Braces/elastics not correcting overjet-Doctor says cant help

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#1 Post by **CosmicMan** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 10:50 am

Hello:
I have been in braces for 13 months now. Last 4 months in elastics. All my gaps in the teeth have closed. However my overbite is almost as it was before the treatment. 4 months in elastics isnt being any help (how would they if there was no space at all for the upper front teeth to move back and join the lower teeth). With no space whatsoever for any further teeth movement, I see that my overbite is not getting corrected. My doctor is already talking about another 6 months to completion of my time in braces. However when I questioned her about my overbite she says since there is no more space left there isnt much that can be done to correct it. I am frustrated totally. The entire therapy I was told was to correct the bite and get the upper and lower jaws (or teeth) aligned. And that is not happening. The doctor says even the elastics cannot do more and not once did she ever tell me this would be the case or a jaw surgery (my thought) might be required. Now she says lets 'try' bite plate. She is a PhD in Orthodontics and when she mentioned 'try' something I got infuriated.
Now ... does a bite plate help in correcting overbite? I am worried if I go in for tooth extraction to create space... my upper teeth will move so far back that my mouth would look sunk in (like I have no teeth). Pls advice.
Has anyone had this problem???

#2 Post by **joney** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:16 pm

Sorry to hear about this. I do know that my daughter had a huge overbite that was resolved with the help of a bite plate, it definitely worked for her. Hope it does for you too.

Regards
Joney

#3 Post by **CosmicMan** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 12:33 pm

Hi Thanks ... That is reassuring.
Im 36 now. Wonder if bite plate works equally well on a young adult vs people at my age.

#4 Post by **TigerLily** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 1:33 pm

Well I'm in my mid 30s too..and a bite plate has certainly helped my teeth move fast. However, don't know about a bite plate and an overjet. Though I have an overjet, I had it with my lower braces only (6 months into treatment and just about to get uppers on) from the beginning until about a month ago. , I never quite understood the exact reason for them, my ortho just said to stop the upper teeth interfering, she only said I could stop wearing it recently once my bite had got to where she wanted to. Sorry, if this post doesn't help your situation much, I just thought I'd say something as only a few people on here seem to have had bite plates. Though I got the impression my ortho uses bite plates a lot. She calls them a bite plan.

#5 Post by **CosmicMan** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:27 pm

Hi ... Thanks TigerLily...

When you mentioned lower braces... I assume you had a bite plate on your lower set of teeth to correct the bite and align with the upper teeth... correct? Or wld that be on the upper teeth always? guess will google and see some pics.

#6 Post by **joney** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:37 pm

Bit confused now, I'm afraid I read your post rather than the title.

Overbite is when the top teeth cover the bottom teeth too much so that hardly any of the bottom teeth show when you bite down.

Overjet is when your top teeth stick out too far in front of your bottom teeth when viewed from the side.

My daughter definitely had an overbite and it was helped with the bite plate. I think overjets may be fixed with elastics and maybe some IPR if not extractions.

Not sure which you have but I imagine that if your ortho is suggesting the bite plate then it would be for an overbite. Sometimes orthos use bite turbos for this also. I'm sure if you do a search on the site you can find information on both biteplates and bite turbos.

Best of Luck

#7 Post by **CosmicMan** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 3:30 pm

I have a Overbite (the lower teeth are hardly visible when the jaws close) and also a Overjet ... the top teeth are far ahead of the lower front.
My one year treatment has closed the gaps in the top and lower fronth tooth and aligned them to nice arches. However the overjet and over bite wont go away.
My doc did say bite plate. I have been reading about overjet and overbite. Lot of postings talk about the bite plate to correct both.
I dont mind the pain/speech issues it brings. I know they would last for a short while before i get used to them.
Thanks

#8 Post by **cally** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 5:21 pm

I'm 45 and my bite plate worked for me in 5 months.

#9 Post by **DireWire** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:07 pm

I'm 46, have (or: will soon have had ?) overbite, overjet and crowding.

I have a bite plate (which I hate), but my ortho says it is essential and will speed up the movement and eruption of the teeth. I have to say that the progress is very visible after less than 3 mths. Nevertheless or maybe because of this I hope to get rid of this annoying thing in a month or two. What exactly the bite plate does, I have never truly understood.

I'm not an expert in the least, but if you can stand not being able to speak properly for a couple of mths, I'd go for it. At least you'll know you tried almost) everything.

DireWire

#10 Post by **TigerLily** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 3:52 am

CosmicMan wrote:Hi ... Thanks TigerLily...

When you mentioned lower braces... I assume you had a bite plate on your lower set of teeth to correct the bite and align with the upper teeth... correct? Or wld that be on the upper teeth always? guess will google and see some pics.

My bite plate was a removable one on my upper arch. Looked like a Hawley retainer but without the band at the front.

My ortho is not the best communicator in the world (but I trust her, she's excellent) so I never knew for definite when my bite plate would come off, though I knew my uppers were scheduled for 6 months and therefore it would have to be then at the latest as my bite plate would not be able to hook on after that (or fit as my uppers would move). I HATED my bite plate but lived with it and wore it 80-90% of the time. However, though my ortho said it could come off, I celebrated for a few days but then started wearing it at night as I found myself grinding my molars in the night and also the way it holds my bite, I get less irritation on my cheeks from my lower brackets. Only 2 more weeks till my uppers go on though!

I had a an overbite as well as an overjet. My overbite is much better now and as I said I had to wear the bite plate to allow my lower teeth to move to a certain position before my uppers can go on.