfectly normal to feel like your teeth are getting worse before they get better but trust me they will get better.

[librarianlk]

Mine look better in some ways and worse in others. My teeth are all individually much straighter and most of the gaps have closed. However, I have an underbite on one side, and because of that my open bite can't be closed yet. And the open bite is HUGE! Much worse than before. I can't bite down on anything except from the side of my mouth because of the open bite. It looks awful when I smile. It feels like it's taking forever to get that underbite to move.

[30andbraced]

I smile. It feels like it's taking forever to get that underbite to move.

I totally hear what you are saying. Just the other day I was looking in my mouth and feeling like things are looking so much worse. It's nice to see that the crowding in my teeth is straightening out but it feels like only two of my molars are touching on one side. My open bite has opened from probably 1 mm to now what feels like close to 5! I know I need to be patient but i'm scared things will not be better.

[30andbraced]

Hey everyone! Just wanted to see how everyone was hanging in there. I'm nearing my 4 month mark with braces! My open bite still seems to be getting much bigger but I can see how straight my teeth are becoming. I just hope and pray that they'll be able to close my open bite with elastics here pretty soon. It's so big I can stick my pinky in it. Could never do that before. Here are some photos of when I got my braces on and each month after.

[Bracesat57]

Excellent progress! Your teeth are looking great for your four month mark!

[Lorianne]

amazing progress, congrats!!

[Uptown Girl]

Seven and a half months with braces and my top teeth have gaps and are crooked when before braces they were even and straight. Like Sky Wolf I went to get braces for my crooked bottom teeth but found my top teeth needed to be moved sideways to improve my bite and stop the bottom teeth wearing away on the top ones. On my next visit I will be wearing elastics, something I am not looking forward to, but maybe that will help the top teeth even out a bit. I keep thinking that at eight months I will be a third of the way to finishing with braces. Sixteen months should be long enough to get the teeth where they are supposed to be.

[Pixelada]

My lower incisors were crowded but even at the top. Now the two middle incisors are protruding and coming up! They are now about 1mm higher than the rest of the lower incisors and it's freaking me out. I got the first wire change last week and it has only gotten worse.

I mentioned it to the orthodontist and he said it was normal, but it doesn't make any sense to me to let 2 incisors protrude to then push them back into the bone again.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

IMG_2579.JPG

IMG_2579.JPG