Metal Mouth Message Board

Help! I have no idea what my elastics do!

The detailed story is, for this month my ortho asked me to wear an elastic on 3 of my front teeth, looping the top canine, bottom canine, and the tooth next to the bottom canine away from the middle of my mouth. (Sorry, I don't know my teeth numbers.) In other words I form a tall triangle with the elastic. I wear another elastic on the other canines as a mirror image.

I have no idea what these "triangular elastics" do! They don't move my teeth to the right or left, which I don't need anyways. I think they have closed the big gap between my top & bottom rows of teeth, but how do they do that? Any insight, anybody?

All I feel with these elastics is that they make me clenth my teeth together very tightly, which means I have to master the art of speaking thru clenched teeth. And the pain in the first 3 days was horrible.

I had a triangular elastic configuration for about a month. Mine was to fix a temporary bite problem. (Left molars weren't coming together at all) I'm sure I'll be back in elastics before this is over.

Hang in there. As with other new torture devices, we seem to be able to get used to it.

Way Too Old For This wrote:As with other new torture devices, we seem to be able to get used to it.

Ain't that the truth!

Are they closing an open bite?

When I bite down, the top row of incisors don't meet the bottom row. Is that considered an open bite?

I'm not an expert but if your back teeth are hitting first and the front teeth are "open", then its an open bite as opposed to a deep bite where your front teeth cover alot of the bottom teeth.

Perhaps thats what your ortho is addressing with the elastics?
Why not ask.

I have the same configuration for mine. I was told that it was to keep your bite together. I didn't realize I had a problem with that. I only have to wear mine at night now, but man they are small little suckers!

I started elastics in January, for the 1st time in my three years of braces! But I don't have a simple triangle shape, I am lucky enough to get a more exciting shape, a rhombus parallelogram! Good thing I remember my math classes as a kid, who knew these words would come in handy years later!