Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi guys! Ok, I'll start with a picture - here is the way my teeth fit together right now:



As you can see, my front upper teeth completely overlap my lower teeth.

Now, my ortho told me that he wants to open my bite, and that the next time I see him, he is going to put braces on my lower teeth. Obviously, though, if I get braces on my lower teeth, I won't be able to shut my mouth all the way without popping brackets off left and right....I'm wondering if by "open the bite" he means he is going to put something in there to stop my mouth from shutting all the way. Can he do that? What kind of device accomplishes it? And more importantly - how the heck will I eat if my molars aren't touching anymore? Will I be on soft foods indefinitely?

There's a few different ways of opening the bite. They can use a fixed or removable bite plate which fits in the roof of the mouth. The bottom teeth hit up against it and prevent you from closing your teeth fully. Other options are cement buildups on the molars, or bite turbos which are little metal cleats glued onto the back of your top front teeth which again stop you from closing your jaws completely.

oops double post - and KK you beat me to it again lol

Thanks guys!

The bite turbos sound scary. Wouldn't someone risk damaging their lower front teeth with those?

I was wondering the same when I was told I will get lower braces and retainer, the latter to open my bite. I do not have upper braces yet, so I have a Hawley retainer, that has a plateau on the front where my lower incissors hit, so I can't bite lower brackets off. I guess you will get something presented in this discussion.

And more importantly - how the heck will I eat if my molars aren't touching anymore? Will I be on soft foods indefinitely?

My retainer opens my bite so much that when I bite my lower incissors to the retainer, I can put my tongue between my molars and touch my cheeks. First days were very difficult but I have found out how to eat
In this forum many people have had this problem, it seems that all or most of them learnt to eat in a way or another

Weee! Good news!

I just called my ortho's office and his assistant told me that they're going to open my bite by putting "globs of glue" on my molars!

This makes me happy because it means I'll have two points of contact in my mouth (important for chewing!) and it means my lower front teeth won't be smacking into metal every time I close my mouth (it's already bad enough that they smack into my upper front teeth sometimes and I've chipped a tooth as a result of this!)

I feel much better now knowing exactly what's going to happen

Hi Katica

When is your next appointment with the ortho? I am going tomorrow and he is going to put something in my back teeth to open my bite. I have been imagining myself of how I am going to eat. I guess everyone learns somehow. My concern is that I am really skinny. I don’t to loose weight.

Let me know how it goes when you go in your nest appointment. Good luck.
Sweetie

Here you see how my retainer opens my bite. I have deepbite and overjet, so my front teeth do not bite brackets off but the rest of my teeth do.

Eating will be easy within a couple of weeks and you'll get used to it within a couple of days. I've had the "globs of glue" on my molars since September and I thought I was gonna starve when I left the office. I was wrong... and now I don't even notice it anymore. The glue only sounds difficult but it's much better than having your brackets knocked off. Good luck.

I have the "globs of glue" it's weird at first... I've only had them for 2 days and tend to swallow most stuff whole.. (rice, oatmeal...etc). You can still chew on them, it's just kinda strange at first. The best thing I have found is that, because I have a deep bite, I developed TMJ; not being able to clench or bring my teeth together anymore, due to the "glue" has really helped my TMJ pain.
Good luck!!