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Filip wrote:I think you are right in not wanting to extract healthy teeth. Beware of facial changes. If you're happy, then IMO you have reached your destination. It is also a safer choice as you can always decide to start over with braces/surgery later if you so decide. Not the other way around though.
Thanks for the encouragement Filip! and I agree with you...
only 8 days left - getting nervous !!! and wondering if I made the right decision....... I assume if they thought not fixing my bite would cauze problems down the road they (ortho or dentist) would have said something, right???????? I do have a slight openining/triangle at the gum line between my 2 front teeth that I never had b4.....is that normal?
KK wrote:JF give your ortho a call, explain how you're feeling and why ... then you've got a great opportunity to get these questions answered. Best to do this before you 'go naked day' ... so you are 100% confident with your decision!
All the best!
well, I called the ortho office today - and told them I have some concerns, esp about how my molars are (or aren't) hitting properly.... the receptionist initially said to change the debonding to an evaluation exam but then said to keep the debanding appt but she would note that I had some concerns to go over......
I'm just concerned about down the road, it's hard to explain, but my molars don't seem to match up like they use to (maybe they've always been this way and only now am I scrutinizing over them...lol)....the outside of my lower molars sort of hits the inside of my upper molar....will this cause future problems if left the way it is????????? I'm still just sooo confused, and horrible at making decisions, I ALWAYS 2nd guess myself.....I do not want to have jaw surgery so the other option to fix my overbite is extractions, however; the ortho doesn't really recommend that.....and would that fix the molar alignment anyway????? so I feel as if I am sort of stuck with things the way they are....(remember, my main goal was to straighten my front teeth, which has happened, I just didn't know how if could change other things) --- here are a few pics to give you an idea of how I progressed:
now: (can you sort of see what I mean about the molars???)
see. lowers seem fine:
and the still overbite:
In looking at your pictures, I really think you need to reconsider jaw surgery. I know its a difficult pill to swallow, but your overbite has potential to cause problems as you get older. I'd ask the ortho to at least refer you for a consult, do some research and then make an informed decision. I'd also ask my general dentist an opinion.
Trust me, its a decision that is a struggle ( take a look at my blog), but I had a compromise result in my early twenties just to get the bloody things off so I'd be attractive to to opposite sex.
Now I'm doing it again, some thirty years later. I'm hopeful I'll have surgery in 2008. When I started it was briefly mentioned I said no way.
With your self doubts you need to put a hold on this process until you're sure this is where you want the journey to end.
Good luck.
Mike
I wore braces (this time) for 1294 days or 3 years, 6 months and 17 days.
But who's counting?
Jaw Surgery June 1, 2009
Thanks for praying for me and thinking happy thoughts.
Your overbite looks like mine now. If I wanted my overjet fixed I should have an surgery. Extractions would fix it but my front teeth woul slant backwards. I dont know how much my overjet will reduce with elastics. My main problem is deepbite.
Does your lower incissors touch your upper ones when you bite down?
Mine did touch the gum line. They grow too tall, because there was no counter pressure from upper front teeth. I want my final bite have a nice contact between those teeth, otherwise my lower incissor will grow taller and I have the same problems as I began my treatment....
At the moment my bite has opened i.e. my icissors have been intruded and rest extruded, but there is no contact between my lower incissor and upper teeth when i bite down. My uppers do cover lower incissors, so no openbite. Just the overjet prevents the contact.
When you have our discussion with your ortho, ask him if your bite can get worse as it is now. If it is just going to stay as it is now, and you are happy with the results why bother have a surgery.
KK wrote:JF I can see what you mean about the molars. I suspect this has happened as a result of just having one arch braced.
The important question is ... what, if any, are the long term affects of your bite being like it is?
Your teeth do look good!
yep, the upper arch has widened just enough to make it
'uneven'...... and yep - that's one of the questions on the list for the ortho Tues Thanks Karen!
Last edited by JoviFan on Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
platinum wrote:Your overbite looks like mine now. If I wanted my overjet fixed I should have an surgery. Extractions would fix it but my front teeth woul slant backwards. I dont know how much my overjet will reduce with elastics. My main problem is deepbite.
Does your lower incissors touch your upper ones when you bite down?
Mine did touch the gum line. They grow too tall, because there was no counter pressure from upper front teeth. I want my final bite have a nice contact between those teeth, otherwise my lower incissor will grow taller and I have the same problems as I began my treatment....
At the moment my bite has opened i.e. my icissors have been intruded and rest extruded, but there is no contact between my lower incissor and upper teeth when i bite down. My uppers do cover lower incissors, so no openbite. Just the overjet prevents the contact.
When you have our discussion with your ortho, ask him if your bite can get worse as it is now. If it is just going to stay as it is now, and you are happy with the results why bother have a surgery.
Hi Platinum -- yep it does look similar....now my orthos told me that elastics alone would not do much of anything with my bite...
Yes, my lowers touch my uppers when I bit down ...I think some of my 'openiness' in the front teeth is cuz long ago I had a small chip in one of my middle lowers and the dentist ended up filing a little of all of my front 4 teeth
I think it's really important to ask you orthodontist a) will your teeth and joints be healthy in the long term and b) will your teeth be stable in their new position. If your bite is not lined up, sometimes there is a tendency for the teeth to drift over time. This is what my orthodontist told me. (I ended up having surgery).
I also think extractions are probably not the way to go. And yes, it's a really tough decision, so take your time, and get lots of information. Good luck!
This is a tough decision and I think I would buy myself some more time. I would have a regular office visit and give myself another 4 weeks to think about it.
The way I procrastinate my treatment would be over by the time I came to a decision. Good luck....
ohmyjaw wrote:This is a very interesting thread...
I think it's really important to ask you orthodontist a) will your teeth and joints be healthy in the long term and b) will your teeth be stable in their new position. If your bite is not lined up, sometimes there is a tendency for the teeth to drift over time. This is what my orthodontist told me. (I ended up having surgery).
I also think extractions are probably not the way to go. And yes, it's a really tough decision, so take your time, and get lots of information. Good luck!
ok - I have to ask -- why do you think extractions aren't a good idea....????
I had extractions when I was in my early twenties. Appearance wise my top teeth were so far back in my mouth that they did not show at all in normal conversations or while smiling. It was one of the reasons I'm doing this again.
Also, my extractions may have contributed to my bad bite which led to TMJ et al.
Mike
I wore braces (this time) for 1294 days or 3 years, 6 months and 17 days.
But who's counting?
Jaw Surgery June 1, 2009
Thanks for praying for me and thinking happy thoughts.
I always get nervous when people talk about extractions because I had two teeth extracted when I was in my teens, and it turned out to be just about the worst thing the ortho could have done!
That doesn't mean extractions are ALWAYS a bad idea, of course. Just be careful! If extractions are offered as a sort of compromise, I would not take that route, personally.
ohmyjaw wrote:I always get nervous when people talk about extractions because I had two teeth extracted when I was in my teens, and it turned out to be just about the worst thing the ortho could have done!
That doesn't mean extractions are ALWAYS a bad idea, of course. Just be careful! If extractions are offered as a sort of compromise, I would not take that route, personally.
Just my two cents...
so, then, I need to decide if I can live with my new overbite/jet (not sure which it's called) or chance it with extractions.....like I said, at this point am not getting jaw surgery, just seems wayy to drastic, and I'm not really unhappy with my face now.....except for some freckles and age spots LOL I'm just hoping he takes the time with me next week to go over everything again - I don't want to have to 're-do' ortho in a couple years!
I wish that I had taken before pic's to show you...we had VERY similiar bites to start with...really all my teeth looked fine to me except the two on either side of my centrals (sorry, no clue what they are all called) and my ONLY real goal going in was that those two buggers line up like they should! Truth is it took me a long time to decide to do it and in the end it was my ortho telling me that long term I'd probably have serious jaw issues if I didn't. I didn't even know I had an overbite until he told me! My middle two were slightly inwards and the others protruded so the overbite wasn't obvious.
Surgery was mentioned in my initial consult but he decided to go with an extraction instead...in my case it was actually ideal as I'd just found out I'd need a root canal prior to braces and my ortho decided to just remove that one and call it a day. I was extremely worried that only removing one tooth was going to make my mouth look all weird but my midline is right on and my teeth are basically where they should be so apparently not.
Also...my bottom bite was nicely arched as well so I didn't have lowers either until about 6 months ago, I ended up needing them since by the time my uppers were rounded out the archs just didn't match up and my bite was off.
Sorry this ended up so long but just wanted to give you yet another perspective. It really resounded to me your desire to just fix the two mutant teeth and be done with it! I've soooo been there. But in the end, as I've already gone this far AND paid for it...I'm going to finish the journey and make sure everything is ideal as someone else said NO WAY am I doing this again!!
TeresaTX wrote:I wish that I had taken before pic's to show you...we had VERY similiar bites to start with...really all my teeth looked fine to me except the two on either side of my centrals (sorry, no clue what they are all called) and my ONLY real goal going in was that those two buggers line up like they should! Truth is it took me a long time to decide to do it and in the end it was my ortho telling me that long term I'd probably have serious jaw issues if I didn't. I didn't even know I had an overbite until he told me! My middle two were slightly inwards and the others protruded so the overbite wasn't obvious.
Surgery was mentioned in my initial consult but he decided to go with an extraction instead...in my case it was actually ideal as I'd just found out I'd need a root canal prior to braces and my ortho decided to just remove that one and call it a day. I was extremely worried that only removing one tooth was going to make my mouth look all weird but my midline is right on and my teeth are basically where they should be so apparently not.
Also...my bottom bite was nicely arched as well so I didn't have lowers either until about 6 months ago, I ended up needing them since by the time my uppers were rounded out the archs just didn't match up and my bite was off.
Sorry this ended up so long but just wanted to give you yet another perspective. It really resounded to me your desire to just fix the two mutant teeth and be done with it! I've soooo been there. But in the end, as I've already gone this far AND paid for it...I'm going to finish the journey and make sure everything is ideal as someone else said NO WAY am I doing this again!!
Teresa - you sooo sound like me! LOL --- I didn't realize my overbite was bad either until they straightened those 4 front teeth, that was my mail goal, never gave bite a thought....can I ask if you are over 20years old? and how far are you in your treatment? I'm 40 now and like I've written I really want things right, but at what expense...??? keep a 6mm overvite, or extractions to try and make it better. I keep reading that with extractions you *could* look older if your face sinks in some....and I don't really want that. Of course hubby says, there's no wrong answer,except the jaw surgery...lol, but what is the right answer for me! Maybe brace the lower arch... but could that make the overbite even worse...??? That's what I'm having a struggle with and trying not to make myself sick from worrying about it between now and Tues... btw, my ortho's office already took some money off thinking I was getting debanded Tues, guess if need be, they can add it back on!
Last edited by JoviFan on Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
I've soooo been there. But in the end, as I've already gone this far AND paid for it...I'm going to finish the journey and make sure everything is ideal as someone else said NO WAY am I doing this again!!
and like I've written I really want things right, but at what expense...??? keep a 6mm overvite, or extractions to try and make it better. I keep reading that with extractions you *could* look older if your face sinks in some....and I don't really want that. Of course hubby says, there's no wrong answer,except the jaw surgery...lol, but what is the right answer for me! Maybe brace the lower arch... but could that make the overbite even worse...??? That's what I'm having a struggle with and trying not to make myself sick from worrying about it between now and Tues... btw, my ortho's office already took some money off thinking I was getting debanded Tues, guess if need be, they can add it back on! 
