Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all,

I just got my braces fitted on my upper teeth yesterday. I came home to find I can't chew anything properly, my molars dont meet because my lower incisors hit the brackets on the upper incisors (I have underbite). I wasn't expecting this and I didn't think to check if I could chew in the orthodontists office. The orthodontist didn't give me any indication of the possibility of any such problem.

Is this a common problem? Can anything be done about it?

Welcome Bob!

The answer is YES to both of your questions.

Yes, this is a very common problem. AND

Yes, something will be done about it: Once your teeth move a bit, you will be able chew normally again.

I had this happen in the beginningof my treatment and was quite sure the ortho had done something wrong. I found out, from the kind people here and then later from my ortho, that I just had to wait it out. It took about 3 months to sort itself out. The good news is that I got used to it long before that and was able to chew after about 2 weeks.

It seems impossible that you could get used to it, but rest assured, you will.

Stick to the soft stuff for now, but in a short while you'll figure out a way to chew (REALLY!!) and you'll almost forget about this inconvenience. Then one day you'll notice that it is gone.

Best wishes to you! Keep us all posted here on your progress!!

Just give it a few weeks, things will work themselves out, I had a hard time eating cause one of my teeth was pushing on one of my lower teeth and when i got the braces on they hit the brackets. Just don't chomp down on them

Thanks for the reassurance jennie and ghost , was kinda worried thinking how am I gonna go a year without chewing food properly!

I'm planned to be in braces for 18 months, having surgery to bring my upper jaw forward in a years time. Only have my uppers wired at the moment, will get my lowers done closer to the surgery. So quite an arduous path ahead!

I've read all the leaflets and everything, but got caught off guard by this physical inability to chew (and the spacers , didn't think something so small could hurt so much!).

I'm glad to be of help! I know what you mean about being caught off guard! I started reading on here months before being braced and nobody said anything about such an annoying problem as teeth and brackets banging together

I have since became aware that most people goes through something like that to some degree

Good luck with your future surgery! I, thank heavens, have had only normal wire and bracket procedures (with elastics) to deal with.

Keep up your positive attitude; something that seems to also helps me when I feel like screaming: I realize that teenagers go through this stuff all the time and don't seem to complain at all (amazing!). I see this all the time (I have 3 who have had braces and I teach in a middle school) I think it's beause they don't focus on it...they just go through life trusting their ortho and doing their homework...I try to re-center myself by watching them....

Keep up the good work!

Mine do that, and will continue to do so for a few months (don't even have the top wire in yet). It's day 12 for me and I don't even notice it anymore.

It gets better, hang in there.

Opposite Problem - Overbite

Kept knocking off one lower bracket - Was fitted for a "bite" guard, about as comfortable as sticking a hockey puck in your pallet. ORTHO finally applied mounds of epoxy on the lower mollars to keep teeth from overlapping enough to knock the bracket off.

Had a little problem with the epoxy sticling to the filters, but as the teeth have moved the one bracket has now stayed on for a year

The inevitable happened last week, a bracket popped off . Ortho wasn't too pleased, said I needed to be more careful. Only the problem I'm having is I seem to be biting my teeth together in my sleep for some reason. I had two brackets pop within a week of each other, both at night while I was sleeping. The ortho seemed rather skeptical when I said this, almost as though he thinks I'm making it up .

I did get used to the whole chewing thing like most of you guys said, so I'm not hitting the brackets while eating. But sometimes at night I wake up after biting into the bracket, not sure why I do it or how to stop it. Any ideas?

I've read up about bite plates and stuff on this forum so if I end up popping the bracket off again I'll ask my ortho about putting one of those in.

One other thing, my ortho said I shouldn't use an electric toothbrush, it'll 'tear the braces to shreds'. I'd have thought an electric toothbrush would be better for cleaning braced teeth. Can anyone shed some light on this?

To those of y'all that are hitting on brackets....just make sure you are not hitting on a ceramic bracket:

Those things are hard as diamond and will wear a tooth down in very little time!


Dr S.

After getting my braces, I found the same problem! It's so frustrating, but I called my ortho, and I was told that it's not normal, (also depending how much they are touching and if there is a chance you can knock one out while eating or sleeping) and she put "turbos" ( that’s what they called them) on my back teeth, and that way I don't hit my brackets, and I don't bite my cheeks that way It's not a big deal at all and I don't even feel them there. I know it sucks taking time out of your schedule to go into the orthos again, but if you don't you have a chance of knocking a bracket off, or not being able to eat comfortably.

Good luck

Having done a good deal of research I'm pretty sure I grind/clench my teeth while asleep. Never noticed it before getting braces but it's the only explanation I can think of for waking up middle of the night after biting into the bracket.

I'm gonna call the ortho and see what he says, but given its xmas/new year and all it's unlikely I'll be seen till next year. So in the meantime I'm thinking of getting a Shock Doctor mouthguard for use at night. Anyone have any experience with these?