Woa my teeth got crooked!!

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#1 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:10 pm

Was debraced 2 years ago, I had missing lateral incisors. I wore a retainer at night with fake teeth to keep the central incisors in place (I got implants done 6 months ago), but it looks like they tilted like mad!!!!

How bad is it?

#2 Post by **Dilema** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:15 pm

how did it look before

I dont think its bad

but what do I know, my teeth are crooked as hell

#3 Post by **VA5** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:19 pm

I see the crookedness.. the slant in particular. So you wore your retainers as directed? you're still wearing them??

#4 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:42 pm

VA5 wrote:I see the crookedness.. the slant in particular. So you wore your retainers as directed? you're still wearing them??

Yup, the slant. I perhaps could have worn the retainers more...The ortho had told me to wear them as much as possible. I was deligent in wearing them before I went to bed. But I would slack off during the day. Last year, at my ortho checkup, the ortho seemed fine with the teeth, said the fake teeth were maintaining the gaps, his only concern was bone loss at implant sites if I delaye getting the implants.

Dunno when the tilt happened

And the tilt did complicate one of the implants (there wasnt much space between the roots).

I'm wearing the retainers, but the fake teeth have been grinded off (I now have crowns on my lateral incisor implants).

Before pics after debracing two years back:

How did this happen? If I would slack off wearing the retainers at night (say I would only wear them 4-5 hrs a day), the fake teeth at the left side in the pic would get tight, but it would become ok the next day. Never had any tightness problems with the right side (in the pic) space.

Darn

#5 Post by **VA5** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 6:46 pm

Yes, that slant is interesting. Especially if there are implants next to them. You would think it wouldn't happen if there is no space.

I know after my braces come off I need to wear my retainers 24-7 for some time (6 months??), so maybe you should have done that too. I actually worry that after this period, when I stop wearing them during the day and only at night, that my teeth will start shifting. It's a scary thought. So, I plan to ask for fixed retainers, plus the removable ones i can put in at night for extra retainage.

#6 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:09 pm

VA5 wrote:Yes, that slant is interesting. Especially if there are implants next to them. You would think it wouldn't happen if there is no space.

I know after my braces come off I need to wear my retainers 24-7 for some time (6 months??), so maybe you should have done that too. I actually worry that after this period, when I stop wearing them during the day and only at night, that my teeth will start shifting. It's a scary thought. So, I plan to ask for fixed retainers, plus the removable ones i can put in at night for extra retainage.

I got the implants 1 year 9 months after I was debraced (I was supposed to get them sooner, but I had to move twice in that time period, change jobs etc).
I did wear the retainer (top one at least) ~18 hrs a day for the first month. But yeah, after that I should have been more deligent.

But on the ortho checkup 1 year after debracing, the ortho did not say anything, I wonder iif the teeth moved after that?

Since the retainers were fitting, I slacked off a bit

Crap

#7 Post by **VA5** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 7:52 pm

Oh okay, i can totally see how waiting to get the implants would cause the shift and even slant. Are you going to get braces again?

#8 Post by **TumbleDryLow** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 7:47 am

I see the slant only b/c you pointed it out so I'm looking for it. If I were talking with you I doubt I'd notice it, so I personally do not think it's bad at all.

If it bothers you, perhaps you can schedule a visit with your ortho. Maybe he can tweak your retainer to fix the issue or make you new retainers that will fix the issue.

#9 Post by **wearetheborg** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 1:30 pm

Unfortunately, I dont have access to my ortho (I changed continents); but if get hold of a good ortho someday, I'll ask him/her about this.

I didnt notice this tilt (I guess the brain automatically corrects gradual changes). But then I got my teeth model back from the local ortho (a new local ortho), which he had made for making essix type retainers. And man, was the tilt obvious in that model. I then looked in the mirror, and indeed it was there.

Its just a theory, but now I'm thinking the tilt was actually caused by the fake teeth of the retainers. If you look at the after-debracing pic, there was a gap at the end of the two central incisors. The gap is not there now (and hasnt been for a while). If the right fake tooth end was pushing the right central incisor, it would cause the teeth to tilt.

Thats the only explantion I could think of for the wierd tilt. As per my original teeth positions, the left side tooth should have tilted in the opposite direction. For it to tilt in the other way, it seems like it was due to external forces, viz, the pressure transmitted from the right side tooth which itself tilted.

#10 Post by **VA5** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:16 pm

Well for me, I'm pretty sensitive to midline issues b/c I'm having one myself.. so anytime I see a midline that is off, I notice other things.. like slanted teeth. Otherwise yeah, there is a good chance nobody else is noticing things like that. To be honest, we are our worst critics. Most people say "I never knew you needed braces" b/c they were never looking at my teeth carefully in the first place.

#11 Post by **AndrewM** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 4:30 pm

I'm like VA5. I would never have noticed this a few weeks ago, but now I'm focused on midline issues. I didn't even notice the fact that my own midline is off by several millimeters until the orthodontist pointed it out to me, and I've been looking at myself all my life!

#12 Post by **BraceFace2o1o** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 4:43 pm

AndrewM wrote:I'm like VA5. I would never have noticed this a few weeks ago, but now I'm focused on midline issues. I didn't even notice the fact that my own midline is off by several millimeters until the orthodontist pointed it out to me, and I've been looking at myself all my life!

I'm the same. I never noticed my midlines were both off, until becoming obsessed with my teeth since wanting a brace and having the consultations.

I discovered my lower is off my 2.5mm

#13 Post by **BraceFace2o1o** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 4:44 pm

That's what happens when you type too fast!... I meant 'by 2.5mm'

#14 Post by **VA5** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:01 pm

What's weird too.. not online did i not notice my midline before, i never noticed that i had a slant to my teeth. it's only after i got my braces when i started looking at old pictures and seeing that they were slanted! crazy. it just makes me happier that i got braces to begin with, b/c I got them for a completely different reason (overjet) so now i feel ultra fortunate to be fixing my teeth.

#15 Post by **drrick** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:01 am

In these types of cases retention is critical.
Without proper retention this type of thing can happen.