Metal Mouth Message Board

I had braces from 2014-2016. At the time, the ortho I saw had diagnosed me with mild crowding an anterior open bite, and a cross bite on my back right side. He made it seem very simple and initially told me it would be 12 months full braces and elastics. Well, then my treatment actually took 2 years instead. Basically he took my braces off almost 2 years to the day he put them on. At removal I was newly pregnant and still had some concerns with my bite. He said just wear your retainers and it will be fine. I trusted this and then started having issues. I noticed my teeth starting to shift and my bite opening back up. He would make adjustments to my retainer and even switched me from Essex retainers to Harley retainers. His response to my bite was, I was afraid that would happen. But wouldn’t attempt to fix it. Every time I came to him with a concern, he blew me off and made me feel like it was in my head. After a year of retention and frustration with my bite I went to a different ortho that gave me a removable tongue screen for the top and a spring retainer on the bottom. Told me if I could show him in a year that I could swallow correctly he would close my bite. A year went by and my bite was still open on the right and some teeth had mildly shifted and he then backed off and said see you in 6 months. I questioned this and his plan and basically he said he was just trying to prevent it from getting worse. 🤦🏼‍♀️ He had no intention of fixing it at all like he had told me initially.

My question is, I have relatively straight teeth but my bite is open on the right, I still have a cross bite on the right, and when my teeth close I have a bit of an over bite. Are there orthos that specialize in bite issues? I seem to keep finding the ones that are just concerned with making them straight. I want my bite fixed but can’t seem to find an ortho willing to do it. Just feeling frustrated...

All orthos specialises in correcting bite issues. It's pretty much the main bulk of the orthodontic specialty and straight or not is actually secondary. Are those 2 doctors you went to orthodontists or general dentists providing orthodontic care?

If your open bite was due to tongue thrust habit, you'd need to sort that habit out if not your bite will continue to open back up again after treatment. I would say go and see a couple more orthos and get their opinions and see what your options are.

They were orthos. I did have tongue thrust. I have worked on that for a year and a half now. I feel fairly confident that I have that part taken care of. My ortho that did my original work would alway reply with my arches are straight. And the second one, although seemed promising at first, basically told me he had no intentions of fixing it, he was just trying to not let it get worse with the appliances he gave me. He gave me my money back actually. So now, I have no retainers at all (my initial ones from my first ortho had broken and he wouldn’t fix them) and then it became I would have to pay an office fee of $75, after a year of retention, anytime I needed to come in. My retention phase with that ortho was a bit of a nightmare! They basically handed my retainers in the waiting room after they took my braces off and sent me on my way. They didn’t even check to make sure they fit right. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Before seeing the second ortho I did go for a consult with another ortho. I liked him and he was fair price wise. The reason I didn’t go with him is because he just wanted to close my bite but not deal with the tongue thrust. The second one was willing to work on the tongue thrust which we did.

This has all just been crazy frustrating. I just wish everything would have been fixed the first time. I have a general dentist appointment next week. She is a friend of mine. She was the whole reason I had started down this path 5 years ago. She had told me that my open bite was causing excessive wear on my back teeth and she didn’t believe Invisalign would help me and that traditional ortho would be the better route. I’ll ask her to check on my molar wear. I am thinking she is going to say my left is more worn than my right. Or if it’s fine, maybe I’ll throw up the white flag. It does bother me though and I have been thinking about it all the time for like 2 years now...

Hey SG4,

I would suggest having additional ortho consultations to find one who will provide a comprehensive treatment plan to properly resolve your concerns. In my experience, alignment/bite issues only get worse over time, especially with no retention. I know how frustrating this can be as I too am an adult relapse case.

All the Best,

Jethro

I am 47 and have lived with an open bite since a teenager. I also have wear on my lower back molars. I had tried to have it corrected when I was around 30 but all the orthodontists said braces and surgery. I now see many open bite cases on line that were fixed with invisalign. I would like to look into it but I have 1 kid in braces and 2 more that will need them. I think you have to find the right orthodontist that can handle these types of cases with invisalign.

Let me save you some time: If you think your bite was bad, you can't even imagine mine. I could expand my cheeks from ear to ear and still couldn't smile properly. I looked far and wide for an orthodontist and couldn't find a single one who could actually get the job done. I switched orthodontists 5 times before finding one that actually worked. I lived in Orlando and traveled as far as Miami in search of developing a smile. All the local orthodontists were trash and it may have been one of the most stressful processes that I have undergone; especially having to deal with conmen who were just trying to get at my wallet. I unnecessarily spent so much extra money and reflecting back on my experience, it's upsetting to see so much of my hard-earned money go to a complete waste. I ended up going to some hole in the wall orthodontist in Tampa who actually cared about his patients. He told me did not have the equipment to properly fix my smile but he knew a great orthodontist who could. He sent me to a massive orthodontist practice that also had an oral surgery department in Boca Raton, Florida called Kawa Orthodontics. They gave me a free consultation and got to work shortly after that. They only contacted me when necessary, provided me with great service, didn't badger me, didn't dig deep into my wallet, and in the end, they got the job done. My smile genuinely looks better than ever and my wife and I are happy we took action. Going through so much effort and trouble definitely makes you grateful for quality practices such as Kawa Orthodontics. So if you're in my position, save your time and money and give them a call. They will certainly take care of you.