Metal Mouth Message Board

Now that my teeth are straight I have a big triangle between some of the front teeth of my lower arch and some smaller ones. Is this bone loss, gum loss or both?

My teeth were very crowded and I used the worse type of material to try to clean between the teeth, sometimes I would feel pain and the damage I was doing. Big mistake.

As my teeth are straightening out after being crowded I am also getting black triangles. My ortho said this is very common when the teeth were crowded and more often with adults. He plans to do some IPR on my next visit which will file the teeth slightly, and then he will allow the archwire and powerchains to push the teeth together so that there is no more space showing.

I would ask your ortho what their plan is to fix the black triangles but rest assured that it is a common issue and easy to fix.

When the teeth were overlapping, there was no gum in the area where there is now a triangle. Black triangles are the result of lack of gum in the area before lining up the teeth, the shape of the teeth, and the distance of the contact point from the level of the bone. Unfortunately, the overlap of the teeth for such a long time is really the culprit.

Solutions include inter proximal reduction with space closure, veneers, possible gum grafting, and sometimes just giving the gums time to reorganize. Good luck!

There are two types of gum:
"Soft" gum: this is the gum at the margins and what you don't have enough of if you have small black triangles. However, not having enough of this won't actually cause your teeth any problems. A little IPR can mitigate this.
"Hard" gum: This is the gum that glues your teeth to your bone. Gum grafts can halt further bone loss in the face of hard gum recession. (I've had a half-dozen of those things, and not wanting to need any more was the whole reason I got braces and jaw surgery... it was all due to an unhealthy bite.)

Any dentist can, at a glance, tell how much of which kind you have, and if you've had recession. Bone loss usually accompanies "hard gum" loss, and is patently obvious on x-rays.

Are you just a little shy on soft gum, or do you have something more serious? Just ask your ortho on your next visit.

I have been told I will have some black triangles due to my crowding after treatment, but my Orthodontist has said that my regular dentist can build the tooth up to eliminate these with normal regular filling material to match the tooth. I am going to have my teeth lightened as well afterwards as they are quite uneven in colour, and whilst I will never have "white" teeth, I am hoping when they are straight and lighter I will be pleased....Thats the plan anyway!! 4 weeks until bracing......still feeling anxious