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I also have to wear elastics on my canine to help pull it down (I double up for speedy progress, oops! ) 24/7 so I'm sure that's helping also! I want this little guy down, I'm so SICK of this hole in the front of my mouth [/quote]
Hi turkstooth,
Do you find the elastic on your canine has helped? I also have one but not sure it's doing any good. I tried doubling up but the hook won't support two elastics. What's your configuration on the elastic? Thanks for your update.
> Hi turkstooth,
>
> Do you find the elastic on your canine has helped? I also have one but not sure it's
> doing any good. I tried doubling up but the hook won't support two elastics. What's
> your configuration on the elastic? Thanks for your update.
Hello! I do think that the elastics have helped! My orthodontist can always tell when I'm wearing my elastics and when I'm not. I just got back from my appointment today and they finally put me in my third wire! WOO HOO! I was supposed to be put into that wire 3 weeks ago but I wasn't wearing my elastics religiously so my tooth wasn't where it needed to be in order to fit the new wire. So yes, I definitely think the elastics help. I'm wearing two in the front (each canine) as a triangle and I have one that goes from the top arch back tooth (each side) to the front bottom tooth that is a part of my triangle. does that make sense? Sorry! It's hard to explain without knowing the exact names of each tooth!
Hi everyone I've just been reading up on the posts since I last visited here and it's good to see some of you are making excellent progress with your impacted canines. I had an appointment today and while there is movement it's not majorly noticeable. Anyways I am finally going to get my braces fitted at my next appointment in April so I m really excited about that. I am currently having the tension on my canine applied through a quad helix expander but once the brace is on and my teeth start moving to form a bigger gap for my canine the baby one will get pulled and I think it will then be attached to the archwire for tension.
Got up the courage to go to an ortho and my next appt for spacers is on March 14th! Getting so excited/anxious!! I can't wait to see the changes in my teeth.
Hi Guys! New member of the impacted canines club!
I found out at the end of last year I have two impacted canine teeth, I am 20 years old & I cant believe someone has just picked this up now. ;(
My Orthodontist has told me I will need to have exposure & bond surgery & braces to make room for these canine teeth.
My Surgeons seems to think 1 will come into place pretty much straight away as he can feel it sitting in my gum but he will have a better idea of where the other one is sitting when surgery takes place.
I had my braces put on last week & surgery is booked in next week, I am so nervous! Can anyone tell me what I should expect after the surgery?
What is your experience when they start pulling the impacted canines down?
I will be 30 in april. I have an impacted canine that is also in a 5 teeth crossbite. I am planning on getting braces this summer because i am a teacher and i feel that will give me time to get adjusted. Ever since my dentist told me i needed braces. I have had debilitating anxiety. I have had to go on lexapro just to function. I guess some of my fears are being self conscious, eating normally ( like sub sandwiches, hambugers, and pizza) , the feeling of always knowing they are there, and the maintenance and embarrassement of eating with food everywhere in them. I am planning on getting the metal damons because the clear seem so big(like off the tooth) and i figure i can get used to them easier. I am also afraid of the pain. I wonder all the time will i be in pain so many days that i wont get to eat normal solid foods. I would appreciate anyone and everyones advise and experiences. I have read the whole impacted canine thread on here. Oh and i also dread the whole gap after my baby tooth gets pulled too. Mainly because i teach highschool. Ugh thanks in advance for any words of wisdom. I really want to fix my problem but am so scared.
I'll be turning 31 in 2 months and have an impacted canine. The decision to get orthodontic treatment was my own so not necessarily dealing with anxiety like you. If you haven't considered invisalign you should think about that as those are barely visible unlike metal braces (I'm getting invisalign). The whole process of brining the impacted canine hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be. Yes there was pain and days to a week or two after having spacers placed, quad helix device placed, exposure surgery done when eating food was painful and I had to adjust my diet accordingly. But the pain always resolves and I go back to eating whatever I want to eat. The pain is temporary and I focus on looking forward to the smile and dentition I've always wanted.
Like you my profession (I'm a physician at an academic hospital) involves a lot of talking (to patients, residents, medical students etc) and I was concerned about how my speech would be affected. The quad helix device definitely made my speech less clear for like a month but now my tongue has adjusted to it and I'm speaking normally again. Don't worry about it too much and consider invisalign to avoid having braces being noticed.
Thanks Abs for your reply. Because of my cross bote i dont think that invisalin would be an option. I will mention it to my ortho though. ( it never hurts to try) :) i hope i can pursue this and get so adjusted that i dont even notice the braces are in my mouth and i can come off of the medicine. I would like to try to have a baby but lexapro is not safe( whicg i guess you know that) and i dont think i can have the exposure surgery while pregnant either. Agh bummer cause i have baby fever but i guess i need to get past this before i pursue that. :)
Yeah definitely better to post off pregnancy until you are done with you surgery. Wouldn't recommend delaying surgery as increasing age increases the likelihood of the impacted canine getting ankylosed. As far as lexapro goes, I'm not a psychiatrist but depending on the severity of your psychiatric condition sometimes it's better to be on it than to be off it (if the doc feels that the chances of the mom's mental health worsening and affecting her ability to take care of herself during the pregnancy is too high).
Ya i thought i would wait till after i have had my surgery to get pregnant. Hey i was wondering about your impacted canine. How long did it take to make enough room, are you self conscious with a gap, do u notice movement, how slow is progress, etc.
I'm in the very beginning right now. Had the surgery to expose my impacted mandibular canine at the end of Jan. Chose not to remove my baby canine until the impacted canine is close to getting there so no gap right now. It's pretty far down right now and almost horizontal too so it could take a while before it comes up. 6 months as per my orthodontist and 6-12 months as per the surgeon. I'll be getting my baby canine extracted and invisalign around the same time once the impacted canine is at a reasonable position. The invisalign will have a pontic in it so it will appear like I have a tooth with the invisalign on but yeah will have to live with the gap when I take it off (another reason I chose invisalign so that people can't see I have a gap most of the time.
I guess I should join this club too. (I have recently come to understand what impacted means in dentistry, sorry if I sound ignorant.) I have 2 impacted canines that are hidden under my upper lips. I have had them since I was about 12 (now 27). I am awaiting my first actual appointment for my braces. First the orthodontist wants to remove 3 of my premolars so that there will be room for the teeth to drop into place before he decides how to bring them down the rest of the way. Monday I get a call back to start the whole ball rolling starting with the extractions then ending in braces.
Ask your orthodontist if expanding the premolars is an option for you. Usually orthodontists either remove the third molars to create space (if the arch is already wide) or (if the arch is narrow) they expand the premolars i.e widen the arch (which is what my orthodontist is doing) to create space without extracting any teeth. I didn't want any of my permanent teeth extracted and this was what my orthodontist recommended.
I don't know what expanding the premolars means or entails, but I do have a pretty small mouth as it is. I have also already had a few adult teeth removed before and my mouth is still pretty crowded. Can you explain what expansion is?
) 24/7 so I'm sure that's helping also! I want this little guy down, I'm so SICK of this hole in the front of my mouth 
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