Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi,
I started my braces journey 2 years ago. I had two teeth removed - my top second premolars in August 2022 due to crowding which was causing an overbite. They only started shutting the extraction gap in August 2023 with power chains as they were moving teeth into their right positions at first. My bottom teeth are perfect according to my orthodontist and we are just waiting on gaps created from closing the extraction gap to shut though I’m told they’re being stubborn - the extraction gaps only both shut last month. This can be shown in pictures attached:
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pnjdzhVVj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/150x ... jdzhVV.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/poDt2srij][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/150x ... Dt2sri.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The second photo is the left side of my mouth which you can see has made a lot more progress. Will more teeth move though and how long do you think I have left, I have an appointment every 4 weeks to adjust power chains.

As far as I know there is only one general dentist who visits this forum and he would be the only person qualified to venture a guess, and he would probably tell there are many variables in play that determine the de-bracing day. I have read many times here and elsewhere that the maximum rate of movement is 1 mm per month, if that helps. My two year plan turned into three when my gaps closed slower than expected -- apparently I have dense bones. And once they were in position, he kept the braces on for a while longer to let things stabilize. Did you ask your ortho this question? He/she of course is the best qualified. Although my ortho, who was excellent, was usually vague when I tried to pin him down to a month when the braces would come off. At every visit near the end I was hoping to hear the magic words "Well, time for the braces to come off" but the months continued to go by. To save my sanity, I finally just resolved mentally that they would never come off, that I would have the stupid things on for the rest of my life. (I tend to be a bit overdramatic at times).
Hang in there. You're in the home stretch, and best of luck to you!

Hi, hope all is well. As I have posted previously, orthodontic treatment time is Island Time. Every patient is different and things happen as they happen. Trying to predict only leads to frustration. Just relax and go with the flow and the end will come! Much less stressful that way.

trifecta wrote:
> Hi, hope all is well. As I have posted previously, orthodontic treatment
> time is Island Time. Every patient is different and things happen as they
> happen. Trying to predict only leads to frustration. Just relax and go
> with the flow and the end will come! Much less stressful that way.

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pmrMWDwYj][IMG]
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/poRr5FP1j][IMG]
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/poBPSHjvj[IMG]

Thankyou for this. My gaps shut a couple weeks after I made this post and stopped waiting so looked like your post manifested it haha. My teeth are now perfect and on the 27th July my ortho said I just needed to wear class 2 elastics now for my overjet and I should be able to get my braces off on 29th August. I’m wearing heavy elastics and doubling up all day every day as advised. On the 10th of August she said not much movement had been made and my overjet stands at 4.5mm (unsure what it was before). My overbite has fully resolved though from extractions. She said my teeth are stubborn in moving (took ages to shut extraction spaces). So I had the choice of still getting my braces off on the 29th or waiting out and having a few more appointments with elastics and see if my overjet moves. What would you recommend based on the pictures attached. I have already been braced up for 26 months now. Can my teeth move further by end of year or would it be pointless waiting out? Is 4.5mm significant enough to cause issues/get worse even if I wear retainers? I really wanted them off before I headed uni in September. I plan on asking all this on 29th but am doing some thinking now, any inputs appreciated.

[quote=trifecta post_id=510567 time=1720579074 user_id=33552]
Hi, hope all is well. As I have posted previously, orthodontic treatment time is Island Time. Every patient is different and things happen as they happen. Trying to predict only leads to frustration. Just relax and go with the flow and the end will come! Much less stressful that way.
[/quote]

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pmrMWDwYj][IMG]
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/poRr5FP1j][IMG]
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/poBPSHjvj[IMG]

Thankyou for this. My gaps shut a couple weeks after I made this post and stopped waiting so looked like your post manifested it haha. My teeth are now perfect and on the 27th July my ortho said I just needed to wear class 2 elastics now for my overjet and I should be able to get my braces off on 29th August. I’m wearing heavy elastics and doubling up all day every day as advised. On the 10th of August she said not much movement had been made and my overjet stands at 4.5mm (unsure what it was before). My overbite has fully resolved though from extractions. She said my teeth are stubborn in moving (took ages to shut extraction spaces). So I had the choice of still getting my braces off on the 29th or waiting out and having a few more appointments with elastics and see if my overjet moves. What would you recommend based on the pictures attached. I have already been braced up for 26 months now. Can my teeth move further by end of year or would it be pointless waiting out? Is 4.5mm significant enough to cause issues/get worse even if I wear retainers? I really wanted them off before I headed uni in September. I plan on asking all this on 29th but am doing some thinking now, any inputs appreciated.