Andromeda's Braces Story

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#31 Post by **brika** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 1:06 pm

Hi Andromeda,
I'm not far enough along in my own treatment to really offer any advice, but I wanted to wish you luck on Monday! I'm glad you'll have the chance to ask your bite questions and also get that debanding date! I really hope you get the news you want! :)

#32 Post by **Andromeda** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:31 pm

Thanks brika! So I did have my appointment today and I have good news and bad news...

Good news - I got to ask my ortho all my questions and bring up all the concerns I have and he understood everything and is planning on fixing it all - yay

Bad news - He told me last time that I'd get my removal date today and that I was still on track, which would mean about 4 more weeks. Well he gave me the old "an estimate is just an estimate" line and said that he wasn't ready to give me a removal date after all. And that if he had to guess, it would be at least another 10-12 weeks... I was kind of expecting this since I could plainly see I had a ways to go yet, but still...

Good news - I got a new top wire with crazy hoops and bends, and class II elastics; two on each side of my mouth to fix/close my bite. Finally! I have been waiting forever for elastics!

Bad news - The elastics are pulling my lower jaw forward really far and it is soooo painful. The worst I've experienced so far. I have read a lot on here about elastics and thought I was prepared for the pain, but it seems like most people only talked about the teeth sensitivity. Yes my teeth hurt like crazy, but gosh the worst by far is my lower jaw and the front of my neck. All the muscles are straining to keep my lower jaw back instead of foward like the elastics are trying to pull it, and omg its bad. I can't actually bite anymore except on one front tooth, that's as far as my lower jaw will go back is to bite on my very front tooth. My whole head is throbbing as well, even after 4 ibuprofen. My eyes keep watering from the pain. I can't imagine this going away in less than 5 or 6 days.

My elastics are called Thailand (I know, I wanted animals but they only have countries) and they said "super heavy" on the bag... I asked and they said they are the strongest elastics they have there. I bought a milkshake right after the adjustment and I can barely get the straw between my teeth. I had a half mm gap between my front 2 teeth and somehow its almost totally closed already. I'm so scared for later tonight when I have to take the elastics out to brush and then put them back it. I can't imagine touching anything in my mouth right now

Despite the pain, I'm so glad I did finally get the elastics and now I feel like I'm actually on my way to doing something constructive. It felt like I was in a rut the last 4 or 5 months, with nothing noticable really happening. I'll post pics soon, but I might wait a few days so I can actually open my lips enough to show teeth without screaming, haha.

#33 Post by **Neptune** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:44 am

Oh you poor thing!!!

I'm really sorry about the pain you're experiencing, but I'm really glad that your ortho finally set you up with elastics.

#34 Post by ***melissa*** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:43 am

Omg, that sounds so painful! I am getting class II elastics very soon too!! Ahh. Now at least I know what to look forward to...

#35 Post by **overseasmel** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:36 am

I cried several times in the first few days after starting on elastics. My jaw, neck, and teeth hurt too. It does get better - but yeah, it does take a while. After a couple of weeks it will almost feel more normal to have them in than out.

Hang in there and keep that focus - wearing your elastics = fixing your bite = fabulous smile = braces off!

#36 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:56 am

Thanks for your suport everyone

And thanks overseasmel - Im not glad that you suffered during elastics but I am glad to learn that my experience with elastics is normal and im not alone. The jaw and neck pain is much less now but it still feels strained and tight. I've only had the elastics out for about 30mins a day so far bc I've mostly been "eating" liquids like nutritional shakes and stuff which I don't need to take the elastics out for. If I do mashed potatoes or something then they come out bc I can't open wide enough to fit a spoon, haha.

I ordered girl scout cokies a while back from a guy at work and of course they came in yesterday at the peak of my discomfort... everyone around me was devouring their cookies and I have to wait til who knows when b4 I can attempt mine!

Sooo not fair, haha.

The main thing still bothering me pain wise is the clenching at night induced by the elastics pulling me teeth together so hard. I wake up soo sore. Will that ever go away? Shouldn't I have been given something to bite on at night since the elastics make it impossible to keep the teeth apart while asleep?

#37 Post by **brika** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:23 am

Oh Andromeda, I'm so sorry.

I can only imagine how achey it must be to hold your jaw in that position! I wish I had some advice for you, but I'm afraid I don't have any experience with elastics. I wish you luck, though!

#38 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:04 pm

Ok so here are the pics - I took ones without my elastics so you can see the teeth better and then ones with the elastics. Sorry my teeth look kind of yucky bc I didn't brush before taking these...

Notice that the space between my two front teeth is pretty well closed - it closed in like 12 hours! Also notice the crazy hoops in my top archwire!

And with the elastics in:

Is it just me or are these like the thickest elastics in the world, haha. Oh btw, does anyone know what "activate" means in terms of your archwire?? The ortho was putting the bends in my wire and then gave it to his assistant to put in my mouth and told her "don't activate anything, I don't want anything activated". What does that mean?? I am worried that it means my wire isn't doing anything right now. They told me that these hoops can be used to move teeth forward or back, and up or down. In my case we will want to move them forward and down, but I really want them to be doing it NOW

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!

#39 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:14 pm

Oh and I am doing like everything in my power to force my lower jaw back in these pics. Looking at the pics, it's not so noticable visually but I really feel a huge difference with where my front teeth are sitting in regards to the bite. They are definitely much more edge to edge as opposed to before when my bottom teeth sat further behind the tops.

#40 Post by **brika** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:54 pm

Whoa, those are some serious elastics!

No wonder your jaw is so sore!
I'm not positive, but I've heard that archwires are activated by heat. That is, once they get heated above room temperature, they start forcing their way back to their original shape. If that's the case, the doctor probably didn't want you to close your mouth over the wire, since the heat generated inside your mouth would activate it.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, though!

#41 Post by **starzz** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:17 pm

Glad you got your elastics, sorry for pain. When I got a second set of elastics to wear at night (in addition to the first set that is also worn in day) I developed some jaw pain. The jaw pain has reduced a couple months in to wearing the same configuration. I have chronic neck pain and muscle tension to can't say if elastics changed that.

I don't know what they meant about not activating. Wires are generally heat-activated and the mouth is warm, so can they not be activated?

I tend to clench my teeth while sleeping (with or without elastics). I have a thing I wear I think would work for you but don't know it's name. It's a u-shaped piece of plastic that is kind of like a night guard but is compatible with braces and elastics. It doesn't hold the teeth in any position and has a few plastic tabs that hook loosely onto brackets in front and on sides. It's worn on top arch. My ortho gave it to me when I told him i was worried I could damage my teeth from clenching or grinding during sleep but obviously can't wear a normal night guard with braces. It's a bit uncomfortable and I drool a lot on my pillow but It think it's worthwhile. Hearing stories of people who are chipping or wearing down their front teeth or breaking brackets off in sleep, I wonder why these things are not used more??

#42 Post by **Andromeda** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:36 pm

Yeah I thought the same thing about "heat activated". That's the only type of activation that I've heard of and I can't really see how that would apply in this case. I'm thinking there must be some other kind of activation...?

The braces-compatible night guard sounds good starzz; I'll have to look into something like that because this clenching no good. I hadn't thought of the possibility of chipping teeth and stuff, but now I'm even more anxious to find something to keep my teeth apart. Thanks for the tip

#43 Post by **starzz** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:16 pm

It won't stop you from clenching but it may distribute the force so it's across many teeth and not on just one or a few, which seems like a good thing. It prevents upper teeth from contacting lowers and thus prevents enamel wear during sleep. I've only had it fall out of my mouth 2 nights in over a year and a half (I used a different style prior to elastics). A few times when I was really congested I woke up in the middle of the night and had difficulty breathing so had to remove it. Minimal issues. Some people have either turbo bites or molar build ups to address some of these issues. Since my issues are only while sleeping and not all the time or when eating, the thing I have works well for me.

#44 Post by **brika** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:09 am

Ohh, I'm sorry! I was thinking you meant the assistant was not to activate it for the duration of the appointment.

Hmm.
Maybe he meant not to hook the loops in your archwire with elastics? Is that what the loops are even there for?
Maybe I should just quit guessing and let someone who actually knows answer? lol!

#45 Post by **Andromeda** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:47 pm

Brika - I really appreciate all your posts, even if they are just guesses! I am also just guessing at things so that makes 2 of us, haha. And sometimes guesses turn out to be right so feel free to keep at it

I'm not exactly sure as to how they accomplish this, but I asked the assistant what the hoops in the archwire do and she said they can use an archwire like that to move my front teeth up or down, and also forward or backward. Since my top teeth are sitting directly on my bottom teeth, she said they will be using this archwire to move my top teeth forward and then down so they arent hitting my bottoms anymore. I'm thinking by the ortho saying not to "activate" the wire, that for some reason the wire is just sitting in my mouth not doing anything right now and when they "activate' it, then it will start to move my teeth forward and down. I don't know though, thats just the impression I got. If this is the case, I'm wondering why I even got the wire if they didn't want it to do anything yet? I really want the movement she described to occur in my front teeth as it is painful the way it is right now.

I googled "loops in archwire" and found something called a "mushroom wire" which seems to be what this wire is because the typical loop shape looks like a mushroom. My loops seem to be bent more in the shape of a capital R though. I guess depending on how they put different bends and loops and such in an archwire, it can be used to move teeth in many different ways. I couldn't really find anything on what activation of this type of wire means though. I have definitely noticed some movement already in my teeth that have the elasitics attached (mainly in small spaces opening up between teeth) but I have noticed zero movement in the front teeth. I've just been taking ibuprofen to keep the jaw pain at bay....

I tried using a spare mouthguard that my husband had purchased a few months ago. It worked in the fact that it stopped my front teeth from clenching at night, but it forced the pressure onto my back teeth instead which are still really sore from the elastics so it was even more painful. I'm going to give it another try once the back teeth get used to the elastics and don't hurt anymore.