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Hello! I'm new to the forum & just got my braces yesterday after years of hating my crooked smile. It took me this long to afford them...ironically, now that I've just started a new part-time marketing business. (I'm also a homeschooling mother of three girls.) But I'm very happy that, at 35, I'm finally able to do this for myself! (And my girls are happy that I'm going first! ) And how great that there is a forum like this!!!
I searched the archives and couldn't find if anyone ever had excruciating nerve-like pain from their teeth hitting together. My top left inscisor and a tooth next to it (sorry, I'm ignorant about the names) are hitting a lower front left tooth every time I bite down and sometimes when I talk, and it feels like sharp, jabbing nerve pain. I feel like I could eat normally (albeit uncomfortably) if it wasn't for these three teeth hitting each other and preventing me from completely biting down.
Is this normal, and is it okay? I called my ortho's office last night and they said my teeth are going to hurt (which I figured) but completely brushed off my concern about these teeth hitting each other the way they are and causing this kind of pain. I'd rather go through childbirth again than have this pain (and they were homebirths with no pain meds)...that's how bad the tooth pain is. OTCs aren't helping, either. Should I press my ortho's office to see me when they return on Monday? I don't want to bug my ortho's office if I'm just over-reacting. Any suggestions on easing pain? If it's normal then I'll tough it out, but I'm new to this and I don't know what's normal. Thanks!
I don't have braces yet, but I had a wisdom tooth pulled last January and I had extreme nerve pain in my back molar next to the extraction. Even if I would touch the tooth gently it would hurt very bad!! I don't know if I would prefer childbirth to that tooth pain, but both were excrutiating! I was miserable! My dentist prescibed some Vicodin and two days later it was pretty much gone. He didn't know what was causing this. Hope you get relief soon!!
You definitely get some pain. And that pain can be pretty intense when you bite down hard.
Try biting down slowly on those teeth. Do you get the same sort of pain, just starting slower and intensifying as you bite harder?
That's exactly how my teeth feel right now. They don't hurt at all in general, but they hurt if I put pressure on them, like biting or flossing. And it's especially painful if I slip up a little while chewing and two teeth that I wasn't expecting to meet each other suddenly have a chance encounter.
So it sounds like your pain is the normal pain. It can definitely be disconcerting. It should ease up over the next week or so. I've found that OTC meds are great for when my teeth are just hurting when I'm not doing anything to them, but don't do much for this other kind of pain. So most of the time I don't take them. But like the first day or two after getting and arch wired, I had to take something after flossing because that really hurt and afterward my teeth were just throbbing.
If it is not your teeth that are hitting each other, but teeth hitting brackets, you should make that clear to the ortho. Sometimes this can cause damage to either your teeth or the brackets, so they will do things to prevent this from occuring. But if it's just the teeth hitting each other, chew carefully and slowly, stock up on some softer foods, and wait it out.
Thanks, everyone! The only pain I am having comes from these three teeth hitting each other and causing nerve pain. If I don't bite, it doesn't hurt...so I'm not biting anything. Perhaps it does have to do with the tooth being rotated (that made perfect sense, KK) because one of the top teeth does need to be rotated.
What is funny is that two of my lower teeth which have always been slightly behind my other teeth are now significantly behind the others--they look like they're making a run for it! I think it's the combination of the spacers and the braces pushng on already overcrowded teeth. My ortho wasn't going to pull, just sand, but when he gets a look at these teeth, who knows...
I go in on Friday so they can try to get my back bands on, so if I'm having this problem then I'll ask if they can determine how soon these teeth will move out of each other's way. In the meantime it's soft food, which really isn't that much of an inconvenience.
I've had a similar experience to yours. In my case, if I'm going slowly I can feel that I'm about to bite down too hard and avoid really bad pain. But if I bite down when I'm not paying attention, or if I bite where I didn't expect, it feels like a stake in my jaw.
I suspect it's because I'm biting down on inflamed tissues, because cold helps. (I can't take ibuprofen or other NSAIDS.) Very annoying.
But talk to your orthodontist about it -- s/he may decide you're moving too fast, or have other suggestions.
In my case I can't bite down at all because the first teeth to hit are these three teeth. I'm trying all kinds of ways to bite, but there's just no avoiding it. None of my other teeth are sore...really, braces aren't so bad except for the meeting of these teeth. So I'm living on yogurt and soft soups not because of general tenderness or pain, but to avoid hitting these teeth.
I also just had my braces put on- Jan 25th- and I have been very fortunate not to have any pain . Except where 3 of my teeth were hitting each other when I closed my bite . I also have extremely sensitive teeth. I had spoken with my ortho on Sat but had to call the office this morning. I called to find out if this was normal etc etc. I called at 10am and was in the chair at 11:30am . Apparently this is not normal or good. What they did for me was build up the bite pads (open my bite so the teeth aren't banging into each other whenever I try to close my bite). They also applied some sort of fluoride varnish on all of my teeth and gave me some fluoride gel to use at home every night. Both of these should reduce sensitivity.
I would get pushy with your otho's office. I know the pain you are talking about and it ain't no picnic!!
amd
"I suffer from short term memory loss...I think"
The tooth issue is resolved. The adjustment on Friday took care of most of the impact, but I saw him again Monday and he moved the tooth further away so now there is no impact at all. My ortho has been great--he's taken every concern of mine seriously and agreed that the teeth and the cutting bands are not normal. It was just the office person who rebuffed me the one time--and, when I told my ortho that I tried initially to get relief for the teeth, he told me I should have insisted!
The bands are much better. Apparently it wasn't the cleats, but there were little metal jets under the band that were coming out beneath the band. My ortho filed them down. While they don't poke anymore, my tongue is still stinging and cut from the weekend. Once the tongue heels everthing should be fine.... until Feb. 16, when I get spacers between each and every one of my teeth for a week. Ouch!
My teeth are extremely crowded. Instead of pulling a tooth, my ortho is sanding between my teeth to make room to move them. He's hoping that, by using spacers, my teeth will push towards the back of my mouth, giving the first addition of space. (I had my wisdom teeth out a few years ago, so there's space back there.) Then, he'll do the sanding between the teeth, giving the second addition. He's hoping this will prevent pulling any teeth, since he prefers not to pull healthy teeth if he can avoid it. I have one lower front tooth completely behind my teeth and another tooth half-way behind teeth, so we're talking needing tons of room. I only have to wear the spacers for a week, thank goodness!
... My ortho has been great--he's taken every concern of mine seriously...
Bri, it's great that you have an ortho who is paying attention and taking your questions and concerns seriously. My experience with doctors, including the other kind of ortho (orthopedic surgeon), is that the willingness of the doc to pay attention and address your issues is a good predictor of how happy you will be with the outcome.
It may not always be the outcome you'd want (my wife's surgery didn't help as much as we'd hoped) but you'll understand how you got there, and you get to be a participant in your own care. Being a participant, rather than just along for the ride, also leads to better outcomes.
) And how great that there is a forum like this!!! 
. I also have extremely sensitive teeth. I had spoken with my ortho on Sat but had to call the office this morning. I called to find out if this was normal etc etc. I called at 10am and was in the chair at 11:30am 
. Apparently this is not normal or good. What they did for me was build up the bite pads (open my bite so the teeth aren't banging into each other whenever I try to close my bite). They also applied some sort of fluoride varnish on all of my teeth and gave me some fluoride gel to use at home every night. Both of these should reduce sensitivity.
