Removing braces early?

[shenreice]

Hi there,
So I am wondering if I should remove my braces against ortho wishes or not. Basically I had braces for 5 years and then had them off for 1 year. I didn't have a retainer, so my over jet came back a bit. Then I got braces on again as prep for MMA surgery. I got them on the second time in September. I also had 4 teeth extracted, but the spaces are closed now. My surgery was June 10th, so I am pretty much healed now. On August 27th I will leave for an exchange year in korea. My ortho wants me to keep my braces on this entire year, and then resume treatment when I return. Is it just me or is this dumb? My teeth are straight, gaps are closed, bite is good, why do I need to keep them on? I've had braces for 7 years, I would really like to get them off. Could you give me advice? Would it be counterintuitive to make the ortho take them off early? I asked my maxillofacial surgeon and he thinks they should be taken off. It is just the ortho.

[iob]

Usually, when a post's opening line includes the words "against ortho wishes," my reaction is to "trust your ortho" if I haven't already stopped reading at that point. The fact that your surgeon thinks they should be taken off is pretty relevant, and it sounds like you wouldn't be seeing a new ortho in Korea during the entire year if you kept your braces on during that time. I'm not clear whether your surgeon thinks everything is largely done, or if he/she's simply recommending that you temporarily discontinue active treatment during that year, and switch to retention until you return. Based on no other info, I'd be inclined to set up a consult or 2nd opinion appointment with a well-regarded ortho - even if you had to pay for it - to get their thoughts. Then, you can either make a decision with more confidence and info, or return for a heart-to-heart conversation with your ortho armed with some other objective input.

Good luck.

[djspeece]

I'm a little unclear why you didn't have a retainer after a five year term in braces -- are you saying you didn't receive one, or simply didn't wear it? If it's the latter, then I might suspect your ortho doesn't want to take a chance on another relapse. As iob suggested, it might be a good time for a serious conversation with your ortho. I can't imagine having braces for that length of time, so I congratulate you for hanging in there.

[shenreice]

The first 5 years were actually a different ortho. He was old and actually died right after I finished. He was going senile, so he didn't give me a retainer, left an overbite, etc. Then I moved, and started with this new ortho. I will definitely wear a retainer if I get one! I don't want to chance a relapse.

[shenreice]

For reference, here are my teeth before braces, after I got them off the first time, and now. My chipped tooth happened during surgery, sadly.

http://bssojawsurgery.blogspot.bg/2016/ ... n.html?m=1