What happens leading up to debanding?

[elainek]

Hi guys,

I have a few questions about what happens before your ortho is sure you're ready for debanding.

I was initially told my treatment would take 20 months but at my latest adjustment, my ortho told me that I was on my final wire on my lowers and they would be ready to come off around mid-March (12 months ), and the uppers would be shortly after. My next adjustment is 2 months away where I'll get my final wire on my uppers. As far as I can see there's still a lot to be done - my lower teeth look great but my upper teeth aren't fully aligned yet and I still have gaps between some of them and also my bite doesn't feel 100% right.

I trust my ortho fully but I just wanted to check with you guys before I go into panic mode! In the last 2 months of treatment, did your ortho have to do a lot of finishing touches or did things kind of sort themselves out because the wires are sooooo much stiffer (ouch!) And did your ortho only talk about debanding when your teeth were fully aligned or did anyone still have a bit to do when they heard they were close?

I guess I'm just concerned that my treatment time has gone from 20 months to 12-14 months! Delighted but concerned...

Thanks!

[BellaBraces]

I had debanding mentioned a couple of months ago. It has been delayed due to final tweaks that didn't happen quite as quickly as expected. Don't panic - just make sure that if you are not happy with the current state of your teeth you do not allow the ortho to remove the braces.

[elainek]

Thanks Bella - sorry to hear your debanding has been delayed! I'd say that'll happen with mine too...no point in panicking until closer anyway

There's no way I'm getting these things off until I'm completely happy...I guess I'm just hoping that I'm not going to have to point out a load of obvious issues like I've read some people on here have had to.

Sure it's ages away still...

[kreyFL]

Hi there! For me, my ortho was started saying things like "We're getting really close"...and that was about 6 months prior to getting them off. The real tweaking started about 3 months before I got them off. By tweaking I mean he would specifically torque one tooth a certain way, or file in between teeth to help close up gaps, etc. I went from visiting every 6 weeks, to every 4, and then to every 2-3. By this time I was getting nit-picky and mentioning things I was still unhappy about. My deband day was 2 years and 3 weeks after I got braces on and my sentence was 18-24 months.

I hope that helps...I wouldn't expect you to get them off that soon, but you may be ahead of schedule...that's not too uncommon.

[bbrrrace]

it depends

[elainek]

Hi kreyFL, thanks so much for your response. From the way my ortho said it I thought it would be next appointment in 2 months, then boom - 2 months later they're off! But what you said makes much more sense with more regular adjustments and tweaking here and there. I'm sure it'll run over so I'm not getting my hopes up but it's great to know how it all works out, thanks!

Congratulations on just getting brace-free...I bet you're delighted!