Good luck with your own treatment; I will definitely keep posted on your progress (do you have an "Our Stories" thread?)
Chinadoll's Open Bite Story
Moderator: bbsadmin
linda21, thanks so much for your reply. Wow, your box configuration sounds very impressive! I think you're right about wearing them 24-7...but I find myself obsessively searching for signs of progress, and it's only the 4th day since my last adjustment.
Good luck with your own treatment; I will definitely keep posted on your progress (do you have an "Our Stories" thread?)
Good luck with your own treatment; I will definitely keep posted on your progress (do you have an "Our Stories" thread?)
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Here I Am!
Linda21, thanks for your reply and I'm sorry it's been so long...I live in China, and stuff like this happens every now and again, but for whatever reason my internet browser suddenly stopped connecting to this site. I haven't been able to access it for nearly a month! You're right--the elastics are sneaky suckers--in fact, I've been convinced lately that I haven't been making progress until I logged into this site successfully and saw my pics from last month. Change happens! I can't wait to see your updated 12-month pics. Good luck!!
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Adjustment #4
The teeth continue to move since my last adjustment...yippee! Here's the front view:
Here was my "black hole" view from April (I have an open bite, so when I tilt my head up you can see the "black hole" between my teeth...hopefully not for much longer):
Here is the "black hole" view from May, just one month later...it seems to be getting smaller!
My husband and I are leaving Shanghai in two weeks, and the multiloop treatment for open bites is so rare in the States that unfortunately I'll need to get these special wires removed in July. I'm a little disappointed because they are obviously working so well...
Here was my "black hole" view from April (I have an open bite, so when I tilt my head up you can see the "black hole" between my teeth...hopefully not for much longer):
Here is the "black hole" view from May, just one month later...it seems to be getting smaller!
My husband and I are leaving Shanghai in two weeks, and the multiloop treatment for open bites is so rare in the States that unfortunately I'll need to get these special wires removed in July. I'm a little disappointed because they are obviously working so well...
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Back in the saddle again
I disappeared completely from this board for a while because my husband and I were making the always fascinating and chatoic transition between countries...to the U.S. for the summer and then on to our next teaching assignment in Bolivia. I visited three different orthos here and finally settled on one based on multiple recommendations from my students and other staff members here. Also I tag-teamed a bit with the orthodontist I saw in the U.S. this summer too--she e-mailed my case to different orthos she knew to get multiple opinions so I could be well-informed. Those orthos unequivocally said I need extractions, as did all the ones here, so over the last 2 weeks I've had four teeth removed (1st pre-molars upper and lower). Ouch. Disappointing that the ortho in China didn't realize this necessity but I'm still thankful to him for the amazing progress my teeth made over those six months.
One thing that freaked me out was the first two orthos (as well as the ortho in the States) mentioned jaw surgery as a "possible necessity" in my case...but the other U.S. orthos were "divided" on the issue and my current Bolivian ortho wants to see if he can correct my bite with just extractions...he believes he can...I hope so; I am so scared of surgery! So far apparently my upper teeth are moving "very fast" post-extraction so I guess that's good news.
I'm out of the MEAW wires too--thank God; those wires and elastics were really getting to me...like, it was OK for a few months but when I actually thought of another year and a half, it was depressing. It's much nicer to be in a regular wire now.
The big revelation has been that my ortho felt I had a tongue thrust problem and sent me to be diagnosed by a speech therapist...she took one look at my mouth and tongue and said I absolutely had a tongue thrust. Now I have two speech therapy sessions a week--so far I've learned I'm supposed to keep my tongue in that groove at the roof of my mouth at all times when not speaking or talking...this takes enormous PRACTICE and patience because it is NOT NATURAL for me. I also have to do these strange and somewhat painful facial exercises to get my facial muscles working correctly...
As I told my husband, despite the frustration, inconvenience, and occasional embarrassment of braces, extractions, speech therapy, etc., I am ultimately so glad I chose to do this because only when people started working on my mouth did I find out how much was wrong with it and did I get a glimpse of how different my life could and would be when these problems were corrected...
I'll post pictures later and hopefully get back into more of a routine with visiting the site.
One thing that freaked me out was the first two orthos (as well as the ortho in the States) mentioned jaw surgery as a "possible necessity" in my case...but the other U.S. orthos were "divided" on the issue and my current Bolivian ortho wants to see if he can correct my bite with just extractions...he believes he can...I hope so; I am so scared of surgery! So far apparently my upper teeth are moving "very fast" post-extraction so I guess that's good news.
I'm out of the MEAW wires too--thank God; those wires and elastics were really getting to me...like, it was OK for a few months but when I actually thought of another year and a half, it was depressing. It's much nicer to be in a regular wire now.
The big revelation has been that my ortho felt I had a tongue thrust problem and sent me to be diagnosed by a speech therapist...she took one look at my mouth and tongue and said I absolutely had a tongue thrust. Now I have two speech therapy sessions a week--so far I've learned I'm supposed to keep my tongue in that groove at the roof of my mouth at all times when not speaking or talking...this takes enormous PRACTICE and patience because it is NOT NATURAL for me. I also have to do these strange and somewhat painful facial exercises to get my facial muscles working correctly...
As I told my husband, despite the frustration, inconvenience, and occasional embarrassment of braces, extractions, speech therapy, etc., I am ultimately so glad I chose to do this because only when people started working on my mouth did I find out how much was wrong with it and did I get a glimpse of how different my life could and would be when these problems were corrected...
I'll post pictures later and hopefully get back into more of a routine with visiting the site.
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Back in the saddle again
I disappeared completely from this board for a while because my husband and I were making the always fascinating and chatoic transition between countries...to the U.S. for the summer and then on to our next teaching assignment in Bolivia. I visited three different orthos here and finally settled on one based on multiple recommendations from my students and other staff members here. Also I tag-teamed a bit with the orthodontist I saw in the U.S. this summer too--she e-mailed my case to different orthos she knew to get multiple opinions so I could be well-informed. Those orthos unequivocally said I need extractions, as did all the ones here, so over the last 2 weeks I've had four teeth removed (1st pre-molars upper and lower). Ouch. Disappointing that the ortho in China didn't realize this necessity but I'm still thankful to him for the amazing progress my teeth made over those six months.
One thing that freaked me out was the first two orthos (as well as the ortho in the States) mentioned jaw surgery as a "possible necessity" in my case...but the other U.S. orthos were "divided" on the issue and my current Bolivian ortho wants to see if he can correct my bite with just extractions...he believes he can...I hope so; I am so scared of surgery! So far apparently my upper teeth are moving "very fast" post-extraction so I guess that's good news.
I'm out of the MEAW wires too--thank God; those wires and elastics were really getting to me...like, it was OK for a few months but when I actually thought of another year and a half, it was depressing. It's much nicer to be in a regular wire now.
The big revelation has been that my ortho felt I had a tongue thrust problem and sent me to be diagnosed by a speech therapist...she took one look at my mouth and tongue and said I absolutely had a tongue thrust. Now I have two speech therapy sessions a week--so far I've learned I'm supposed to keep my tongue in that groove at the roof of my mouth at all times when not speaking or talking...this takes enormous PRACTICE and patience because it is NOT NATURAL for me. I also have to do these strange and somewhat painful facial exercises to get my facial muscles working correctly...
As I told my husband, despite the frustration, inconvenience, and occasional embarrassment of braces, extractions, speech therapy, etc., I am ultimately so glad I chose to do this because only when people started working on my mouth did I find out how much was wrong with it and did I get a glimpse of how different my life could and would be when these problems were corrected...
I'll post pictures later and hopefully get back into more of a routine with visiting the site.
One thing that freaked me out was the first two orthos (as well as the ortho in the States) mentioned jaw surgery as a "possible necessity" in my case...but the other U.S. orthos were "divided" on the issue and my current Bolivian ortho wants to see if he can correct my bite with just extractions...he believes he can...I hope so; I am so scared of surgery! So far apparently my upper teeth are moving "very fast" post-extraction so I guess that's good news.
I'm out of the MEAW wires too--thank God; those wires and elastics were really getting to me...like, it was OK for a few months but when I actually thought of another year and a half, it was depressing. It's much nicer to be in a regular wire now.
The big revelation has been that my ortho felt I had a tongue thrust problem and sent me to be diagnosed by a speech therapist...she took one look at my mouth and tongue and said I absolutely had a tongue thrust. Now I have two speech therapy sessions a week--so far I've learned I'm supposed to keep my tongue in that groove at the roof of my mouth at all times when not speaking or talking...this takes enormous PRACTICE and patience because it is NOT NATURAL for me. I also have to do these strange and somewhat painful facial exercises to get my facial muscles working correctly...
As I told my husband, despite the frustration, inconvenience, and occasional embarrassment of braces, extractions, speech therapy, etc., I am ultimately so glad I chose to do this because only when people started working on my mouth did I find out how much was wrong with it and did I get a glimpse of how different my life could and would be when these problems were corrected...
I'll post pictures later and hopefully get back into more of a routine with visiting the site.
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Thanks for the replies, linda21 and bracedagain!
bracedagain, it is definitely interesting to move around so much...as teachers we can be as mobile as we wish...but after this two year contract we'll be heading back to the States for a healthy dose of consistency!
I don't have many pictures yet but hope to include some soon.
bracedagain, it is definitely interesting to move around so much...as teachers we can be as mobile as we wish...but after this two year contract we'll be heading back to the States for a healthy dose of consistency!
I don't have many pictures yet but hope to include some soon.
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Hi China Doll
I got excited when I saw your name reappear in this section as I thought you had disappeared. I read your story previously as I also have an openbite so I was curious to see how your treatment would go.
How on earth would you know if you had a tongue thrust problem? I wonder if I have one, my ortho asked if I sucked my thumb when I was young, I told him that I didn't but he never mentioned anything about tongue thrust. I am curious now in case it could comprimise my final results or cause relapse. I don't rest my tongue in the roof of my mouth, the tip of my tongue is normally resting behind my top front teeth.
Did you have any speech problems or was it just diagnosed by looking at your teeth?
Best wishes with your continued treatment, hopefully things can be sorted out without surgery. Look forward to seeing your updates.
Regards
Joney
I got excited when I saw your name reappear in this section as I thought you had disappeared. I read your story previously as I also have an openbite so I was curious to see how your treatment would go.
How on earth would you know if you had a tongue thrust problem? I wonder if I have one, my ortho asked if I sucked my thumb when I was young, I told him that I didn't but he never mentioned anything about tongue thrust. I am curious now in case it could comprimise my final results or cause relapse. I don't rest my tongue in the roof of my mouth, the tip of my tongue is normally resting behind my top front teeth.
Did you have any speech problems or was it just diagnosed by looking at your teeth?
Best wishes with your continued treatment, hopefully things can be sorted out without surgery. Look forward to seeing your updates.
Regards
Joney
Tongue thrust!
Hi joney, good to see you on the board and nice to have a fellow open-biter around.
I'm not sure why my orthodontist first suspected a tongue thrust... I think it might be a pretty common cause of open bites though, which is why he sent me to the speech therapist. Basically all she did to diagnose me was look carefully at my teeth and tongue and where the tongue rested... she had me swallow as well so she could watch that, both with my mouth closed and open...I also remember her kind of examining my face with her hands--feeling the structure of it and moving my lips/chin around...
One definite clue that she diagnosed me correctly is simply the fact that I've had to work really hard in order to do this most basic thing that she's started with me in therapy, which is, when I'm not speaking or eating, keeping my tongue tip lightly resting on the roof of my mouth just behind the arch.
There are some helpful websites for reading about tongue thrusts:
http://www.hsdc.org/You/Speech/tonguethrust.htm
http://www.bracessandiego.com/tongue_thrust.htm
http://www.lifesmile.com/ess_08.html
I hope this helps and please keep me posted! I wasn't a thumbsucker by the way, but I did use a pacifier until I was 4...and apparently you're supposed to wean kids off of them by age 1. Also, doctors have said I have very large tonsils, but I never had them removed. Both of these might be possible causes of my tongue thrust.
I'm not sure why my orthodontist first suspected a tongue thrust... I think it might be a pretty common cause of open bites though, which is why he sent me to the speech therapist. Basically all she did to diagnose me was look carefully at my teeth and tongue and where the tongue rested... she had me swallow as well so she could watch that, both with my mouth closed and open...I also remember her kind of examining my face with her hands--feeling the structure of it and moving my lips/chin around...
One definite clue that she diagnosed me correctly is simply the fact that I've had to work really hard in order to do this most basic thing that she's started with me in therapy, which is, when I'm not speaking or eating, keeping my tongue tip lightly resting on the roof of my mouth just behind the arch.
There are some helpful websites for reading about tongue thrusts:
http://www.hsdc.org/You/Speech/tonguethrust.htm
http://www.bracessandiego.com/tongue_thrust.htm
http://www.lifesmile.com/ess_08.html
I hope this helps and please keep me posted! I wasn't a thumbsucker by the way, but I did use a pacifier until I was 4...and apparently you're supposed to wean kids off of them by age 1. Also, doctors have said I have very large tonsils, but I never had them removed. Both of these might be possible causes of my tongue thrust.
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Tongue thrust!
Hi joney, good to see you on the board and nice to have a fellow open-biter around.
I'm not sure why my orthodontist first suspected a tongue thrust... I think it might be a pretty common cause of open bites though, which is why he sent me to the speech therapist. Basically all she did to diagnose me was look carefully at my teeth and tongue and where the tongue rested... she had me swallow as well so she could watch that, both with my mouth closed and open...I also remember her kind of examining my face with her hands--feeling the structure of it and moving my lips/chin around...
One definite clue that she diagnosed me correctly is simply the fact that I've had to work really hard in order to do this most basic thing that she's started with me in therapy, which is, when I'm not speaking or eating, keeping my tongue tip lightly resting on the roof of my mouth just behind the arch.
There are some helpful websites for reading about tongue thrusts:
http://www.hsdc.org/You/Speech/tonguethrust.htm
http://www.bracessandiego.com/tongue_thrust.htm
http://www.lifesmile.com/ess_08.html
I hope this helps and please keep me posted! I wasn't a thumbsucker by the way, but I did use a pacifier until I was 4...and apparently you're supposed to wean kids off of them by age 1. Also, doctors have said I have very large tonsils, but I never had them removed. Both of these might be possible causes of my tongue thrust.
I'm not sure why my orthodontist first suspected a tongue thrust... I think it might be a pretty common cause of open bites though, which is why he sent me to the speech therapist. Basically all she did to diagnose me was look carefully at my teeth and tongue and where the tongue rested... she had me swallow as well so she could watch that, both with my mouth closed and open...I also remember her kind of examining my face with her hands--feeling the structure of it and moving my lips/chin around...
One definite clue that she diagnosed me correctly is simply the fact that I've had to work really hard in order to do this most basic thing that she's started with me in therapy, which is, when I'm not speaking or eating, keeping my tongue tip lightly resting on the roof of my mouth just behind the arch.
There are some helpful websites for reading about tongue thrusts:
http://www.hsdc.org/You/Speech/tonguethrust.htm
http://www.bracessandiego.com/tongue_thrust.htm
http://www.lifesmile.com/ess_08.html
I hope this helps and please keep me posted! I wasn't a thumbsucker by the way, but I did use a pacifier until I was 4...and apparently you're supposed to wean kids off of them by age 1. Also, doctors have said I have very large tonsils, but I never had them removed. Both of these might be possible causes of my tongue thrust.
Class II Malocclusion (Anterior Open Bite & Mild Crowding)
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
6 ceramic uppers, the rest metal
Thanks for the very useful information Chinadoll. I remember my Mum saying that I used to snore really loudly when I was very young (maybe an adenoid problem) but they never really thought anything was amiss. Also I've had tonsillitis several times as both a child and an adult. My mum did wean me off my pacifier (dummy) when I was about 1 so it wasn't that. My 's' and 'z' sounds are ok though and I don't have a lisp.
I will definitely mention it to the ortho next time. Funny but when I was getting impressions done he said to me "you really want to breathe through you mouth don't you" but he never said anything further. I am quite happy to wear retainers every night for the rest of my life after my treatment and hope this will be enough but the possibility that I am a tongue thruster does worry me.
I shall try in the meantime to keep my tongue away from the back of my top two teeth although I imagine this takes a lot of conscious effort.
Regards
Joney
I will definitely mention it to the ortho next time. Funny but when I was getting impressions done he said to me "you really want to breathe through you mouth don't you" but he never said anything further. I am quite happy to wear retainers every night for the rest of my life after my treatment and hope this will be enough but the possibility that I am a tongue thruster does worry me.
I shall try in the meantime to keep my tongue away from the back of my top two teeth although I imagine this takes a lot of conscious effort.
Regards
Joney