1 month down 33 to go
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1 month down 33 to go
I recently got braces and they arent to bad really. Not alot of pain anyway. I only had to have 1 extraction and that went well. I am just curious if anyone else has had what the call a Bite Plate or bite buttons or a supra lingual pillow. I have heard it called lots of things i call it the annoying chunk of plastic that makes it so i can't chew or talk very well. I am told it is there to keep my top teeth from removing my bottom brackets. I was sentenced to this punishment after i made the mistake of popping a bracket of my front tooth before i even left my orthos office. I have a deep over bite and a slight overjet so my top teeth would touch the gums on my bottom jaw. THey say I will have to have it on for 3-6 months I was just hoping that someone has had one and can give me a few tips.
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Charles08b
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2005 6:18 pm
- Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Hi there! Yeah, I had a bite plate like that for three months before getting my braces in order to open up my bite enough. It was a royal pain in the you-know-what at the beginning, and unfortunately was only a little bit less of a pain by the time it was over. I remember when I was walking out of the ortho's office I turned to the receptionist and said (muffled and lisped) "my mouth is full of plastic and metal". She chuckled and said it would feel better in a few days.
Sure enough, it didn't feel quite as awkward after a few days, but I never got to that elusive point where I "forgot it was there". My speech improved to the point where people who didn't know me couldn't tell there was anything wrong, but to my friends, I had a distinct lisp the whole time. Of course, no one ever mentioned it to me until after it was over with. One of my friends' words were, I believe, "It was so cute!!!" I guess that was supposed to make me feel better!
In any case, as much as I had learned to adapt to the appliance, I cheered inwardly when my ortho told me I could stop wearing it and that I was ready for the braces. (Oh, and I cheered outwardly when I got to the street!). I had been eating with it (as per my ortho's directions; he said it would work faster if I did) and I was very much looking forward to not cleaning mushy gunk out after every meal.
And I must admit I appreciated the difference it made in my bite. By the end of three months my molars had adjusted and were practically touching in the back, even with the appliance in! This meant my jaw didn't have to close so far, and thus relieved a whole lot of tension!
I've kind of rambled on a bit here, but I hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck, and don't worry, it won't last forever!
Sure enough, it didn't feel quite as awkward after a few days, but I never got to that elusive point where I "forgot it was there". My speech improved to the point where people who didn't know me couldn't tell there was anything wrong, but to my friends, I had a distinct lisp the whole time. Of course, no one ever mentioned it to me until after it was over with. One of my friends' words were, I believe, "It was so cute!!!" I guess that was supposed to make me feel better!
In any case, as much as I had learned to adapt to the appliance, I cheered inwardly when my ortho told me I could stop wearing it and that I was ready for the braces. (Oh, and I cheered outwardly when I got to the street!). I had been eating with it (as per my ortho's directions; he said it would work faster if I did) and I was very much looking forward to not cleaning mushy gunk out after every meal.
And I must admit I appreciated the difference it made in my bite. By the end of three months my molars had adjusted and were practically touching in the back, even with the appliance in! This meant my jaw didn't have to close so far, and thus relieved a whole lot of tension!
I've kind of rambled on a bit here, but I hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck, and don't worry, it won't last forever!
Char
