Metal Mouth Message Board

Last month, I got a bite plate along with my upper and lower ceramic braces. I have a really deep overbite (top teeth completely cover bottom teeth), so I mainly got my braces (and plate) to correct this issue.

My questions are as follows:

A) How long will I have to wear this bite plate? I know time varies on a case-by-case basis, but considering that my top teeth completely cover my bottom teeth, perhaps some of you will be able to offer an approximation (even if it's based on your personal experience).

B) How exactly does a bite plate work? Is it just used to keep your bite (mouth?) open, or does it push out your teeth as well? If its the former case, will not wearing it during the day (and keeping my mouth open on my own) be ok?

Thanks so much guys. One month of braces down, 17-23 left!

I'll be curious as to the answers

I wish I had got the bite plate.. but I think it just depends on how fast your top teeth move to keep them from hitting the bottom brackets. The other options are bite turbos and the buildups (which seem to be the most common). I've had the buildups for a month, and before that I had just top braces for four months.. so I'm kinda curious how long I'll have to have the buildups and when those can be removed.

I *think* the bite plate just keeps you from biting all the way down... not really sure though. But, I think it's nice that it's removable.. as the other options, you're stuck with them.

Just be aware the less time you wear it, the longer it may take for your teeth to move...

I had a NON-REMOVEABLE bite plate for the first 3 months of my treatment; only on month 5 right now. I had a cross bite and a deep bite and the purpose of it was to keep my bite/mouth open in order to give the teeth in cross-bite time/space to move forward. My cross-bite only involved my top canine teeth so I think it was relatively simple in orthodontic scenarios. I know a couple of other people who have had them as well and it's been 3-4 months for all of us. Good luck!

If it'll only take 3-4 months I could have it off by college! let's hope so.. this whole experience tests one's patience :)