Anyone develop an open bite during treatment?

[Wendymoon]

Hello all,

I went for my four month adjustment today. My teeth have moved a lot since the beginning but I've also developed a bit of an open bite which I did not remotely have starting out. Has anyone here experienced the same thing? Everything I'm reading about open bites talks about tongue thrusting but I don't think I do this. Is it possible that this is just from the teeth shifting and trying to make room for everything? I know sometimes bites get worse before they get better, but this open bite thing is really freaking me out!

My story in brief is that I'm doing six month braces to fix mostly crowding issues. I'm loving how straight everything is getting but I'm feeling discouraged like I've just changed one problem for another! Also to bring the bite back down it will probably end up taking longer. Hard to complain about a couple more months maybe when it's still a shorter time than many. But I'd like to know if anyone else has been through this or if I should be scared about developing an open bite now.

Thanks!

[daveinbraces]

Yes! I had an open bite (in the rear, on my left side particularly...) and just this weekend it closed. The ortho told me all part of the treatment and said to be patient.

It's was hard to eat for a while, but now things have improved vastly.

Stick with it!

[Wendymoon]

Thanks daveinbraces! Did you have to wear elastics or anything? Or did it just settle in as your teeth moved?

[orangeracer]

Mine opened up too, and was clamped back down with vertical elastics. Worked like a champ!

[Wendymoon]

Thanks orangeracer! We'll see what my dentist does to fix it.

[Jethro]

I developed an anterior open bite about half way through treatment. It was corrected with heavy elastics. I can't honestly say they were pain free, but they definitely corrected my bite. Best of luck to you!

[Wendymoon]

Thanks Jethro!

So my dentist now completely filed down my bite guards and is talking about elastics with my next adjustment. Sounds like it's all fixable, I was just really scared at first it would be a bigger problem. Thanks all for the encouragement.

[Wendymoon]

One more question for those with the open bites, what type of elastics were used? Did you have a box elastic? In the front or side? Or triangles? Thanks!

[phuongie]

Hi! I developed an open during treatment and I'm currently wearing elastics for my open bite, I wear it in a triangle formation, one on the left side and one on the right side! I've been wearing them since Sunday so about 5 days right now, I see a huge improvement and my open bite has massively shrunk.

Before


After

[Wendymoon]

Oh, wow phuongie! That is a major difference. And so quickly, too! Thanks for sharing your pictures and for giving me hope. I've got triangle elastics, too, now. It's been about two weeks though and I haven't noticed a major change yet so was feeling discouraged. It's nice to see your photos.

[phuongie]

I'm glad to have helped, don't get discouraged. I'm sure you'll see results soon. I'm in my 4th month of braces and got the elastics. I was told to wear them whenever I can so I wear them VERY often, pretty much every chance I get except for the days were I'm required to talk in class I don't put them on, I take them out when I need to eat and put on a new pair right after so I end up being in 3-4 pairs a day and before my night brushing routine I put on a new pair and sleep with them on. How often are you wearing yours?

[Wendymoon]

I'm wearing them most of the time... Definitely while sleeping, but sometimes I have been a little slow getting them back on after eating. I've had them out for a few hours at a time when I need to be around people eating and talking. Also I was sick for a few days and the bands just seemed unbearable on top of the flu so they were out for that. I'll be more diligent now I promise!

[phuongie]

Oh I see, I can understand that happening! Well, I hope you're feeling better and good luck with the rubber bands, I hope you see results soon.

[Jethro]

I wore both box and triangle elastics. They were on my top and bottom canines/pre-molars in various configurations. I had to wear double elastics at night for several months...essentially banding my mouth shut...not fun, but effective. I wore them 24/7 except for eating. Hope you are feeling better now. The best advice I can give is that the more you wear them, the faster your open bite will close.