Achy Teeth in Retainer

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#1 Post by **Chris** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:46 pm

Anybody else still experiencing achy teeth (particularly my front ones) after debanding and in the hawley retainers? Its been 5 weeks and I'm still sore around my top front teeth with my retainers.

#2 Post by **Brooke** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 8:52 pm

Mine are achy and its been about 10 months! I just got my retainer adjusted and my teeth are sore! I wouldn't worry... It hasnt been that long for you yet, your teeth are still adjusting.

#3 Post by **Chris** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:02 pm

Thanks Brooke, guess I'm worrying about nothing.

Although I already have a front bottom tooth that wants to rotate back and I wear my retainer 24/7 !!

Its slightly out of alignment in just a few weeks. I always thought if I wore my retainer that nothing would move.....NOT !!!

#4 Post by **Brooke** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:33 pm

Hey Chris,

With my retainer, when i first got it, my bite and teeth changed. Not too dramatically but still they looked different from when i first got my braces off. I don't know why but when you first get your braces off, they change even when you do wear the retainer.... i thought i was the only one but i guess it happens a lot.
The good thing is the change is not to dramatic of a change.

Good Luck!

#5 Post by **fins** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 2:44 pm

My bite is still changing and my teeth hurt on and off. I also find the retainer doesn't fit quite right after a while but so far I have had normal appointments scheduled by then anyway but still, I can't help but wonder why the retainers get loose.

#6 Post by **Chris** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 5:01 pm

My bite is still changing and my teeth hurt on and off. I also find the retainer doesn't fit quite right after a while but so far I have had normal appointments scheduled by then anyway but still, I can't help but wonder why the retainers get loose.

In my upper retainer I can wiggle the wire up and down but the bottom is very tight.

My bite is changing too. I noticed that my upper teeth are covering more of the bottom all of a sudden. Here I was worried about an open bite in the front and I'm getting more of an open bite in the back teeth.

Just found out I have a crack in my 2nd molar to boot!
Will this madness never end??

#7 Post by **Brooke** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 5:43 pm

Hey Chris, me and you are in the same boat. I had an open bite as well... turns out the front teeth are fine but the back teeth dont meet.... is that normal for the back molars to not touch? Has your ortho commented on it? My ortho hasnt said anything about my bite.

#8 Post by **Chris** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:25 pm

Hey Chris, me and you are in the same boat. I had an open bite as well... turns out the front teeth are fine but the back teeth dont meet.... is that normal for the back molars to not touch? Has your ortho commented on it? My ortho hasnt said anything about my bite.

No its not normal for the backs not to meet.

I couldn't take anymore of the closing elastics at the end of treatment.
Some teeth hit and others didn't. He never got the configuration right and my jaw was killing me. And it seemed that the front teeth were opening up too much with them. Now its back to the same old position with the backs not touching all the way.

He said that "settling" would occur and I guess he figured that the "two would meet" eventually.

I'm hoping when I get my replacement teeth on the right side that at least I'll have one side that meets. If I have to I'll have the dentist add some bonding to the biting surface of other side so that the teeth meet better.

#9 Post by **Brooke** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:30 pm

I have one side that does meet but the other side does not meet. Im hoping that once my teeth settle that they will meet. They are not very far apart but still do not touch.

Your ortho said that after settling they will meet eventually? What does that mean? The retainer would settle and the teeth would touch? The reason I ask is im wondering if my ortho thought the same. My bite doesnt feel uncomfortable but i notice my bite is thrown off when they first gave me my retainer and when i just got it tightened this time around because it was really tight. I was thinking that maybe once my teeth settle down they'll touch again.

#10 Post by **Chris** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:34 pm

You know how if you are missing a bottom tooth that the opposing tooth starts dropping down gradually because it does not have the other tooth to bite against? Well, thats what I figure is going to happen. Eventually, they will meet because the upper tooth will gradually settle downward.
Since removing my braces this is already happening in the area where I am missing my bottom teeth...its a gradual process.

Whats weird is my bite is better WITH my retainer than without.
I wonder if I'm hitting the acrylic part of the retainer evenly and thats why. Who knows. Its so difficult to tell when you don't have a bite on the whole right side of your mouth. My ortho put in fake teeth in the lower retainer and that helps somewhat although they aren't really good teeth just sort of a 'blob' to prevent the top teeth from drifting too much until I get the new ones in.

#11 Post by **Brooke** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 6:38 pm

Thats a little scary... so the molars will gradually grow down?? Doesnt that look weird? I would think it'd be odd that some molars would be longer? I didn't even think of that. Mine haven't really grown and i've had my braces off for almost a year now. I am wondering if maybe they met before my last retainer adjustment. I didnt really remember if they touched before my last adjustment and that worries me because if my last adjustment screwed up my bite then what should i do?

#12 Post by **fins** » Tue Mar 06, 2007 4:03 am

This is what 2 dentists told me about orthodontia...not great news but here it is. Sometimes they see teeth that are aligned beautifully but that does not mean the bites are perfect. I am beginning to think that bites are very difficult to get completely right. Last time I saw my dentist he wasn't thrilled with my bite...I got the impression they are seeing this a lot.

#13 Post by **Chris** » Sat Mar 24, 2007 7:05 pm

Well, its been about a month...how is your bite doing Brooke?

#14 Post by **Chris** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 7:00 pm

Well, I'm still waiting for the settling to occur.

Meryaten..did the ortho mention how long it would take to "settle" and bring the premolars together post braces?

For me it seems strange that in the morning my teeth come together better and within an hour or so they open up for the rest of the day. Go figure.

#15 Post by **MB Chick** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:45 pm

I didn't have my braces for too long (this time around!), about 10.5 months for tops and 9.5 months for bottom. I got retainers for both in January (earlier than I was expecting) and my Ortho said we'd finish everything up with retainers.

Just had another check-up today and I have to say my retainer check-ups are almost as eventful as with braces. There is always something he is doing and the "settling" process does change things, and seems to play out over (from my understanding) probably about a year.

So, while I know that post-braces we think we should be "done" (and also feel it will be harder to make adjustments!) but for me I definitely have had lots of change, and expect more to come. Just more of the amazing technological advances since I did this 30-odd years ago!

As with everything else in the process, feel free to talk with your Ortho. Your teeth, your money!

Good luck.

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