IMPACTED CANINES CLUB

[Abs]

Expanding premolars is one way of making the dental arch bigger.

This link below shows one way of making the arch bigger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXTHduyuCXM

By creating a bigger arch there is more space created between teeth and thus extractions can be avoided. If your arch is already pretty wide (your orthodontist would know) then of course this isn't an option for you.

[SimMermaid]

Thanks Abs, I appreciate that link. I can now go in better informed and ask about it as an alternate option.

[28andbraced]

I haven't been around this board for a while but wanted to post an update, since I've reached the end of the road!

On March 26, my braces are coming off, a little more than 13 months after they were installed (well within the 12-18 months I was initially quoted). I am so relieved that I could (and probably will) cry--honestly. This whole journey has been h3ll on my self-esteem and confidence and health, and I am so ready to get back to normal.

Braces went on in Feb 2014; in May 2014, my baby canine was pulled after refusing to cooperate with our plans for a gradual extraction; in June, the permanent canine was activated (it was already about half way down, fortunately) and was completely in position by the end of November. The last few adjustments (every 4 weeks) have been to correct collateral damage to surrounding upper teeth by the braces--one of my front teeth flared out toward my lips, and the tip of my other canine was tilting back toward my palate and was making contact with the tooth below it (which it has never done before). Those issues have been corrected to my satisfaction, so here we are! My TAD was removed a month ago, and I'm pleased to report that it was a painless experience. So if any of you have TADs, removal isn't a particularly harrowing experience! (We used topical numbing gel because I am a big baby, and that was all I needed.) I kept the screw as a souvenir, too!

I'll have two appointments on the 26th: one in the morning for removal, and one at the end of the day to have the retainer fitted. I am trying to decide whether a permanent bonded retainer or a removable tray retainer is a better option--please weigh in if you'd like, as I have no idea which is best.

I don't expect the removal to hurt, since we've repositioned several brackets during my treatment and I know what that feels like; I also don't have any bands around my molars (only my first 9 teeth are bracketed), so I will avoid what seems to be the worst part of removal anyway. Once that's all done, I'll be seeing my previous dentist to have some cosmetic bonding done on the new tooth, since it's not a very attractive shape. THEN I'll really be done!!

I wish I'd taken more photos, especially from May to November/December. Sorry!! I wish all of you the very best of luck with your canines; I know I had it EASY compared to most of you, and I hope you all get good results.

[28andbraced]

millersgirl wrote:


Have you spoken to your ortho about the alternatives if it doesn't move by March?

Have it pulled, bone graft surgery and then an implant. I'm praying it's moving but I'm not sure it is. I have another ortho appointment in a week and a dentist appointment a week after that. If ortho doesn't take an xray I think my dentist will. I hate this stupid tooth but am trying to remain positive that it's moving. It started completely horizontal and very far back so it's got a LONG way to travel.

Just wanted to say that I am thinking positive thoughts for you--I am so sorry that your tooth isn't cooperating. Here's hoping that lazy little tooth gets the hint ASAP!

[kimmyann]

Hey 28and braced and anyone else who would like to comment,
I would like to know more about how your braces and pulling your canine in had an impact on your health? Like mental health? And also how bad was it on your confidence and self esteem? I am having braces put on in june and have had terrible anxiety because i am afraid of the decline in self esteem and confidence. I will be 30 in april. I have been told i will need braces for at least 2 years could be longer depending on how the canine cooperates. My dr put me on lexapro and recommended counseling. He said he doesnt think braces is my problem but i never had anxiety till now. I just think living with braces every minute of everydsy will be torture.

[lainii]

I'm laying in bed trying to relax now after my procedure. I was awake but it honestly didn't hurt. Tooth is now exposed and bracketed. Now we get to play the waiting game I guess to see how long it takes to come down!

Ps the tooth fairy owes me!

[coolcat35]

Hey All, I recently had my two top canines exposed and activated . And had them activated a week ago. So far it's been a pretty painless process, it took me awhile to get used to the large holes in my gum. However, since activating my canines I've developed a huge lisp and it is totally changing how I talk. My ortho never mentioned this problem when we were discussing treatment plans, and I haven't seen too many people talking about it on this thread.

Is it normal to develop a strong lisp and have trouble talking while bringing down your canines? The pain and discomfort of the whole process hasn't bothered me much until now. But I'm not sure I can handle the change in how I talk. I have a job that requires me to run meetings with clients every day and I need to be able to talk confidently. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

[millersgirl]

Hey guys,
I think it's been a little while since an update.
I had another pano and much to the absolute surprise of my ortho...the tooth has FINALLY started moving!
But he is still cautiously optimistic. He referred me for a CT scan to see if there is any damage being done to the roots of my surrounding teeth. I had that done today and I guess it takes about a week for them to compile the data into a relevant scan. So I'm sure we'll go over that at my next adjustment in April.
I've started taking pictures each month and my chain appears to be moving. Slowly, but it is moving.
My ortho was shocked to see progress but after he saw it he said at this point we can continue trying to move it. I still have a way to go though.
It's been one year since activation and to be honest I'm really getting sick of the gap and the braces. Hopefully the CT scan will be positive and show that my tooth has made even more progress.

[28andbraced]

Hey 28and braced and anyone else who would like to comment,
I would like to know more about how your braces and pulling your canine in had an impact on your health? Like mental health? And also how bad was it on your confidence and self esteem? I am having braces put on in june and have had terrible anxiety because i am afraid of the decline in self esteem and confidence. I will be 30 in april. I have been told i will need braces for at least 2 years could be longer depending on how the canine cooperates. My dr put me on lexapro and recommended counseling. He said he doesnt think braces is my problem but i never had anxiety till now. I just think living with braces every minute of everydsy will be torture.

Hi kimmyann. I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling--I've been (and still am, for the next 8 days) there. I should explain exactly why my braces put such a dent in my self-esteem, because I don't want to give anyone the impression that braces are inherently hard on people in that way, or that they're anything to be ashamed of. I also want to clarify that by impact on my health, I meant physically rather than mentally (although self-esteem plays a role in mental health, and mine certainly suffered). I am prone to tension headaches anyway, but the pressure put on my teeth by braces--and the movement of my canine before and after braces--caused me pretty much constant headaches. Until the canine reached its final position, I was taking a pain reliever (Advil) every day; bear in mind that my canine began coming in almost an entire year before I even got braces (though I didn't realize it--I thought the headaches were being caused by clenching my teeth), so we're talking about 18 months of daily NSAID ingestion. That was tough, but once the tooth got into position the headaches began to taper off.

Re: the self-esteem issue, it's complicated for me. Until I was about 16, I had pretty awful teeth (at least on the top row). The quality of the minerals that composed my teeth was, according to my dentist, not the greatest, which resulted in sensitivity and a slightly uneven coloration. My jaw is also misaligned, and to truly fix all my issues would require jaw surgery. But the worst part for me was the gaps in my teeth--my first 6 top teeth had gaps between them that were so large, I never knew what it was like to get stuff stuck between them, because it was impossible. And since I have a deep bite and slight overbite, my top row is pretty much all anyone sees when I smile. My bottoms are very pretty, of course! To add insult to injury, my one permanent canine (at the time!) was very obliquely shaped, and looked more like an upside-down pyramid than a proper canine. When I was 15, my dentist referred me to an orthodontist to talk about the gaps and fixing them with braces. To my recollection, nobody mentioned the canine that hadn't yet come in. I was horrified, since I was half-way through high school by then and couldn't bear the thought of braces at graduation, going off to college like that, etc. My dentist and my mother talked it over, and he said he would be able to do cosmetic bonding to fix the gaps in my teeth if I was that upset about braces and if that was all I wanted to fix. Since my mom has the same canine issue and her permanent tooth never came in (and her baby tooth never fell out), nobody had much of a problem letting that issue go; in fact, we all assumed my case would go the same way.

I had my teeth bonded one week before my 16th birthday, and that was honestly the first day in my life I'd ever felt pretty. From that day on, I never thought twice about smiling, chewing, laughing, pulling faces, etc. in public. I showed my teeth in every photo, where before I had only smiled with my mouth closed unless someone got a candid shot. I finally felt content with my appearance and that dentist of mine truly changed my life. I knew my teeth weren't textbook perfect, but they were perfect to me.

When I realized my permanent canine was growing in on its own (like it wasn't "supposed" to do), I was devastated because I knew it meant braces. I knew it and I hated it, and I was so angry. By then I had had 12 years of easy confidence in my smile and my looks (which sounds so vain, but when you go from not having that to having it, it's life-changing) and I didn't want to go back to being that self-conscious, unattractively-toothed kid/pre-teen/teen that I had been. I'd done my time and didn't want to do it again! Like you, I am nearly 30 now, which adds a whole different element of WTFery to getting braces. Most of my issues with my braces hurting my self-esteem stem from that, and the fact that every orthodontist I saw kept insisting that we "fix" everything else that was wrong with my teeth. I was made to feel like I had no right to be proud of my smile, all because it didn't meet someone else's standards. Someone else, who doesn't have to live with my teeth! Had I been unhappy with my bite or alignment, it wouldn't have upset me so much. I think that, had I gotten braces willingly in order to improve my teeth, I would not have struggled this way--it was having it forced on me by chance that made me feel out of control and unhappy. I am lucky that my spouse has been very supportive of me these last 13 months, and he doesn't comment on my braces unless I start the conversation--that kind of ground rule is important to establish when you are able, especially if you're already experiencing this much anxiety.

I am so sorry that your braces are having such a rough impact on your life, and they aren't even in place yet. There is nothing wrong with having braces. NOTHING. I do not know why you are having them put in, but if you are unhappy with your teeth now, this treatment will likely do for you what my bonding treatment all those years ago did for me--the results will be a revelation for you. Since it sounds like your canines are not growing in by themselves, your ortho is being honest with you: treatment time all depends on how well that tooth cooperates. Mine told me the same thing, and mine was coming in already!! You just can't know what you don't know until you find it out, and these teeth are notorious for being obstinate. You can expect some physical discomfort, that's true. Some people will point out your braces to you (like it's news, right?!?), and for the first little while, that will sting. Looking in the mirror will be hard at first--they're all you'll see. But after a while, people get used to them--including you!--and life goes on. Flossing is a PITA, but being rigorous about keeping them clean is worth it in the end.

Please take good care of yourself: this too shall pass, and if your teeth are a source of unhappiness or self-consciousness (or heaven forbid, physical pain) for you now, your braces will get you to a point where that will no longer be the case. Talk candidly with your ortho and their assistant(s). My ortho and their staff know not to offer me neon colored bands, and they know this was a difficult adjustment for me because they know my backstory. Make it clear that this isn't something you're totally stoked about right now from a confidence perspective, and that while you want to know what they're doing and how things will work at each adjustment, maybe you don't want the conversation to be "ALL BRACES ALL THE TIME FOREVER." Feel free to PM me, or follow up here. I definitely want to know how you're getting on, okay? Take care, and I hope that any of this has helped.

[28andbraced]

Hey guys,
I think it's been a little while since an update.
I had another pano and much to the absolute surprise of my ortho...the tooth has FINALLY started moving!
But he is still cautiously optimistic. He referred me for a CT scan to see if there is any damage being done to the roots of my surrounding teeth. I had that done today and I guess it takes about a week for them to compile the data into a relevant scan. So I'm sure we'll go over that at my next adjustment in April.
I've started taking pictures each month and my chain appears to be moving. Slowly, but it is moving.
My ortho was shocked to see progress but after he saw it he said at this point we can continue trying to move it. I still have a way to go though.
It's been one year since activation and to be honest I'm really getting sick of the gap and the braces. Hopefully the CT scan will be positive and show that my tooth has made even more progress.

WOO HOO!!!! That's awesome news! Hopefully the rest of your teeth are holding up okay. You're tough for sticking with this, and I hope things keep going this way for you.

[ebonygoddess]

I had my surgery today and it went well. Got there about an hour earlier. When they called me in, they put an IV in my arm. I felt good. Next thing I know I wake up and say hello lol. It was done so fast!

My surgery was suppose to take 30 minutes but ended taking an hour due to my canine being fused to the bone. So he shaved around it to allow wiggle room.


They gave me pain killers and a mouth rinse.

I can see where the bond is attached. My tooth is showing a bit so hopefully that means that it'll take few months fingers crossed.

[danielle94]

Surgery is no pain at all. Went for mine on the 5th of March, they gave me the option of gas or needle, I went with gas. I woke up remembering nothing.

There was no pain at all for me (and I am the biggest wimp), it only hurt for the first week to laugh so if anyone is having surgery soon try to avoid.

Make sure the day after surgery you rinse every 4-5 hours with salt water & continue doing so during your orthodontic treatment, around my gums have become very blue/white at times (no pain) but salt water clears it up straight away.

On the 11th of March I went to my Orthodontist and they attached the spring to my braces to try and bring the teeth down, I was really worried about doing this but there was no pain at all, just a little pressure.

No sign of teeth yet :)

[oregonhusker]

Hey 28and braced and anyone else who would like to comment,
I would like to know more about how your braces and pulling your canine in had an impact on your health? Like mental health? And also how bad was it on your confidence and self esteem? I am having braces put on in june and have had terrible anxiety because i am afraid of the decline in self esteem and confidence. I will be 30 in april. I have been told i will need braces for at least 2 years could be longer depending on how the canine cooperates. My dr put me on lexapro and recommended counseling. He said he doesnt think braces is my problem but i never had anxiety till now. I just think living with braces every minute of everydsy will be torture.

Kimmy, I'm 43 and smile big all of the time. Braces don't bother me a bit and only a few close friends have asked me about them. Lots of people have had them and they don't make it an issue. No reason to feel badly about having them. Good luck and imagine how good your teeth will look afterwards.

[oregonhusker]

Hey guys,
I think it's been a little while since an update.
I had another pano and much to the absolute surprise of my ortho...the tooth has FINALLY started moving!
But he is still cautiously optimistic. He referred me for a CT scan to see if there is any damage being done to the roots of my surrounding teeth. I had that done today and I guess it takes about a week for them to compile the data into a relevant scan. So I'm sure we'll go over that at my next adjustment in April.
I've started taking pictures each month and my chain appears to be moving. Slowly, but it is moving.
My ortho was shocked to see progress but after he saw it he said at this point we can continue trying to move it. I still have a way to go though.
It's been one year since activation and to be honest I'm really getting sick of the gap and the braces. Hopefully the CT scan will be positive and show that my tooth has made even more progress.

Excellent news. Congratulations!!!!

[ditsy]

Hiya, I had my baby tooth out on the 19th of February, they lifted my gum and attached a chain to the tooth to pull it down. When I touch the area it still feels sore, and when I knock it by accident it really hurts. There isn't any sign of infection, and the stitches have all healed very well. Is it normal to still feel sore after this long? X