Metal Mouth Message Board

I got braces to fix the gaps I had due to a missing tooth to the right of my 2 front teeth. The gaps have closed and my bite has finally corrected as well. I have expressed to my ortho on numerous occassions that I thought my 2 front teeth weren't aligned with my nose and that they looked like they were too far to the right. My ortho has said that she doesnt think she can move the teeth anymore because there is no more room on the left side of my mouth. Needless to say I am having anxiety because especially in pictures, you can CLEARLY tell that my midline is off.

Has anyone else had this problem? Thoughts or suggestions to give my ortho?

She has also mentioned that I might need gum contouring since I do have a lot of excess gum in between most of my teeth, but I am unsure as to whether that would help the appearence of my teeth.

Oh my god.... I can understand your anxiety. Before I got braces, my midline was a good 2-3 mm off from the centre. But no one (including myself) could ever tell that the midline was off. But when the orthodontist pointed it out to me, I started seeing how off the midline was and I freaked out and agreed to his suggestion of getting one tooth extracted

So I got a tooth extracted on one side to move the entire arch for the midline to be centered. Alas! I guess my orthodontist miscalculated, now it is likely that my midline can never be corrected (it would most likely be off from the centre again just that this time round it would be off from the other side ) OR I can have a centered midline but my arch would be uneven (one side of the arch shorter than the other). I might have to get another tooth to be extracted on another side to even things out if I want my arch to be even

I guess in your case, if you are really worried about your midline, you might have to get a tooth extracted on the other side on the same arch. Without extraction would be difficult as your arch might be really uneven - in the sense that one side of the arch is shorter than the other.

Do talk to your orthodontist about it, or seek opinions from other orthodontists if you are really concerned about your midline. I would, if I were you.

Thank you for your suggestion! I have heard many stories about tooth extractions leaving the midline off on the other side... I'm not sure I would ever agree to having a tooth pulled. Especially considering my teeth are bigger than the distance my midline needs to be shifted. Have you heard of parts of teeth being shaved off to make room? My ortho did this to 2 of my bottom teeth to help fix overcrowding and I am hoping that the same can be done at the top to make some more room for my teeth to shift. It's just very frustrating considering the midline shift is the only thing I'm waiting on before getting them off!

Looks like we are in a similar situation: both have a midline off to the right and near the end of treatment. 

I am yet to mention my lower midline being off a few mm to my ortho and when I do I really hope he will see and agree to try and correct it. 

Like yourself I do not want any extractions and the distance the midline needs to shift would be less than the width of a tooth anyway. So I would imagine IPR could help move the midline along and correct it or make it better. I could be wrong though. I have been researching it a lot lately and I am sure I've even seen people have elastics to correct their midline without any extractions or IPR which sounds good. 

Hopefully your ortho is willing to work with you on this as I understand how frustrating this can be when you're meant to be pretty much done. 

I have elastics and have been wearing them for about 4 months now. My ortho said that the elastics were being used to correct my bite (which they did). I wish the elastics could help shift my midline! I am currently wearing a chain on my top teeth to pull them to the left to shift the midline. I am not sure why my ortho put a chain on when she told me that I didnt have any room left to move my teeth.. I am hoping that parts of my teeth on the left can be shaved off to make room, or something!

You mention currently being in elastics but to fix the midline normally they go from lower canine to opposite upper canine (so the elastic is going right across the front of your mouth) like this:


or they are in a class II or III on one side. Personally I have not heard of a powerchain shifting a midline but that's not to say it can't, it's just not something I've ever read, I thought they were just to close any spaces.

Good luck - my midline is off 5mm to the left and my ortho said that even if I had 1 upper and 1 lower tooth extracted on the right he wouldn't be able to move all those teeth over as far to the left as would need to be to fix it. He also said that if those were extracted there was a real possibility that I would have 2 big gaps on that side. Too many teeth to move from right to ledt and only 3 teeth to anchor on the left. Said he could damage the bone trying to move teeth that far.

I finally told him to take my braces off as i finished all treatment except for the midline being so far off.

i hope you get a better outcome than I did/\.

So sorry to hear about your midline! I think that's one of my biggest fears as well when my treatment is coming to an end. I know most people don't notice anything. But we ourselves know these kinds of things will really bug us.

I hope it works out well for you in the end. All the best to you.

BraceFace2o1o wrote:You mention currently being in elastics but to fix the midline normally they go from lower canine to opposite upper canine (so the elastic is going right across the front of your mouth) like this:


or they are in a class II or III on one side. Personally I have not heard of a powerchain shifting a midline but that's not to say it can't, it's just not something I've ever read, I thought they were just to close any spaces.

The chain I have on my upper teeth is to help shift my midline relative to my nose, not the lower teeth (Otherwise Im sure I would be wearing elastics the way your picture is showing). As you can see from my picture above, the midline is very off in relation to my face.

Chaplains Assistant wrote:Good luck - my midline is off 5mm to the left and my ortho said that even if I had 1 upper and 1 lower tooth extracted on the right he wouldn't be able to move all those teeth over as far to the left as would need to be to fix it. He also said that if those were extracted there was a real possibility that I would have 2 big gaps on that side. Too many teeth to move from right to ledt and only 3 teeth to anchor on the left. Said he could damage the bone trying to move teeth that far.

I finally told him to take my braces off as i finished all treatment except for the midline being so far off.

i hope you get a better outcome than I did/\.

Thank you for thoughts! I definitely dont want any teeth extracted for the very reasons you posted! How did your smile end up looking even though the midline was off? Hopefully not like how mine looks now!

bracesagain2 wrote:So sorry to hear about your midline! I think that's one of my biggest fears as well when my treatment is coming to an end. I know most people don't notice anything. But we ourselves know these kinds of things will really bug us.

I hope it works out well for you in the end. All the best to you.

Thank you! I think what annoys me the most is when people say "I dont see what youre talking about". I mean, I do stare at my teeth everyday haha but in pictures you can clearly tell how off my midline is and I cant help but feel self conscious about it. I wish the best to you as well!

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I would have noticed the midline being off without you saying anything. Good luck with whatever you try doing with it though.

sbjforumman wrote:If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I would have noticed the midline being off without you saying anything. Good luck with whatever you try doing with it though.

Thank you! It does make me feel better But we all know that when it's your own body, you notice every detail!

Chaplains Assistant wrote:Good luck - my midline is off 5mm to the left and my ortho said that even if I had 1 upper and 1 lower tooth extracted on the right he wouldn't be able to move all those teeth over as far to the left as would need to be to fix it. He also said that if those were extracted there was a real possibility that I would have 2 big gaps on that side. Too many teeth to move from right to ledt and only 3 teeth to anchor on the left. Said he could damage the bone trying to move teeth that far.

I finally told him to take my braces off as i finished all treatment except for the midline being so far off.

i hope you get a better outcome than I did/\.

Oh my! Thats exactly what my scumbag orthodontist did. My midline was too far right (by a good 2-3mm) so he extracted a tooth from my left!
What is happening to me now is that there is too much space created from the extraction (approx. 7-8mm) and i'm not sure if I can get an even arch.

I now wished he left my tooth alone.

my thoughts don't worry about it, no one will notice it except yourself. tom cruise's midline is off way worse so as long as they are straight you're good to go.