Furious with my orthodontist... Turbos! (Hi, I'm new!)

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#1 Post by **DaveQat** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:53 am

Hey, folks.

My name is Dave, and I'm 27. My bottom brackets went on.. yesterday. Along with turbos.

I was not told in advance that turbos would be needed, much less an option, and last night after the bottom brackets went on, he said "OK, one more thing..."

Then, when he's done, he said "Oh, you might be on soft food for 6 weeks..."

Thanks for the warning, bub. Remind me to put on my steel-toed boots and kick you in the nuts without warning.

Does anybody have any advice on dealing with these things? Chewing is, for now, basically impossible. I had chinese for lunch since the rice and the little bits of chicken I could swallow nearly whole. A diet entirely of smoothies doesn't sound very appealing to me. It was bad enough when my partner's jaw was wired shut for 8 weeks.

#2 Post by **babyduck** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:43 pm

Ack, that's gotta suck. I'm not hip to all the gear and what it is, so I really don't know what you're talking about haha...but my sympathies are with you.

I've been in braces for a week, now, and if you're already eating chicken, then you're ahead of where I was the day after bracing. So, maybe things won't be as bad as you think. I do have a friend that had to have her jaw wired shut for three years (

), and she adapted quite well. I always say, where there's a will, there's a way...and I've always got a will to get to food! She pureed everything during those three years. That doesn't sound appetizing to me, but if you compare...6 weeks seems much more tolerable than 3 years. But again, if you're already eating chicken (whole or not), you're in better shape than I was in. But I'm sure time (and desperation) will bring out your creative side and you'll think of ways to eat your regular foods comfortably. I ate a lot of hot dogs last week, for example. I just sliced it into bite size pieces and ate it that way. I'm still tearing off bites instead of biting into food because my front teeth are a little wobbly. Spaghetti has been really easy on the gums (and stomach, too, since I swallowed a lot of food whole, as well), although it is a PITA with the brackets. And meatballs are usually pretty tender and easy to smash with your tongue if you can't chew them.

Stacy

#3 Post by **SandraJones** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:56 pm

(OK babyduck, I'm following YOU now !

)

I didn't know what turbos were til I looked them up .... "bite turbos". DaveQat, my sympathies ! My google search reveals that they can be very uncomfortable ! If it makes you feel any better (hopefully you have found this info already), they can speedily improve your bite.

On what teeth do you have the turbos ? With them in place, can you touch your upper and lower molars together at all ?

#4 Post by **DaveQat** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:00 pm

SandraJones wrote:
On what teeth do you have the turbos ? With them in place, can you touch your upper and lower molars together at all ?

They're on my incisors. And no, the molars don't touch. Were I so inclined, I could close my bite as much as I'm able now, and run a pipe cleaner almost all the way around without a problem.

I keep telling myself 12 months left...

#5 Post by **platinum** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:01 pm

Use the search function. There has been many people in this forum with Turbos and they have managed to eat. Maybe you get some advice how and what to eat.

#6 Post by **Dimples** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:02 pm

hi dave,

I see you are in chicago, so am I

. What part of town is your ortho located? My ortho is on ashland ave in the city.

Sorry, i don't know anything about turbo's. There's gotta be a way you can eat regularly as oppose to puree's all the time...do a search. Good luck!

#7 Post by **SandraJones** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:10 pm

Hey, I'm in Chicago too ! My orthodontist is on North Lincoln Ave, near Fullerton. I live downtown.

#8 Post by **Dimples** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:32 pm

Came back to tell dave that i'm also 27

i'm a female.

Hi sandra!!! I live on the northwest side of the city. My ortho's office is on the 3200 blck of ashland ave. It's about a block away from where milwaukee,ashland, and elston cross sections 3 ways...it's called Oral care Limited.

#9 Post by **DaveQat** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:00 pm

My ortho is in Evanston. Barry Walvoord. His staff are great, and aside from this big lapse in communications he's been fantastic. ;o)

#10 Post by **SandraJones** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:49 pm

He probably didn't warn you ahead of time because he knew you'd look it up and say "No way !".

There's not a lot of optimistic info on the 'net about bite turbos except the info on orthodontists' web sites saying that they really do work. Hopefully you will not have to have them on long, Dave.

Having spacers in I have already perfected the fine art of crushing food in the roof of my mouth with my tongue. I was able to eat a small hamburger yesterday with almost no chewing. It took an hour though, and I had to heat it up twice.

#11 Post by **Granola** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:31 am

I was surprised with bite turbos about five months into my treatment. While I was not thrilled initially, I was also okay with it, anything to help achieve the results my orthodontist was shooting for, which was to open up my bite. They are called turbo jets (my orthos' name for them) for a reason as they did achieve what they were meant to, for me.

I lisped at first and had trouble chewing -- and then a few weeks later, they had become such a part of my mouth that I barely noticed them. They are quite a shock initially, but I really believe that you will soon get used to them and not mind them quite as much as you are right now, and that you will be able to eat more easily, if your experience is anything like mine. Seriously!

#12 Post by **Kat** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:46 pm

UMM, WELCOME TO BRACES...

#13 Post by **Kleigh** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:09 pm

I've had turbos for six months now. They were a pain for about a month, but it does get easier. Believe it or not, I'm muching on Fritos right now. See, it does get better! The only thing that is still difficult for me to eat is steak. I haven't had that since the end of Feb.

#14 Post by **LynnHowell** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:03 pm

My ortho's office called them THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR THIS IS SPAM PLEASE REPORT TO ADMINISTRATOR Buttons, but they're the same thing. Without a doubt, that was the worst part of my treatment! I know exactly how you feel and the pain and tenderness involved. I assure you it will get better. You will stop accidently biting down on them and they will actually wear down a bit. It took me about a week to finally get comforable enough in them to stop complaining to anyone who would listen.

For me, chewing gum helped tremendously to work out the pain. And yeah...probably not supposed to have gum. I never had a problem with that part.

Best wishes!