bracing both arches at once?

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#1 Post by **tommyfive** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:05 pm

my orthodontist said he would be putting braces on the top arch first, then the bottom in another appointment, but i don't know how long after, or why (obviously i'll have to ask).

there should be no bite problems, aside from a moderately deep vertical overbite so i suppose there could risk of biting off the lower brackets before the tops have been moved into a better position, but i don't think that's the case.

anyway i don't want to have to go through the adjustment of adding all this metal to my mouth more than once, but which is worse?

a smaller adjustment two times, or would i be a glutton for punishment if i asked to have both arches done at once and just get it over with?

it may be out of my hands, but what would you choose?

#2 Post by **platinum** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:43 pm

I got my lower teeth braced first, and uppers in future (6-9 months or so).
I was really wondering how people can cope with putting braces on both arches at the same time. The pain and cleaning....

Putting braces on does not take long, and I don't see any problem to have them in different times. Actually I think it is better.

my orthodontist said he would be putting braces on the top arch first, then the bottom in another appointment, but i don't know how long after, or why (obviously i'll have to ask).

Maybe your top teeth requires more work, and therefore braced before lowers.

#3 Post by **lionfish** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:03 am

I got my uppers first, my lowers 8 weeks after that.

I was quite happy to have had the time to adjust to one arch with braces. By the time the lowers went on, I pretty much knew what to expect and there was far less of an impact.

#4 Post by **taylorhl25** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:52 am

I am having both arches done at the same time, but am now a little bit dubious as there does not seem to be many that have

Anyone able to make me feel more comfy about the double whammy

#5 Post by **Zondrae** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 2:34 am

I had both my arches done at the same time. It really wasn't a big deal. I thought it was strange to get them done separately.

I had never heard of getting them done one at a time.

You will be fine - don't worry.

#6 Post by **cowlypso** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 7:57 am

I got brackets put on both arches at once, the same time as spacers. Then a week later I got molar bands and an archwire on the bottom. Then a week after that I got molar bands, an archwire, and a nance on top, plus headgear.

There are lots of different ways that they can break the process up depending on the ortho's preferences and the patient's mouth. And no matter how you end up doing it, it will seem just fine for you because that's the only way you have experienced.

#7 Post by **jess214** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:50 am

I had both arches braced (both bracketed and wired) on the same night.. the cankersores really killed, but take those away and it wasn't really that bad. I just wasn't able to bite with my front teeth for the first two days or so (and now for about a day after an adjustment), and then I'd be fine after that.

#8 Post by **Betty Bat** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:45 pm

Got both of mine at the same time also. Upper and lower in October, 2005. Doing fine. In fact, I was surprised when I read this board and found out that there were people who DIDN'T get them at the same time.

#9 Post by **taylorhl25** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:55 pm

Thanks that makes me feel better, I suppose if you have had both archs done at the same time, you can't compare it to haiving them fitted separately.

#10 Post by **samantha_lou** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:14 pm

I had both arches done at once. My ortho does whats needed for the patient, sometimes he'll do one arch first, other times its both together - just depends on the patients issues and the treatment plan.

#11 Post by **platinum** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 1:30 pm

If the total time is given then one has to be less time fully braced

I don't think you should go and "instruct" your ortho. Just let him put braces when he has intended to do so.

#12 Post by **tommyfive** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:11 am

there are clearly cases where it's not a matter of choice, but as it turns out (according to wifey who had her top arch braced yesterday) that our ortho apparently prefers to brace upper and lower arches separately to reduce the shock to patients. i will ask about this when i set up my appointment(s).

if it's up to me and there's no reason not to do it, i would prefer one big shock to two smaller shocks. i'd get it all done at once.

i know it may be best to leave it to the doctor, but if it was up to you, what would you choose?

T

#13 Post by **Jenny5** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:17 am

I had uppers and lowers (with molar bands) put on at the same time. I guess that was because I didn't have any bite issues and both uppers and lowers needed a lot of work. I was actually relieved because I just wanted to get everything started and probably would have been a little bummed if I had to wait a few months for the second set. I had no problems adjusting to both being on at once. And as cowlypso said, whatever your orthodontist decides, you'll deal with and it will seem "normal" to you. Just roll with the punches. Since we're all adults and thought long and hard about whether we wanted to go through with treatment or not, it makes it a lot easier to deal with everything as it comes. So whether you get your braces put on in one appointment or two, all will be fine and you'll have a great end result!

#14 Post by **tommyfive** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:10 pm

tommyfive's redux:

yes, they certainly could have done both at once. many orthos do when it's not contraindicated by the particulars of a given case, and if that's how they operate. In my case, many orthos would have braced both arches in one appointment.

my ortho doesn't do longer than 1 hour appointments except in special cases. That's the way they run their practice, so by that alone, they would not put on more than one arch in one appointment. but they also told me I would have been very unhappy if they had braced both arches at once.

I can tell you: after having the bottoms on for 10 days, that if they had done the tops and bottoms the same day, I probably would not have eaten anything for a few days after that... or my diet would have consisted largely of ortho wax and ibuprofen for a week or so.

no doubt about it, they were right.

Everyone's different, doctors treat patients in different ways and get results.

All's said and done, I still would have taken it all at once, but I know now that I am happier overall the way it was done. That was my ortho's main line with me - the patient's comfort level is perhaps the most important element of the treatment plan. not such a bad approach, eh? (but it also helps them to be able to treat more patients in a day than those long appointments)

leave it to the professionals, let them do what they do, ask if you've got questions, but they know the way...

t

#15 Post by **LaaLaa** » Tue May 01, 2007 12:02 am

I had the two arches put on at separate times. My top going in on April 11th and my lowers put on today (April 30th), which really wasn't that bad since time really flew by these past few weeks.

In my case, they definitely had to go on at two different times. I needed to get some extractions done on both uppers and lowers; especially for the lowers because a tooth that needed to go was blocking another, hence the waiting. My doctor initially wanted me to wait until I had the needed extractions done before even putting the uppers but she gave me the option of getting part of my uppers braced for aesthetic reasons since I'm still in college and all.

So, that's what I did, got my top partially braced first and then today got them fully braced and the bottoms partially braced. Another thing my doctor mentioned was that she usually wants the patients to get used to having just one arch and the extraction sites to heal since those in itself are pretty drastic changes to go through. And although I initially wasnâ€™t thrilled about not getting both done at the same time, I'm glad she had me wait, because boy I don't think I could've handled the pain.