Am I being paranoid? Open bite??

Message

#1 Post by **BracedBelle** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:46 pm

I had new (rectangular) wires put on today and I'm in a lot of pain. Owwee!!

What I'm worried about is that the assistant took the new wires to the back brackets for the first time. My back teeth have very little surface exposure and the brackets already kill me... now with the wires it is even worse! Those teeth are set up higher in my gums, where my gums meet my cheeks. The wires are clipped back as far as possible but it already feels pokey, and my cheeks & gums are bleeding.

That's part 1. Part 2 is that my front teeth are already not fitting together properly (open bite?) since the appointment, and I'm talking with a slight lisp as a result!!! Aaaahhh! You can easily see a slight arc between my top and bottom teeth (6 teeth wide).

My ortho had previously said that he might never take the wires back there due to the risk of an open bite. I didn't explicitly ask about it when he came over to check the wires & progress, even though I was worried about it as soon as I realized the assistant was going back to the back brackets.

I wrote him an email about my worries but we've never corresponded that way and I'm not sure how often he checks it or if he'll respond. Am I being paranoid? What should I do? Has anyone had a similar experience?

#2 Post by **BracedBelle** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 7:35 pm

thanks so much for the reply!

Is it odd that I might see my bite opening so quickly like this? I'm so confused. I had known it was a risk but assumed it would be something gradual... but I definitely can tell the difference right away.

Crap, do I ever wish I had taken pictures before going for that appointment!

#3 Post by **overseasmel** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:23 pm

I have wires all the way to the back molars on my uppers as well, as apparently not even my final molars had the good sense to be naturally well-aligned. So I feel your pain on the cheek-stabbing. If they do need to keep them there, make sure they cut them as short as is humanly possible, and stock up on massive supplies of wax. I haven't ever really needed wax anywhere else, including when I had the expander in, but even after 2 months of braces I still need to have wax at the back every day.

Good luck

#4 Post by **BracedBelle** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:57 am

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

I have wires all the way to the back molars on my uppers as well, as apparently not even my final molars had the good sense to be naturally well-aligned. So I feel your pain on the cheek-stabbing. If they do need to keep them there, make sure they cut them as short as is humanly possible, and stock up on massive supplies of wax.

When the assistant put the wire through the back on the left it jabbed right into my cheek and she realized that there is zero space between my bracket and my cheek to be able to put the wire cutters in there and cut the wire. I can't even really floss in there!

She had to pull the wire out, trim it, put it back through (jab me again... this is when it started bleeding), pull it out, trim it again, etc.

So it's not just a simple wire trim, and I also don't think they are able to curl the wire. I'm not joking when I say there is noooo space between my cheek and my bracket. Even when I try to get wax back there... I can easily wax the face of the bracket but can't get it behind the bracket where the wire pokes out.

FYI - I had a completely sleepless night due to teeth/jaw/head pain. I desperately want to stay home today but have to drag my butt out of the house for work

#5 Post by **Chris** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:11 am

Open bite is a significant issue in some cases when they bracket the 2nd upper molars. I couldn't understand why my ortho did not want to include them in my treatment and thats what he kept telling me.

#6 Post by **BracedBelle** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:10 pm

Update: I'm talking with a lisp today!?!? OMG!!!!!

#7 Post by **BracedBelle** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:55 am

Another update: I'll soon be 48 hours since the adjustment (square wires, all the way to the back teeth) and to say I'm in pain is an understatement. I can't eat, can't sleep, and can't even touch my top and bottom teeth together without shooting pains in my gums. I'm holding my lower jaw away from the top teeth which is causing a lot of jaw exhaustion, pain and a headache.

Over-the-counter meds rarely work because I've been taking painkillers since I was a kid for bad headaches, jaw pain, then later severe car-accident injuries, etc. I actually had tears in my eyes last night from the pain and no sleep, so I went to the hospital to get T3s. I was able to sleep for about 4 hours but I don't really feel any better and the pain is back now.

My ortho has not yet returned my call since yesterday, and my speech is badly impacted. I talked to myself in the mirror and was so discouraged.... I have a lisp and a lot of words/sounds are more difficult to form with my lips so I look funny when I'm speaking.

I'm currently having talks with HR about a potential promotion and it's really bad timing to have a lisp, lots of pain, and serious self-consciousness. Ugh! I just want to cry......

#8 Post by **manglemouth** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:04 am

Oh no, BracedBelle, that sounds AWFUL!! I hope you get that resolved with your ortho asap!!!

#9 Post by **Gennel** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:50 am

Bracedbelle that sounds just plain horrible what you are dealing with

Please keep calling your ortho. There has to be something they can do!!
I never heard if you bracketed the 2nd top molars that it will cause an open bite? My 2nd molars on top are connected to the archwire and I noticed an openbite real quick. My ortho said this was because of my tilted bottom molarbands were hitting the top teeth causing my bite to stay open. I am almost positive that is not the total reason. Before getting braces I did not have an openbite even with all the crooked teeth. He even took off the molarbands until the expander arrived 2 weeks later. Well the two weeks that I had no molarbands on the bottom ,it still made an openbite.
This is something that I will ask about at my next appt.Deffinately going to ask if bracketing my 2nd molars would have caused this openbite.My open bite is not just at the front teeth it's from end to end. None of my teeth meet at all. ....NONE so I don't really chew,just break the food down in my mouth and swallow.
Please keep us updated and keep calling your ortho,there is no reason why your ortho has not responded sooner

Gennel

#10 Post by **BracedBelle** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:02 pm

Okay, another update...

I called my orthodontist's office this morning and said I needed to see someone, anyone, immediately. They made an appt for 4 hours later (1pm) with another orthodontist (he's actually the one who did my first consult, and apparently quite a TMJ expert, but he is retiring and isn't taking new patients. So before I was braced I got passed to a new ortho. Anyway, long story short he agreed to squeeze me between other appointments today).

So I explained my Tuesday appointment, and everything I've been dealing with since. He spent a lot of time asking jaw-pain related questions and checking out all the muscles in my face/jaw/neck/head noticing all the swelling and "nodules" that have formed in the last 2 days. I have a bad joint popping... the worst it's been in years.

He said 2 things happened on Tuesday:
1) They skipped a wire strength, so my new square wires are: a) my first square ones and b) one strength higher/stronger than he expected
2) My new wires go back to my back molars, my 7's, for the first time.

I knew about #2... I didn't know about #1b. He said the increased wire strength on it's own would have caused some jaw strain yet would have been manageable, but in combination with banding the 7's it appears to have thrown my jaw completely "outta whack". All the muscles in my jaws are tense/knotted and that's what he thinks caused my bite to go out of alignment, causing what appeared to be a slight open bite and my lisp.

He cut the top wire back to my 6's, and the bottom (which he believes to be the key offender) back to the 5's. Immediately the pain & pressure were reduced by about 1/3rd. I felt a huge sense of relief... like my jaw joints were released from a clamp. The rest of my teeth feel a bit better too... the wire was angled into my 7's putting strange pressure on nearby molars.

My gums and jaw joints are still extremely sore and he thinks it will take 24+ hours for the inflammation to clear up, the pain to reside, and the lisp to disappear.

This post is getting much too long, but I should add that this retired ortho is concerned about my ability to have a successful journey in braces without being able to take the wires back to the 7's.

That worries me. He also mentioned that he firmly believes I need structural jaw surgery while I have braces on in order to make any significant improvement to my quality of life with severe TMJ.

I have to meet with my ortho in a few days to discuss everything.