Metal Mouth Message Board

Braces have been off for over 3 years, and slowly my bite has been shifting and causing me to grind my teeth almost 24 hours a day, which is evident by how jagged my molars have become and the strain i've been having on my jaw. My ortho said that the cause of grinding was from my teeth only meeting correctly on the right side, and to fix this and prevent further chipping and wear on my teeth, I would need braces and elastics again for about a year or so.
I don't mind going back in braces, but do you think that the benefits are worth it?? I am scared that if I don't fix it now, the grinding and bite could continue to get worse and I will end up having to get veneers to fix the chips and jagged parts of my teeth!
The thing that has me best convinced to go through braces again is the fact that the small changes and shifting in my front teeth have really bothered me for the past year, and my ortho said she would be able to fix this as well- something I don't want to regret NOT doing.
For those of you who've known me since I first started treatment, i've been complaining about the imperfections for such a long time now, I feel like I don't have any choice but to give in to shut myself up. Since i've gone this far why should I accept anything less then a perfect smile when it can be attained by the braces?

If the ortho thinks you could benefit from going into braces again, and if you have the funds to do so, then go for it.

Food for thought: You may always have been a grinder and just not known it. This orthodontic relapse may have made a previously sporadic and mile problem much worse. You should definitely speak to your dentist about getting a night guard made.

If you are not happy with your teeth, go for it. You know what to expect and the time frame will be short. You already have such a beautiful smile, but if you don't think so, you cannot enjoy it.

I also agree with getting a night guard made to stop the grinding.

Best of luck to you!

If your bite won't close together on one side and you're grinding 24/7, then I would definitely do it again if I had the money. Do you think your teeth moved after braces before - meaning your bite was corrected 3 years ago and now isn't? Or... do you think it was not corrected all the way?

When I first got my braces off, I was so happy with the results. Everything was perfect and looked even. About a month afterward, I ended up losing my retainers and the ortho took 1 month to replace them for me, and that's when my teeth started to move. My ortho offered free braces or retainers again because it was their fault it took more then 2 weeks, so I got a retainer on the top and bottom braces. After that, I was never really satisfied with my teeth again. I should have gotton both top and bottom braces, which is maybe why my bite is off now.

I just don't think I can do braces again- I have spent too much time working at this and it doesn't seem reasonable as far as asthetics go. I don't understand why I'm not able to use a removeable appliance of some sort to fix the grinding and minor front teeth shifting. It does seem rather odd that braces are the only option when there are so many types of appliances out there. I'm not sure where to go from here becuase it seems like the majority of orthos don't want to fix teeth with an appliance- and I am not going to risk getting veneers. I don't know what to do, I'm just so fed up with orthodontics in general. Its almost pointless to have even had braces, like it was a tease to see how my teeth were and then to have still worn retainers and have my bite ruined little by little. The reason I decided against braces again is because I don't have much faith that my teeth won't just move back no matter what I do. I don't understand how that even happens, or how so much money can be thrown around in a whirlwind cycle.

venusasaboy wrote:When I first got my braces off, I was so happy with the results. Everything was perfect and looked even. About a month afterward, I ended up losing my retainers and the ortho took 1 month to replace them for me, and that's when my teeth started to move. My ortho offered free braces or retainers again because it was their fault it took more then 2 weeks, so I got a retainer on the top and bottom braces. After that, I was never really satisfied with my teeth again. I should have gotton both top and bottom braces, which is maybe why my bite is off now.

I just don't think I can do braces again- I have spent too much time working at this and it doesn't seem reasonable as far as asthetics go. I don't understand why I'm not able to use a removeable appliance of some sort to fix the grinding and minor front teeth shifting. It does seem rather odd that braces are the only option when there are so many types of appliances out there. I'm not sure where to go from here becuase it seems like the majority of orthos don't want to fix teeth with an appliance- and I am not going to risk getting veneers. I don't know what to do, I'm just so fed up with orthodontics in general. Its almost pointless to have even had braces, like it was a tease to see how my teeth were and then to have still worn retainers and have my bite ruined little by little. The reason I decided against braces again is because I don't have much faith that my teeth won't just move back no matter what I do. I don't understand how that even happens, or how so much money can be thrown around in a whirlwind cycle.

Aww... that's lousy In that case maybe you should have gotten full braces again when it was offered. I'm not sure (I could be wrong) if retainers or other removables could fix the problem on one side with your bite. You could ask your ortho about inman aligners, which would probably fix the slight tilting in front in just a few weeks, but it wouldn't do anything about your bite not closing all the way.

I went and had 3 consults when I replaced my retainer, and 2 out of the 3 said I would probably need braces on my lowers again for almost 2 years, 1 said it might be able to be done with an inman in 8-10 weeks. It's been a pain in the behind trying to find a dentist/ortho that uses inman but I did find one, so in my opinion it's worth looking. The cost factor is much better, both my other consults not only said it would take nearly 2 years, they both suggested invisalign too. I don't have any bite problems anywhere other than the front, so it's a matter of moving my lower fronts behind my upper fronts - that's all. Invisalign is also close to 5K, and that much for what I want to accomplish sounds way overpriced. I'd probably get another consult and see if they can do something with springs or screws that you turn in a retainer - that's how I'm fixing my two relapsed uppers. I asked my ortho about trying to have both upper and lower bondeds as well as removables after treatment again and he was kind of iffy about my uppers but if there's a way, I'll do it, even if it has to be bonded in sections. That way the risk of relapse is less, even if you miss a night of retainers.... and at least it would be safe to go the day without them.