Metal Mouth Message Board

I have crowding in my lower teeth but my top teeth are very straight. I decided to fix my crowding only and not my bite or anything else, and went in to get my braces thinking that I'd be getting braces on my bottom teeth only. (I had had a consult with another orthodontist who works in the same place- they have rotating orthodontists- who had told me that one of my options was to just brace my bottom teeth, which would take one year, so I assumed that was what my current orthodontist was doing, too.) However, my orthodontist put braces on my upper teeth instead, and says that after 6 months, I will get braces on my bottom teeth too. They will be shaving my bottom teeth to make room (I think this is called IPR?) since I didn't get any extractions. Also, my treatment time, instead of being 12 months, is now 16 months. When I asked her why I was getting braces on the top when my upper teeth are already straight, she didn't give me a clear answer. She did say that my upper teeth will look exactly the same when I am done with treatment. So I decided to come here and ask all of you very knowledgeable people for your opinions, though I understand you can't see any of my molds or x-rays. What do you think is the reason I have braces on the top? Are they holding my teeth in place? If so, why couldn't I just use a retainer? Thanks very much!

I don't really have a clue, but I would imagine if your lower teeth move somewhat the bites goes off if your upper ones are not moved slightly.

Your case may be similar to mine. Lower crowding in the front with good molar relationships. My treatment is on both the top and bottom despite the tops looking excellent already. The reason I was given was that to make space to round out the lower arch, the upper arch had to be expanded slightly and flared out a little. I was given the option of starting both arches immediately, or to do the uppers first and then start the lowers once there was space to round out the lowers. I opted to start both the uppers and lowers at the same time with the understanding that my lower front teeth might touch the upper front teeth early on. This has been the case for the last couple months, but it doesn't bother me enough to regret going with both arches from the beginning. Since you haven't been given the option to start both arches at the same time, you must need a lot of room created in the top before the lower arch can be rounded out.

Thanks for all of your help! I'm going back to my orthodontist on Tuesday (I didn't have a chance to go before) to get everything cleared up, so when I find out, I'll let you know. =)