destroying my braces already?

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#1 Post by **alpinist** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:49 pm

I had only had my braces for 15 days (lowers only), and the wire pulled out where it connected to the band on my molar (Thursday). No big deal. I made an appointment to have it fixed on Monday morning. Today (Satruday), I've pulled the other side loose also, AND pulled one of the front brackets off so it is just hanging on the wire. I'll just take it easy and wait unti Monday am and have it all repaired.

Is this unusual? I've not been eating anything hard, mainly just mac & ceese, cereal, Cliff Bars, etc. Nothing crunchy, nothing hard. The hardest may be a few raisins in the cereal.

My ortho did comment that I have a 'heavy bite'. Before I had the braces I lost 2 of my spacers and chewed through the other 2 within 6 hours of putting them in, and had to have heavier ones installed in their place, and I even chewed through one of those, but it stayed.

#2 Post by **jaswi** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:59 pm

No, doesn't sound too odd at all. Its kind of like a plane crash, bad things are most likely to happen right after or during takeoff.

#3 Post by **browneyedgrl** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:29 am

I've had my braces for 7.5 months and I've broken my upper archwire 4 times in the same place between my right 5 & 6. Three of those times were within a 9 week period and then my ortho put in a stainless steel wire and I was good to go. Then about 10 days ago, I was brushing my teeth and I spit and low and behold there was a piece of wire. It came from the same spot. I went in for an emergency appt last week and unfortunately my ortho was away and on my chart just cut it if it breaks again. I have my regular appointment tomorrow so I will get it repaired. He has said to me that I happen to have strong jaws. I felt that I was out of the woods with this breaking of the wire since I had gone 12 weeks. Oh well.

Good luck with your appointment tomorrow.

B

#4 Post by **markGl** » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:29 pm

to your question, it sounds reasonable to say that every case is different as no two people have the same bite per say, so perhaps its your bite as you chew that may knock some brackets loose, not the food your eating... i by no means am any expert just going on logic i gather from reading long past posts and relating my problems to them.. but me i never knocked a bracket off, but my wire bends at my lower right band/buccual tube when i eat and what not ( mind you i have 4 extractions gaps.. but all i need to do is push against the bend to correct it and put this as they where...) but it seems, its a case by case basis. call your ortho for the BEST advise on your situation as he/she is the one messing with your teeth..

#5 Post by **PiscesFish1969** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:35 pm

I've had my braces for exacty 2 weeks, and today when i was flossing the wire popped out of the last bracket on my lower right molar.....ugghh, i was trying so hard to be good and careful!!

It's good to hear this isn't unusual. I'll call the ortho tomorrow to make an appt to get it fixed - will they have to take the wire out & start over, or just pop it back into the bracket? Right now I have it glued down with wax so it doesn't poke me.

#6 Post by **Lisa65** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 6:26 am

That can happen quite easily with the thin wires used early in treatment. You might be able to get it back yourself using a pair of tweezers, but if you can't, your ortho can pop it back in easily without removing it. You could ask him to bend the ends of the wire inwards, which should stop it popping out again.

#7 Post by **alpinist** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 11:01 am

They did comment on it being 'early in my treatment'. Since I had popped off a bracket too, they removed the entire wire to re-cement the bracket, and replaced the wire with a new one of the same size. They said it is still the thin one, and they will replace it with a heavier one in a couple of weeks during my scheduled appointment. They said the end of the wire was poking me, but I didn't notice. I shrugged and said that I had my last two fillings without novocaine. My ortho smiled and said "High pain tolerance. We like that here."