Brand Newbie Here - with a bite question

[MarciLouWho]

Hi,

I will be getting spacers on the 16th and braced the 30th. At the initial consultation, I was given the option to either brace the top teeth and wait until there was some movement before doing the bottoms or to be fully braced and get it over with. Because of my open bite, I was told that my back teeth would not touch. I said that I wanted to be fully braced at once and get the ball rolling. BTW, I am 45 1/2 years old. Hah.

After reading some threads on this board, though - now I'm not so sure. Will this make eating nearly impossible? Or will I just need to confine my eating to at home only until there's movement and I can eat without hampering anyone else's enjoyment of their food? :o)

Any advice will be warmly welcomed!

[vak103]

MarciLouWho,

I'm glad the Ortho did the top first and not both. It gave me a chance to still enjoy my food. I have an overbite, and had cement placed on my back molars (to avoid my top teeth from breaking the bottom brackets) on my 2nd adjustment.

www.ezticker.com

[DrJasonKTam]

It's a matter of preference. Putting braces on the top and bottom at the same time will likely reduce your total treatment time in braces. Placing braces on one arch first may be more comfortable.

From my experience, the former is one of the most important things for our patients in treatment, particularly in adults. Temporary discomfort seems to be worth it to most of our patients in order to decrease the treatment time. Either way, good luck with your treatment!

[petal]

I am 40 and have had my braces for a month and a half. I am braced top and bottom and my bite doesn't meet. Eating was frustrating in the beginning and I was exhausted from lack of calories. Then I figured out what I could eat...soft, mushy, easy to eat foods and everything has gotten so much better. I use protein shakes, mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes are also a great "vehicle" to help swallow other food like rice or soft veggies or very small pieces of meat.
sometimes I will make small diced potatoes and scrambled eggs covered in white gravy. The gravy helps me to swallow everything else easier with just a slight mashing of my tongue on the roof of my mouth. Soups are also great! It just takes a little thought and preparation so you will be able to get enough calories to keep your energy up. I tried eating rice by itself, but I found I just chased it around my mouth until I added the mashed potatoes or gravy so I could just easily swallow it. I wish you luck, it was miserable the first week or so until I found out what worked for me. My diet was usually pretty healthy so to watch the fat in the mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes I cook them and mash them with some of the water they were cooked in. Then I use spices if needed to add flavor instead of the usual milk or butter.

[thmmom]

I am 42 and have top & bottom ceramic braces. I have been braced for 5 1/2 months. I have an overbite and had bite turbos put on the back of my front teeth. For the first 3 weeks I could not chew pretty much anything. I had to drink soups, smoothies, mashed potatoes, etc. It might have been easier to have just my top braces on first, but I'm glad that I had them done at the same time. I'm sure my treatment time will be quicker. I still have my bite turbos in and my back teeth still don't touch completely, I sort of chew sideways. So, I would think it would have been quite a few months before I would have had my bottom braces put on. It's just going to come down to a personal decision for you. Good luck!

[drgnchsr36]

Hmm, I wasn't given a choice - but I have a deep bite and my front teeth tilt inwards. They completely cover my bottom teeth and because of the inward slant - I don't think I could get bottom brackets on if I wanted them.

But, will either get cement on my back molars or a bite plate to prevent me from fully biting down - I guess my front teeth need to be pushed out a bit to allow the bottom brackets to be placed.

[MarciLouWho]

Thank you all for your replies. As vain and silly as this may sound - I could stand to lose a few pounds and I'd really rather the treatment time be no longer than two years (which is the original estimated time) so I think I'll just tough it out and be fully braced. I look at it with the analogy of ripping off a band-aid all at once. . . it'll be tough for a short while, but worth it in the long run.

Thanks again!