Chipping upper teeth on lower brackets?

[sarahrn]

I've been braced for almost two weeks. I've noticed that my front upper teeth are hitting my lower brackets and today I noticed a chip in my tooth. Is this common? Should I call the office? Is there anything I can do to stop the progression? I have noticed a clench my jaw tight at night since being braced, and I'm wondering if it is happening at night....

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Sarah

[missingu]

I don't know what kind of brackets you have, but that is one of the perils of putting ceramics on lower teeth. The ceramics are bigger and often the upper teeth do wind up hitting the top of the lower bracket.

Although I'm not a dentist, I think you should call your ortho as soon as possible. As I said, sometimes it is just a function of the brackets, which can be modified, but if it is not you two may need to do some thinking because you certainly don't want to chip any teeth (or worse) along the way!

[sarahrn]

missingu,
I have metal bottoms and ceramics tops. I do remember the ortho saying that is why he doesn't put ceramics on the bottom. My bite is all screwed up since the spacers and the ONLY place my teeth come together now are the front uppers with the front bottoms/brackets. I will call this morning and see what hey says.

Sarah

[Pirate Wench]

Let us know what the ortho says.....I thought I saw another post saying they had something built up on the back molars so the teeth wouldn't hit the brackets on the bottom. Maybe someone else knows more about it.

I would definately call the ortho office and ask if there is anything they can do.

[alwayshungry]

hi sarah,

i think i might have been in a similar situation had my ortho not put in a bite turbo behind my front tooth.

it sounds weird, and feels weird too, but you get used to it pretty quickly. it looks like a bracket almost, and it's bonded to the back of your front tooth, and it prevents you from biting down too much to where your lower brackets hit your upper teeth.

you can check out this page for a pic.

hope this helps! [/url]

[JoeMama]

I would love to hear more about building something up on the back bracket, because I have a similar problem. My lower molar has moved out and now I can bite down on the bracket on the upper rear molar. I've even bitten it off once. I go to see my ortho next week about it, but if anyone has had experience with this and can tell me what to ask, that would be super. Thanks!

[sarahrn]

I saw a partner ortho who I haven't met before. He looked at the areas I was concerned about. He said the chips in my teeth didn't line up with the brackets. When I mentioned the jaw clenching at night he gave me a bruxism guard (large pink thing to wear at night). We'll see how that goes.

I'm still convinced that the chips are from the brackets, whether or not it happens at night or when I chew (I have no bite surfaces that touch, so I'm having to massage my food rather than chew, maybe this is why the chips don't line up with the brackets?)

He did mention that my upper teeth tilt inward slightly and that until that is corrected they will touch the lower brackets. He also mentioned that if the night guard doesn't work, the only way to solve the problem is to take off the lower front brackets until the top teeth are fixed and then reapply the lower brackets. He said he prefers NOT to do this because it prolongs treatment time.

I'll let you all know how it goes with sleeping tonight with that "thing"...

The good news is I've lost 5 pounds in two weeks on the "braces diet"...

Sarah

[OneBluCrayon]

I noticed a little while back that one of my "fangs" has a slight staircase indent in it from where it meets the bracket on the bottom. Its like its just worn away from the top tooth hitting the bracket. Its not big enough for me to care really about and its already done now, but... I wish id noticed sooner.

[katmc_tx]

sarahrn, I had the same problem. I have metal uppers and lowers and my two top front teeth hit my lower brackets. My ortho put some rubber "bumpers" around my lower brackets so that I would hit when bitting, chewing or talking. They told me it would take two to four weeks for them to stop hitting. Well it took more like six weeks but it was really great when they took the bumpers off and I was able to close my mouth all the way.
Good Luck