ok, I've got options. Which way should I go?

[wendydong]

Our hygenist can't remove the left over glue. My son has a spot that wasn't completely removed and she told us to contact the orthodontist to have it removed. I would imagine that the dentist could do it also. Good Luck

doesn't hygenist work in the dentist office and use all the tools? I'll see. I have the cleaning/annual exam/teeth whitening all booked in one appt early january

[wendydong]

thanks all for the support. It's been a tough 7 months.... I am a bit of a weido to begin with, with braces, i was full on cray cray.

with braces, my teeth was always in dull pain, and that was giving me a headache as well. my work has also suffered.

without braces, my teeth pain is immediately gone. My teeth stopped clicking almost immediately. i can finally brush my teeth now, and I don't need to hunched over the sink for like 15 minutes to clean my teeth...

However, one major thing is TMJ. almost that same night i took off braces, I started having horrible TMJ. It's like my bottom jaw don't know where to go. Chewing food has been tough, because my bite is much worse. Not only my midline is a bit worse. the way my top molars hit my bottom molars, they hit at a point, instead of hitting the whole tooth... my chewing muscles are sore 24/7...

i am also not wearing retainer, because I am hoping to relapse. But seems like most of relapse is limited to a particular tooth or two? and more related to rotation of the teeth? In my case, I am hoping to relapse of the entire teeth arch.. so not sure what i would get. I originally planned on giving it a relapse time of 3 months, but with the TMJ, I am not sure how much longer I can hold off on the treatment

I am also pretty sure I would go on invisalign next. With the ease of brushing, I don't mind taking it out and putting it back..

[assertives]

thanks all for the support. It's been a tough 7 months.... I am a bit of a weido to begin with, with braces, i was full on cray cray.

with braces, my teeth was always in dull pain, and that was giving me a headache as well. my work has also suffered.

without braces, my teeth pain is immediately gone. My teeth stopped clicking almost immediately. i can finally brush my teeth now, and I don't need to hunched over the sink for like 15 minutes to clean my teeth...

However, one major thing is TMJ. almost that same night i took off braces, I started having horrible TMJ. It's like my bottom jaw don't know where to go. Chewing food has been tough, because my bite is much worse. Not only my midline is a bit worse. the way my top molars hit my bottom molars, they hit at a point, instead of hitting the whole tooth... my chewing muscles are sore 24/7...

i am also not wearing retainer, because I am hoping to relapse. But seems like most of relapse is limited to a particular tooth or two? and more related to rotation of the teeth? In my case, I am hoping to relapse of the entire teeth arch.. so not sure what i would get. I originally planned on giving it a relapse time of 3 months, but with the TMJ, I am not sure how much longer I can hold off on the treatment

I am also pretty sure I would go on invisalign next. With the ease of brushing, I don't mind taking it out and putting it back..

Good that you have made up your mind and made your decision. Enjoy your brace free break for now!

[Gia]

[quote=wendydong post_id=506117 time=1544835762 user_id=32385 doesn't hygenist work in the dentist office and use all the tools? I'll see. I have the cleaning/annual exam/teeth whitening all booked in one appt early january
[/quote]

Hygienists can't do/use everything dentist can in same way orthodontist assistant can't do certain things. Dentist will likely need to grind off glue. Call and let them know so they allow time in the schedule for it.

Good luck with your decision and treatment. Given the new TMJ issue you might want to talk to doctors again about their plans and get a third consult, in case it changes things, as it seems it morass some complications.

[EmilyTravels]

If I had to choose between Invisalign with attachments (or even without) and regular braces, I would pick the latter, hands down.

I finished with 14 months in standard braces and have now been in Essix retainers for a couple of months. Even though my teeth and smile look much nicer when my retainers are out, retainers are a PITA! With braces, yes, there is extra oral hygiene involved, of course, and flossing is a pain, but at least you can eat and drink with them in, and then get to the bathroom and deal with the aftermath. With retainers, you have to anticipate and remove them any time you eat or drink even a morsel other than water.

Do you ever go anywhere where food or drink samples are offered? If so, you can't enjoy these if you have your retainers in. If you want to take the smallest taste of something you are cooking, or have a tiny snack, you can't do it with retainers in. Glass of wine, cup of coffee or tea, lemonade? Nope nope nope. Go out to eat? Gotta head to the restroom before you start eating or drinking to remove those retainers.

And, like others have said, you'll need to clean your retainers before re-inserting them. So if you're out shopping with a friend and want to eat lunch, it could be a few hours before you get home to clean 'em up (and brush your teeth), to put them back in, so it's very hard to stick to a 22 hr/day schedule. I personally have not been able to manage it, and I am super conscientious. It's not easy!

After having retainers for just under two months, I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't a candidate for Invisalign, due to the need to wear elastics for 9 months. I didn't care about the vanity aspects, but what I didn't realize ahead of time was just how disruptive Invisalign would have been in my life. Braces seem like a walk in the park, comparatively speaking!

[Gia]

I am really grateful that I did the trial with the Essix to get a sense of the invisalign. As everyone has cited all the reasons, I saw first hand it wasn't right for me.

[assertives]

I think regardless of getting metal braces or invisalign, some amount of lifestyle changes would inevitably happen. I personally got metal braces and they triggered a side of ocd in me that I never knew I had. I would go out of my way to avoid certain foods, cut down on eating, rejecting foods that others offer me because the obsessive compulsion to clean after eating really irritated me.

[Gia]

Hi Wendy. Was curious about how you're doing and what you've decided to do?

[wendydong]

Hi,

Just an update. I debraced about a months now.

I had a dental cleaning, and a whitening. the cleaning cleaned off most of the glue. The in office whitening didn't do sesame...

i am in the process of going through numerous consults. It's weird that last year when I consulted 2 orthodontists, neither mentioned that I have an asymetric jaw..

nowadays, when I go on consults (3 different orthos so far), the first thing out of their mouth is "your left jaw is underdeveloped compared to your right. You need to get a jaw surgery in order to get a perfect bite"...

As a result of 7 months braces, i now have a 5mm overjet and incisors flaring out. When I ask if I can get back to a normal overjet like before, they all say impossible. This is also due to my asymetric jaw...

I now realize that my original overlapped teeth (which i wanted to straighten) was God's way of compensating for my asymetric jaw. And once my crappy ortho uncrowded my teeth, my asymetric jaw defect really showed up!!

And I would always ask new orthos if they can crowd my teeth to get back to the original shape/bite. They all say they don't know how to "crowd" teeth. Seem like orthos only know how to "uncrowd" teeth...

[kplatt2010]

Hey Wendy-my daughter has an asymmetrical jaw. I think my daughters was directly related to a herbst device that her original ortho had her in prior to braces. The device kept breaking on one side and he would leave the other side up until he got the replacement part. This would sometime take upwards of a week to get fixed. We both inherited weak chins too with mine resulting in airway issues following a cervical disc replacement. That's an interesting story - When I woke up from that surgery the neurosurgeon told me my replacement discs were "a little big" for me but they would settle right in. Yep; six months later they did when I developed sleep apnea. Fast forward to MMA surgery and braces going on two years.

The jaw surgery is no freaking joke and if you consider doing this at all; get the right surgeon. The good ones usually do not belong to any insurance carriers. I think a lot of posters have mentioned Arnett and Gunson who are in Ca.

Perhaps ask the ortho's what would be the best game plan to improve your bite and mask the jaw variance.
Keep us posted.
Karla

[Navygrrl]

Wow, it seems like you've had a really rough time. I'm a little worried that the ortho didn't catch the jaw asymmetry before putting the braces on your teeth. I mean, it seems like a big miss. I really hope that you are able to find a solution that will fix things with your mouth and jaw.

[Mpkh]

There is no archwire or orthodontic appliance that can “crowd” teeth back to their original positions—that’s called relapse and it is dependent on the individual. Sone people’s teeth don’t relapse, and some do, to varying degrees of severity.

As for jaw surgery, it is an invasive procedure, and one that must be deliberated upon if you choose to undergo that route. If not, perhaps the best course of action is to improve your bite and align your teeth as best as you can. Definitely discuss with the orthodontists the treatments proposed, and the pros and cons of each option.