Eating with my front teeth......Stupid question but....

[braceykay87]

I've had my six month smile braces on for nearly 4 weeks now and while I am now used to eating/chewing with my back teeth I still am not using my front teeth. I attempted to eat a chicken wrap during the week and tearing off pieces with my front teeth proved difficult (I can only compare it to attempting to pick something up with a dead arm, my front teeth seemed useless!) It was embarrassing meal as I was eating in a coffee shop with some work colleagues and had to resort to tearing the wrap into pieces with my fingers!

So this maybe a stupid question but should I be eating/tearing off food with my front teeth? Do they just feel slightly 'numb' because I haven't used them properly in 4 weeks and should I be 'practising' eating with these teeth so eventually it is just the norm again? Im worried that if I dont use them for the full six months, they'll be overly sensitive once I do start eating again! Silly question i know, but i'm curious!

[emoticon1234]

I eat with my front teeth as normal, save for biting meat off the bone or anything like that. The front teeth are definitely the most fragile, and because of their use it's hard to just stop eating things with them.

But soft things like sandwiches and wraps I'll generally eat with my front teeth. I always end up getting bread stuff there, but oh well.

[Ciara]

I can eat soft things with my front teeth but I won't bite into anything hard or chewy with them. I will tear such foods into small bits or cut with a knife. I find very thin foods like lettuce very hard to eat. My front teeth don't meet normally at the moment so I can't "grip" them.

[rhibee83]

I can totally relate to this and it is not a stupid question at all! I have had my top arch braced for 10 days now (bottom arch 5 days) and I STILL cannot bite into anything with them and also find them feeling "numb" when i do try to. I have tried to bite into a little peice of soft white bread and cannot do it, i cant even tare bits off as it hurts. I feel like I am never going to be able to eat properly again. I have been eating on my back molars but yes, like you, have been breaking everything up with my fingers. it is getting to be quite frustrating. However, I have had a few people tell me that it will get easier and you will be able to eat properly again!

I have no idea how long it is going to take, i guess we just keep on trying, but i know what you mean, i am feeling the exact same way as you are at the moment, and when i do go to bite down on something, also feels like my teeth are really wobbly and that if i bite into something the tooth would move and stay in the newly moved spot lol that is what it feels like! its awful!

[MrsCharisma]

I got braced Jan 24. The first time I could bite with my incisors was about March 31. I got an adjustment (and power chain) on April 5 and am back to cutting everything up as if I were 2!

[beckyboo0205]

Hey, I've had my braces for a month and 1 day and I've been biting with my front teeth. But I did have a wrap yesterday and today and it was definately harder to bite into than normal bread. I've eaten some pizza too but I think it was too crunchy to bite with my front teeth so I ended up using a fork.

I say keep trying!!

[JillD]

I couldn't use my front teeth for a long time. I was too scared to try. But recently I began to use them when I need to bite into something soft. I passed my 16 month mark.

[MilkTeaholic]

I was worry about that and I still avoid using my front teeth as much but that is mainly because I am just avoiding a lot of non brace friendly food. What I have done to make sure I keep my teeth in practice is chew on straws. They are soft enough that I won't feel like I am breaking my teeth but they have a nice elastic give that I can slowly work out my teeth. Front and sides.

[isthistaken]

That is a stupid question. Just kidding.

I am at 7 weeks. I have only recently graduated to pancakes and softly cooked french toast and noodles, but I basically swallow everything instead of biting or chewing.

[BracesChick]

I'm only 8 weeks in, but I dont use my front teeth much at all. I do use them to bite in the very soft things like a banana, but thats just about it. In addition to not being able to really bite into anything, as well as it sometimes feeling painful to try and do so, I'm paranoid of getting food stuck in the front of my brackets.

[braceykay87]

Thanks for all your advice! I guess i will just have to build up my confidence with using my front teeth, just like i had to do with my back teeth in the first couple of weeks. Its certainly going to be an amazing feeling to get them off in 5 months (fingers crossed) time!

[katsface]

I haven't been able to use my front teeth to eat in three months, now. I have a palatal expander bonded over my top back teeth and it's acting like a bite blocker and causing an open bite in front, so I can't really incise anything. I also had SARPE surgery which has come with its own issues. So, even if the palatal expander wasn't preventing me from biting into stuff, I wouldn't be able to do it for other reasons.

I won't be getting the expander out for another 4 or 5 months... so it's going to be a while before I can bite into anything again. I really hope I can deal with it once I am able to!

[djspeece]

I have a bad habit of creating a tear as a prelude to opening bags of chips using my front teeth. It is my only fault.
Not.
I'm thinking we may need to start some new traditions a la George Castanza on Seinfeld -- wherein he consumed a candy bar using a knife and fork.
Dan

[Geostrophic]

I've had my six month smile braces on for nearly 4 weeks now and while I am now used to eating/chewing with my back teeth I still am not using my front teeth. I attempted to eat a chicken wrap during the week and tearing off pieces with my front teeth proved difficult (I can only compare it to attempting to pick something up with a dead arm, my front teeth seemed useless!) It was embarrassing meal as I was eating in a coffee shop with some work colleagues and had to resort to tearing the wrap into pieces with my fingers!

I can totally relate to this and it is not a stupid question at all! I have had my top arch braced for 10 days now (bottom arch 5 days) and I STILL cannot bite into anything with them and also find them feeling "numb" when i do try to. I have tried to bite into a little peice of soft white bread and cannot do it, i cant even tare bits off as it hurts. I feel like I am never going to be able to eat properly again. I have been eating on my back molars but yes, like you, have been breaking everything up with my fingers. it is getting to be quite frustrating. However, I have had a few people tell me that it will get easier and you will be able to eat properly again!

I have no idea how long it is going to take, i guess we just keep on trying, but i know what you mean, i am feeling the exact same way as you are at the moment, and when i do go to bite down on something, also feels like my teeth are really wobbly and that if i bite into something the tooth would move and stay in the newly moved spot lol that is what it feels like! its awful!

I'm 2 months in with my top braces (as of today). Top, front 2 teeth STILL feel numb and "wobbly" - though my ortho has told me they're not "orthodically loose". When did this feeling go away for the both of you? Stressing me out :-\

[metalliKa]

I know the feeling! The first few months, biting with my front teeth into something, even just a piece of bread, felt like biting into rubber. I'm now 10 months in and just finally able to bite ok into food.