I have braces to correct a class 2 deep bite. My deep bite was pretty severe (my front upper teeth COMPLETELY overlapped my lower front teeth), and as a result of this, my lower jaw is underdevloped and I have TMJ problems (like making little clicking noises when I chew, having my jaw dislocate when I yawn, etc).
I've been told by a dentist and two orthodontists that it's important for me to fix my deep bite, because the friction from having my front teeth overlapping like this will cause wear-and-tear and eventual chipping and breakage. I've already managed to chip one of my lower teeth.
Here is my "before" photo...I hadn't intended it to be my before photo, but it's the only pic I have where I'm smiling with my mouth open! You'll have to excuse the fact that I'm in dire need of a haircut
As you can see, I've got quite a gummy smile:
Since I didn't get a proper "before" photo with close-ups of my teeth, I've taken some photographs of the plaster cast that my dentist made of my mouth.
My front teeth slant inwards at about a 45 degree angle:
A view of just the top portion:
On december 4th, 2006, I finally got my braces, but just on my top teeth.
I was suprised at how quickly the procedure took (I was out of the orthodontist's office in under 20 minutes!)
My orthodontist sent me on my way with a goodie bag full of dental wax, floss threaders, and toothbrushes....after getting my braces on, I went out for Chinese food and was amazed that it didn't hurt to eat at all (even though eating was a little bit akward).
The next morning, I woke up feeling like I'd been hit in the face with a bat. I couldn't chew at ALL...and I remained in this much pain for over a week! It hurt to even chew toast...I was so sad. In this post you'll find a list of the soft vegan foods I ate until I was able to chew again.
Here's a photo of my mouth that I took in February, a month into my treatment:
That photo was taken the day after I had my ligs changed. My mouth was tender for a day or so but it wasn't too bad.
On March 20th, I finally got my bottom braces put on. 4 days later, my mouth is still quite sore, but I'm able to eat semi-hard foods like toast, veggie burgers, etc. I tried eating a salad today and that was a pain in the arse, though, but that might be mostly because the orthodontist put blobs of blue stuff on my molars so that my teeth don't actually touch each other when I shut my mouth. I only have two points of contact in my mouth to chew with! Eating is awkward and kind of painful but they assured me that I'd adjust to it in a week or so.
A photo of my teeth with my mouth closed as much as possible. As you can see, without the stuff on my molars, I'd have some serious issues with my front teeth versus my bottom brackets:
And a photo with my mouth open slightly wider so that you can see my bottom braces:
It's amazing how straight my top teeth look when you look at them from straight-ahead! I've had so many people tell me "Braces?! You don't need braces!"...but the fact that they look straight is kind of an optical illusion, since they do slant inwards so much
And I guess most people don't tend to notice that my top teeth totally cover my bottom teeth.
Anyhoo, that's my braces story up until now. The best advice I can offer is to get a waterpik! Seriously it's the best thing ever. Every night I brush my teeth with a regular toothbrush, then use an interdental toothbrush between the brackets, then I floss, then I use mouthwash, and then I blast my teeth with the waterpik....You'd think everything would be gone by the time I used the waterpik, but I've had a few nasty suprises every now and then!
Another piece of advice I can offer is to get one of those gel-filled ice packs, the type that are sold to help with muscle pain. I keep one in the freezer, and when my mouth pain is too bad, I put the gel pack into a clean plastic baggie and then I bite gently into it....Not enough to puncture it, mind you (mine has a sort of canvas coating on it anyways so I think it'd take a lot of effort on my part to puncture it anyways), but yeah...omg it's the best pain relief ever. I mean, I look like a goof and it makes me drool and I wouldn't reccomend walking around in public like that, but hey...when you're home alone, do whatchya gotta do!
Final piece of advice: Get a ton of those little travel toothbrushes. Put one in your coat pocket, one in your backpack, one in your purse, one in your briefcase, one in your car, one in your lunchbox...basically make sure you've always got a toothbrush SOMEWHERE. Thank me later
