Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi guys

Well I have finally got the hang of this uploading photos - i hope - so thought you would like to see.

Got them on Feb 05 and ortho now say he has done the best he can do at the front - now we are just waiting for a pesky wisdom tooth to upright itself before they come off. Since this pic he has moved a bracket on the lowers so my middle 4 have straightened up a bit more.

Considering how they were to start I am pleased - my upper no 2's are a bit high for my liking and in an ideal world they would be nice and straight with my middle two, so that my canines dont look so fanglike (it's more of a problem on the right hand side which you can just about see!) but I don't know if this is possible? I have my next appt on the 14th though so maybe I'll ask him... Or maybe I should just shut up and be grateful for having them how they are!!!

Your teeth look fantastic!

Don't be too concerned about your upper 2's. In women it is actually accepted that they be a bit higher than the centrals. Take a look at these pix:








Mine are higher and when I pointed this out to my ortho, he explained that it was aesthetically pleasing in a woman's smile to be like this. I started looking at other women's teeth and discovered that he was right!

I've a friend who's 2's are in line with her centrals and then her canines were filed off to the same length when she was a teen, her teeth actually looke like men's teeth! I never noticed that before!

Look around at other women's teeth and see what you think before you worry. I know that there are plenty of women with 2's even with their centrals, but also see that there are many with them higher. If you still want them lower, talk to your ortho about it.

How much time do you have left in braces?

Good luck to you!!

I'm glad you posted that jennielee as that was going to be one of my questions to my ortho soon.. Thinking about it, I will leave my 2's slightly higher and not ask him to shave them as when I picture it in my head I think it gives you a more "feminine" look that way otherwise everything looks a bit too square and masculine. That is why when I look at family members (women) who have top dentures I always think their teeth look too false. Its because they are all the same length...

Here are some links to others. I don't want to slow down page loading with these big pix.

Julia Roberts: http://julia.roberts.web.free.fr/image/ ... 20page.jpg

Hillary Swank: http://cdn.compuserve.com/gallery/i/s/s ... 589088.jpg

Gwynneth Paltrow: http://img.stern.de/_content/56/10/5610 ... 00_500.jpg

Charleze Theron: http://www.artezia.net/cinema/acteurs-a ... heron1.jpg

I hope this doesn't come across as aggressive, but it made me start thinking about this again and I was just interested in seeing what the most "beautiful" women in Hollywood's teeth looked like.

Just wasting time on my computer and sharing it with you all...

Your teeth look great, and agree with the other posts on the feminine thing. Very Pretty.

Lana

Jennielee - thanks for your reply - I have to say I had never even considered that it is a feminine trait - I guess we are all so bombarded by the perfect hollywood ruler straight smile that we forget what nature intended! So thanks for that - it has put my mind at ease a bit.

As for how long left - I don't know - hopefully another couple of motnhs. Only thing is I have noticed that the molar next to the wonky wisdom tooth appears to have sunk down a little height wise (like a house with poor foundations) so lord knows how long that is going to take to get fixed now!!

Your Teeth look gorgeous! Looks like you are going to have a hollywood smile. Congrats on getting your braces off soon.

Actually, not just for the ladies

A natural alignment on the upper has the centrals even, the laterals 0.5mm or so higher (relative to the centrals), and the cuspids 1.5 mm lower.

On the lower, all the incisors are even, and the cuspid up about 1mm.

Having everything even across the top, makes the chopper look "store bought", like bad dentures

Women's teeth are shaped differently then men's, they are more "rounded" or "curved" across the incisal edges, whereas men's teeth are more angular and straight across the incisal edge.


Dr. S

I'm so glad this topic came up!

This has been something that's been worrying me for awhile now in my own treatment, however I've got the opposite problem.

I currently haven an inverse of this in my top front teeth with my upper laterals coming down further than my incisors.

What are the methods to reverse this? I've been told I'm nearly complete in my treatment and my ortho hasn't addressed this.

Is shaving teeth the only option? I've seen shaved teeth with flat bottoms and they look bad IMO. I really want to have the appearance of natural edges of my teeth.

Would bracket repositioning work?

I've got an appointment next week and would love to go into it prepared with some options or opinions.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

this has been a really interesting topic......I didn't know there was a difference in height between all the front teeth, but now that I think about it, that makes sense!

Your teeth look beautiful and congrats on getting your braces off soon!

This topic is awesome! I can tell that my teeth will soon become an obsession as is looking at other people's teeth!
I had to get up and go look in the mirror to see where my twos are! HA!
Above YAY! I got that going for me.

What are the methods to reverse this? I've been told I'm nearly complete in my treatment and my ortho hasn't addressed this.

Is shaving teeth the only option? I've seen shaved teeth with flat bottoms and they look bad IMO. I really want to have the appearance of natural edges of my teeth.

My ortho put bends in my wire to address the intrusion/extrusion of my teeth.

Not sure if this is what is always done or not....just what my ortho did.

ALSO, THANKS DR. RICK!!

You're most welcome Jennielee!

And you are right on the money...to adjust the position of the tooth when the braces and the wire are straight, but the teeth aren't, you either make the wire crooked (with a bend), or the braces crooked (by repositioning the bracket).

Sometimes upper laterals will appear longer than the centrals even if the brackets are properly located because the torque movement of the laterals hasn't been completed.

Dr. S

Brunoise - I agree - I am going to be staring at everyone else's teeth nowto see where their number twos are!
I will let you know how i get on next week...

Okay, now I'm going to be looking at men's teeth also... don't think I've ever noticed their #2 teeth before. Hmmmm wonder where my husban's #2's are?

Maybe my friend's teeth look like FALSE TEETH! Great....now I'm not going to be able to look at her teeth without giggling.