Metal Mouth Message Board

I've been in braces for 4 months now, and increasingly, my teeth don't come together when I bite down. Only the ones in back with the molar bands come together, but the rest don't. That makes it hard to chew up food all the way like I should. Talking isn't as easy as before either. At what stage of my treatment will they be able to come together again. Please don't say it will be at the end when I start using elastics! That's what I'm afraid it will be. Ok, you can say it, if it's the truth!

genxsis, I would like to give you hope that your teeth will come together very soon but its really different for everyone.

When I started out I was worried and wondering if I was going to be unable to chew and rest my teeth for 18 to 24 months .

I had my braces on for about a month and a half before I was able to rest top to bottom and chew. When it finally happened I wanted to throw a party.

But it will happen to you to before you know it. Good luck and hope all goes well.

from what I've been reading your bite will change many many times during treatment, so I would expect you'll be happy at some point but that will change again and again.

I've been in braces for a little over 4 months to straighten up and close my bite. I have some serious gaps on either side between my front teeth and my second molars.

When I started, my front teeth made contact; now they don't. But overall, my teeth (especially my uppers) are a lot more even compared to 4 months ago. Enough of my molars make contact, so chewing is no problem.

I'm starting elastics on 26 June. Guess what? This is to close down my bite. I reckon I'm going to be stuck with them for quite a while, perhaps for the remainder of treatment (at least another year). I can't say I'm relishing the prospect, but the alternative (surgery) was far less appealing.

I can't answer your question but I wanted to let you know that I am having the same problem. I'm trying not to worry because I read here daily that your bite will keep changing. I think I will ask the Ortho next time I go in just to make me feel better. My bite was perfect before braces and now it's all messed up. It does make it really hard to chew.

I guess I can live with things as they are for now. I hope I won't have to be in elastics for a whole year to correct the problem though!

My bite is pretty bad, too, but has improved ever so slightly. I'm about at the 3 1/2 month mark. My canines were hitting end to end for the longest time--now that was annoying. Now the canines ALMOST clear each other. I still do a lot of eating with my front teeth and it takes forever because my molars don't touch. Here's hoping that this starts to get better for all of us soon. Wish I had the answer but the only assurance I've gotten from my ortho so far is that I should be biting down pretty well at the 6 month mark.

HI!
Before I got braces my back teeth meshed perfectly (well, in my opinion). Then I got braces April 2005 and my back teeth didn't meet again until August 2005 .

All seemed great until I got my first rectangular wire and then I my back teeth didn't meet again!

About a month later I was happy with my nice tidy bite and then I got elastics (at the 1 year point) the ortho warned me that my bite would be off again...IT WAS! Went out to eat that night and only 2 teeth on the right side were touching.

This whole journey is a good bite/bad bite thing for me.

Everyone is different. One thing is the same, things get weird before they get "normal". Then they could get weird again. The timing of our bad times is all different.

Hang in there, it'll all be good some day!