Open Bite

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#1 Post by **38Illinois** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 4:15 pm

I have a bi-lateral open bite. My ortho says it will be difficult to maintain close after treatment. Anyone else experience an open bite being closed then reopening? Also anyone in treatment been told the same. Thanks.

#2 Post by **Emmauk** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:18 am

How does your OD intend closing the bite?

I have an open bite - quite bad i think but mine can only be fixed with surgery and braces. I have not been told it may open again but thats probably because its surgical.

#3 Post by **Chicagogal** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:49 am

I have quite an open bite on me (I'll try and post pics if they'll help). my ortho plans on closing them with bands and potentially some bone plates (blah! minor surgery). We'll see how it goes, but he doesn't plan on it reopening, I'll ask though cuz now i'm a bit scared

#4 Post by **DrBlur** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:26 am

I have an open bite, it's not too bad but it's there. Mine is being fixed with SARPE and an expander, along with the braces

#5 Post by **38Illinois** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:23 am

I am seriously thinking of stopping treatment. It is not the pain, as it is no more than discomfort at this point and decreasing daily. But, it is the hassle of flossing, the embrassment of the braces themself, and most of all the probability the my tongue will cause my bite to open back up anyhow. I will be extremely disappointed if I spend two plus years of my life and then have my bite replase! Sorry to vent, but I need to make a decision in the next few days. Life is short.

#6 Post by **Chicagogal** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:23 pm

Illinois. i'm 4 days into braces and feeling the same way. not destroying my mouth, but I'm hating them and life with them. HOWEVER, I've gotten so much encouragement that it will be worth it that I'm trying to push through.
i'm also in a similar place with the open bite. What we probably both need to do is schedule an appointment with our ortho to determine the exact and realistic chances of relapse and anything to combat that (mouthgard at night? speech therapy? dunno).

good luck with your decision!

#7 Post by **itsabouttime22** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 2:31 pm

I also have an open bite- its funny but I never knew I had it until my ortho pointed it out. Needless to say that is not the main reason I got braces, so I'm not too concerned about it. She is going to use elastics to fix it, and no mention of a relapse.

#8 Post by **overfortyish** » Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:16 pm

How can you have an open bite and not realize it???? Other people can't see that my bite is open unless I tilt my head back and put my teeth together and show them the space. And then I show them how I can't possibly make my front teeth meet. But I'd figure anyone who has an open bite knows it themselves - because it is impossible to close your teeth together.

As for relapse - I've been told I have a tongue thrust by some orthos. Others have said it does not matter if I do or do not - they will do their best to close my bite and it might reopen a bit but not as much as it is now.

I've also had one or two docs tell me that it will very likely reopen back to where it is now.

Guess it's very hard to know for sure.

#9 Post by **DrBlur** » Tue Aug 10, 2010 4:14 am

38Illinois wrote:I am seriously thinking of stopping treatment. It is not the pain, as it is no more than discomfort at this point and decreasing daily. But, it is the hassle of flossing, the embrassment of the braces themself, and most of all the probability the my tongue will cause my bite to open back up anyhow. I will be extremely disappointed if I spend two plus years of my life and then have my bite replase! Sorry to vent, but I need to make a decision in the next few days. Life is short.

My ortho has had me doing tongue exercises to train me to stop thrusting and it's worked so far...surely your ortho can help you out with this?

#10 Post by **MerryKate** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:24 pm

I've also got an open bite, being addressed with braces and elastics and it's getting to be quite a chore to unlearn my tongue thrust. But I've found a few good resources on the web for exercises to learn how to swallow properly, and now it's just a matter of practice.

Illinois, if you haven't made a decision yet, I'd encourage you to stick with the treatment. I was 40 by the time I finally got into braces and only two of my teeth touched at that point. I was miserable with TMJ as a result - I could never relax my jaw. However frustrating the treatment, your bite will only get worse if you don't continue and I can tell you from experience it can get really painful.

#11 Post by **sjs8906** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:56 pm

I have an open bite that was somewhat closed with elastics when I was a teenager. My orthodontist couldn't completely close it and over the years it did open back up, worse than ever.

However, I am now undergoing treatment with a new orthodontist who is using TADs to close my bite. It's a relatively new treatment, or so I hear. I am seeing some progress, but I've only been in treatment for a month and my ortho estimated that it would take 7-8 months.

My ortho seems very hopeful that this will work with no relapse after.

Wish you the best of luck.

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