Worried about debracing and breaking teeth...

Message

#1 Post by **katy** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:22 am

Hi all,

I'm nearly 26 months into treatment (was quoted 18-24 months, but who's counting?) and I have only one stubborn tooth left to straighten out before debracing - no worries there, I'm not too fussed about that one.

I was wondering though when I have my braces taken off, how they remove the molar bands. I have fairly large fillings in all four molars with the bands around them and I'm really worried that when they go to remove the bands, that my teeth my break or crack underneath the pressure.

Is there anyone out there who has fillings in their molars who have been through the debanding?? I could really do with some advice...

Thanks,

Katy

#2 Post by **londonchick** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:08 am

Hi Katy

I had bands around my two back upper molars which was attached to my expander. I had the expander removed about 8 months ago and i too have both of those molars filled.

I'm not going to say it was a pleasant experience as they was a lot of tugging and pressure but my teeth were fine - no cracks or chips and the fillings are fine.

Hope this puts your mind at rest a little.

#3 Post by **vanity68** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:06 am

I had the bands on a tooth w/ a very old,large filling and the other side the band was on a crown...it wasnt pleasant...it felt like she pulled the tooth out but its fine...no cracks..and the filling is huge

#4 Post by **Hello Kitty** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 4:25 am

I have a crown, which was drilled for a root canal and filled. One of my bands was attached to it. I noticed my crown is cracked, now that the braces are off. I think it was due to the removal. I'm going to my dentist soon to see if it needs to be replaced.

#5 Post by **lemonlyme** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:10 pm

I had my bands fitted last week for my expander and she was pressing sooo hard and pushing and pulling i finally sat up and asked "ok..so have you ever broken someones tooth or chipped it?" she started laughing and said 'no i'm sorry, am i hurting you?" lol, i guess i'm not yet used to all that pulling..it was making me pretty nervous!! She said in over 20 years she's never broken ANYONES tooth and i have a big filling thats 7 years old on my back molar so

#6 Post by **Chris** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:33 pm

Mine tried to take off a molar band and I was in ALOT of pain, so he quit.
I'm hoping it settles down. Don't know what to think now.

#7 Post by **Chris** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:50 pm

Mery, well I grind ALOT, but that tooth is painful for another reason because it doesn't even touch the top tooth in any way. Right now my bite is really messed up.

#8 Post by **Chris** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 4:33 pm

Thanks for your concern, Mery. Actually its not painful unless I bite on it. He took the archwire off of it, we were suppose to replace it will a lingual arch and band to prevent it from tipping more because I need it for elastics. If it doesn't quiet down I can't use it for elastics. It has a deep filling and am worried it may need a root canal.

#9 Post by **MsTiaLia** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 12:15 pm

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who fears getting their teeth broken in this process! When I first had my bands put on, my ortho was pulling and pushing and twisting while working on a tooth with a rather large filling in it. I didn't say anything, but I must have been obviously tense because he stopped and said, "Don't worry. I won't break your tooth." I was pretty amazed that he picked up on a concern that seemed kind of elementary in my mind (though the fear was very real)!!!

On a slightly different note, my dentist held off on putting crowns on my large fillings and teeth that had had root canals because she said the crowns would likely be damaged during the ortho process and I would have to have them replaced after treatment. She allowed me to go like a year without crowns since she knew I had intentions of getting braces! So now I have bands on those teeth to protect them.

MsTiaLia

#10 Post by **biteowl** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:28 pm

My back top molars have fillings in them (from 1988 when I was just 10 years old!!) and I was worried, too, about the bands coming off those teeth since the fillings were so old, but they're still tip top shape after those things were wrenched off today. They mostly kind of pop the bands off, but if they're on there really tight (like mine were, they almost seemed stuck!) they kind of pull them on one side and then the other over and over until it finally comes off. It wasn't on my top ten list of happy soothing experiences, but it certainly wasn't the worst thing in the world. More like fingernails being scratched on a blackboard than real pain, and it was over pretty quickly.

#11 Post by **Chris** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:29 pm

Personally, I don't understand why they just can "cut" the bands and then peel them off. Sure would make it more comfortable.

#12 Post by **Chris** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:19 pm

The reason I brought it up was because I asked another ortho his opinion about removing bands and he says that he cuts them when its too painful for the patient. Said it was easy to do. He didn't say anything about damaging the tooth underneath. Guess you have to be careful just like when they remove crowns (they cut those suckers off too).

#13 Post by **Chris** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:29 pm

Heck, with skilled hands, even if your tooth is utterly miserable, it is but a split second of discomfort (I know!)

I guess my ortho was so scared of hurting me that he "took it easy" and it caused more pain! Either way, the band is still with me and the tooth still hurts to put pressure on it.

#14 Post by **ThisIsMary** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 6:07 pm

I had all 4 of my molar bands taken off at my last appointment and I had no idea the asst. was even taking them off. The removal didn't hurt or anything. As far as the fillings go, I have one filling on a molar with a molar band and everything was fine. The only thing I felt when the molar bands were taken out was a little pain on one molar but that's only because it slightly pushed into my gum which was still sore form a minor infection that was clearing up.

#15 Post by **totheend** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:01 pm

I had fillings and got debanded. don't worry!! mind were really hard to get off and it sounded like she broke my teeth when snapping them off, but yoru teeth are alot stronger than you know and I'm sure you'll be fine!!

just let ur ortho know about ur concern, and I'm sure he/she will be more gentle with you.