Metal Mouth Message Board

i have an underbite, i have been wearing my braces for 5-6 months. i have extracted 5 teeth in total, right now the gaps are still visible. my ortho said that he would be closing up my gaps on my next dental appointment. is it okay for me if i ask him for the elastic bands to fix my underbite? i am very keen on fixing it. it is really ugly to have an underbite i cant bite my food.. must i really wait for all the gaps to be closed so that i'll be given the elastics??

Ask him anything that you want if it makes you feel good, but he is probably going to run the same offense regardless. Good luck, it will correct in time - slow process.

Your ortho will give you elastics if/when he deems them appropriate. You can always ask, but I doubt he'll give them to you unless/until your treatment calls for it. They usually work on 1 or 2 things at a time, and it sounds like your extraction gaps will take a bit of time to close. He has to get your teeth aligned first before he starts working on your bite.

You've only just started your braces journey. Trust me - he won't leave you with an underbite when he takes your braces off 1+ years from now.

The reason i have braces is because of the gaps in my upper front teeth, caused by missing laterals. Since getting braces i swear the gaps are bigger, even though they prob aren't. So i asked the assistant when she thought i would get powerchains and she said "lets ask the doc for them now!" So when he came over we smiled big and asked...of course the answer was no. He said doing them now, before everything was aligned and ready would cause those front four teeth to flatten out, then we'd have to fix that and then re-close the gaps. I was at month 7 when we asked...so you really just have to wait it out. I know its sucks, but you can't rush the process.

ashesgap-

I'm glad you posted that. I'm right at that 7-month point, and am now realizing that it wasn't just the one BIG extraction gap that needs to be closed... because as that closes, others will form and need to be closed. If I smile head-on, it isn't too bad... yet. From the side... YIKES!

I think this is why orthodontists probably prefer to work with kids. Patience is not a virtue many adults (myself included!) have and abundance of. I find my ortho in a better mood when I'm not asking the equivalent of "Are we there yet?" LOL!

underbitegirl - you and I are both anxious and excited to get our elastics, but I bet we'll be cursing up a storm once we have them!

-Cathy

Asking for elastics is like asking for someone to poke your eyes with sewing needles...

Enjoy being elastic free while you are.

My elastics have caused a gap to open back up which my ortho will need to close, so I doubt that gaps are a limiting factor to elastics. Likely you just aren't ready yet. Your ortho will provide them when the treatment plan is at the appropriate place.

You can address whatever you want w/your ortho but they have a plan for your teeth. As much as I want my ortho to address my slant on my upper teeth, iti's something that'll be addressed right at the very very end of my treatment. You have to remember that your braces is a journey.. it's a process. I think all orthos should make sure that their patients really understand that and not expect certain things to be fixed overnight.. or even within months. I've been braced for almost 23 months and I still have gaps and my teeth are not even completely level yet. It'll all come together at the end.