bite turbos and deep bite

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#16 Post by **hannah164** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 6:17 pm

Anyone have any ideas? Dr. J?

THanks!

~Hannah

Top braces: 4/28/04
Bottom braces: 11/16/05
Last Adjustment: February 28, 2006 where they gave me a new bottom wire and attached my impacted canine, newly bracketed, to the wire! OUCH!

#17 Post by **texasangel** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:48 pm

Hi All,

I had bite turbos/blockers (composite behind my front top teeth) for 13+ months - - from the beginning (1/10/05), up until my last appointment(2/23/06). I guess he mainly put them on for my deep bite and to prevent from hitting my bottom brackets, but also he said it helped speed up my treatment because I couldn't bite down with my molars for several months (losing some weight also). I had a bad "curve of spee"?? on my lower arch and it has straightened out tremendously.

So I guess bite turbos/blockers are a good thing - but they DROVE ME CRAZY !!!

#18 Post by **texasangel** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:03 pm

Dr J,
you wrote:
"""The catch is you need to have a facial profile that can tolerate posterior eruption of the teeth - this causes a clockwise rotation of your lower jaw in profile - down and back so to speak. These are not good in folks with long faces. In an ideal world - and it's not ideal b/c I use them too - these would mainly be used on active growers who are getting compensatory growth of the back of the of lower jaw to offset the rotation of the lower jaw down and back - the net result being a leveling of the deep bite and no loss of chin projection due to rotation of the lower jaw.. I know that last statement is complex but that's orthodontics..."""

Dr J. your statement above: Would this maybe be why I am having ringing/humming in my ears? It is constant. Maybe TMJ ? It started in June, but an ENT doctor just told me it's because of some hearing loss (I am 44yrs.old). I don't consider myself as having a 'long face', but now it looks longer because my bite has opened up. Just wondering if you had an opinion about the ringing/buzzing in my ears (it's driving me crazy too!)

#19 Post by **pokergirl** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 8:09 pm

I had cement stops put in a week ago on two of my lower molars because I have a very deep bite. They are absolutely driving me crazy. That's the only thing my top teeth touch when I bite down; therefore, making it very difficult to chew anything. I end up swallowing a lot of half-chewed food, which I know is bad for me. I did not realize they would speed up treatment though. That's good to know.

#20 Post by **chrisd** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:35 pm

molar buid ups and bite turbos are not the same thing. i am not sure that molar buildups speed up correction of a deep bite. my supicion is that they are better at protecting the bottom brackets though
chris

#21 Post by **pokergirl** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:48 pm

Chris,

What is the difference between the two other than their position in the mouth? Even though the molar build-ups make chewing difficult, I have found that my jaw feels better and is more relaxed. I used to wake up in the morning and my jaw would feel like it was in a locked position and would be extremely painful. I haven't noticed that since getting the build-ups so I guess it's helping. I was just wondering about the turbo's and why my ortho didn't mention them. Thanks for your help!

#22 Post by **chrisd** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:00 am

my take is that the bite turbos keep the molars apart. this allows them to move out of the gums (extrude) until they meet again, while keeping the front teeth in the same position thus correcting the deep bite, while also protecting the bottom brackets.

i would think molar buildups would be a bit different, having the molars touch but keeping the front teeth from toouching. i would think this would keep the molars in relativally the same position while protecting the bottom brackets. this could allow the front teeth to move out of the gums a bit. not sure about that second part though.

chris

#23 Post by **mackenzie** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 9:51 am

Well molar build-ups are only on one set of molars, so it seems like they would allow the molars that are not built up to extrude because those molars would not be touching...

#24 Post by **chrisd** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:51 am

that is a good question mackenzie. i really dont know, but my guess is that they serve different purposes
chris

#25 Post by **ChezJ** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:40 pm

I just want to say thanks to this board for illuminating this whole "bite turbo" thing for me. It made absolutely no sense to me even after I questioned my ortho about it twice. The only explanation he gave to me initially was that it would protect the lower brackets. Only after I bugged him a few days later did he elaborate on the fact that the turbo would "open my bite" by allowing my molars to "erupt." I did not understand why my molars would grow just because they are not being used, and I still don't. But at least hearing about it from other people helps me feel better that he is not completely wacko.

Now I just have to deal with the annoying fact that I get to eat nothing but soup and smoothies for the next 6 weeks....

Jason

#26 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:23 am

I got braces on a week and a half ago and I also got bite turbos, or bite stops as my ortho called them. He said they were only temporary, but didn't give any estimation of how long they would be on. I've gotten used to eating mushy food that I don't really need to chew since my teeth don't touch at all, but it's getting old. I feel your pain! We can suffer through this together!

#27 Post by **brandyshea** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:26 am

I got braces on a week and a half ago and I also got bite turbos, or bite stops as my ortho called them. He said they were only temporary, but didn't give any estimation of how long they would be on. I've gotten used to eating mushy food that I don't really need to chew since my teeth don't touch at all, but it's getting old. I feel your pain! We can suffer through this together!

#28 Post by **ChezJ** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:47 am

nearly 3 weeks into treatment and i still hate hate hate my bite turbos... or i should say turbo (singular) since one of them popped off on the very first day. the one lower incisor that touches the turbo is getting ground down and is now slightly shorter than the one that was supposed to touch the other turbo.

as far as molar eruption goes, i can't say i've noticed any growth, but i suppose 3 weeks is not enough. my ortho gave me the impression that he would be taking me off turbos at my next appt, in early may, but i'm thinking this is not realistic. i read elsewhere that it typically takes 6 months to get the molars properly erupted using turbos. since i'm not a growing teenager, i suspect it could take even longer. someone else here said they had em for 15 months?? augh, that makes me want to die.

the one good thing is that i am losing weight because of the damn turbos. i never eat enough for lunch because it takes me so long to chew with my incisors, and i only get so much break time at work.

i'm still curious to understand the reason that the molars are supposed to erupt just because i'm not using them.

ChezJ

#29 Post by **Mel-UK** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 12:18 pm

hi,

These postings have been really useful â€“ many thanks.

I got my bottom brace on yesterday with bite turbos at the back of my front two teeth and I was also only told that they were to prevent my top teeth from touching the bottom braces - nothing about erupting molars, so that's been really interesting to read about. However, today I've noticed that my lower teeth no longer touch the turbos and my top teeth are hitting my lower brace- I guess it's a trip back to the Ortho.

I am finding the turbos quite annoying, none of my teeth touch, so I can't chew, it's difficult to speak - I have a lisp, the thought of having them on for months is rather scary, but if they speed things up, then I guess it's worth it. My Ortho almost didn't put the lower braces on which would have been really disappointing and would have meant waiting at least another two months.

#30 Post by **cat352** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 3:30 pm

I didn't get the bite turbos..My Ortho put some kinda cement on the back of my teeth to stop me from breaking the bottom brackets..it was more like a wad of hard gum stuck to the back of my front 2 teeth..it was pink in color