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I had 8 TADs (temporary anchorage devices) put in two weeks ago. It is my Ortho's plan to use these mini screws to pull up my molars in order to close an open bite cause by years of thumb sucking. It was extremely painful after the numbness went away. Not too much much pain during..just an extreme amount of pressure. My Surgeon was using my front teeth as leverage as screwed the palatal TADs in. I was so scared the pressure was going to break my teeth. It didnt seem like the best thing to do considering my teeth are already delicate from having the braces on..but i'm not a professional so maybe there was no danger in that. It felt like a form of psychological torture as I didnt feel pain just pressure and the imminent fear of something going wrong and me leaving toothless. (sidenote..i have a fear of losing my teeth so his aggressiveness did not help)I was told by the surgeon it would not be that bad but it was. The first day was the worst. It felt like I had the worst sinus headache ever. My Surgeon initially gave me no medication I had to go back the next day in order to get a prescription. I have 4 on my outer gums and 4 in my upper palate (these are the ones that were causing me the most pain). After 4-5 days I felt relatively pain free. The only bad thing is I thought I would get spring like this (image courtesy of google)
instead i have powerchains that go from the palatal tad under my molars to the tad on the other side. So I cannot eat solid foods. Stupid me for going into the procedure extremely hungry because I didnt have time to eat . The plan is to have the rubber bands changed weekly. I may post pics if you guys are interested. I couldn't seem to find too many first hand accounts of TADs before I got mine put in, so wanted to share my story and hope to answer any questions. (I am not sure if this the right forum for this..if not please let me know. )
Last edited by rawr101 on Sun Jun 02, 2013 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Don't worry about braces making your teeth fragile or delicate. While it doesn't feel that way, the forces involved are measured in ounces. To put it in perspective, chewing forces can amount to hundreds of pounds.
(Braces can hurt because the pressure is constant... chewing doesn't last long at all.)
I am sorry that you have been in such bad pain..... Hopefully it is getting better soon.
I think your teeth already look quite good. I don't see the open bite on your picture, so I think it is not too severe?
I wish you very good luck with your treatment!
Greetings from Anna
PS I also have an open bite from thumbsucking (and a misaligned jaw and teeth) which is worse than yours I think. I have been in full braces for 12 weeks now.
I am sorry that you have been in such bad pain..... Hopefully it is getting better soon.
I think your teeth already look quite good. I don't see the open bite on your picture, so I think it is not too severe?
I wish you very good luck with your treatment!
Greetings from Anna
PS I also have an open bite from thumbsucking (and a misaligned jaw and teeth) which is worse than yours I think. I have been in full braces for 12 weeks now.
Oh that pic was just an example of the TADs configuration I thought i was going to receive..here are pics of mine. Sorry about the blurriness of the second pic I just wanted to give an idea of how the bands went under the biting surface of my molars
Even though it was painful the first week I still think its probably better than my alternative of jaw surgery. I hope i havent dissuaded anyone from choosing this option.
Oh, now I see you definitely have an open bite! I hope very much that they will be able to close it with the TAD's. Does the ortho think he can completely close your bite? How long will it take? Did they initially suggest surgery? I think the TAD's are a great alternative then and I have heard promising things about it!
Anna5 wrote:Oh, now I see you definitely have an open bite! I hope very much that they will be able to close it with the TAD's. Does the ortho think he can completely close your bite? How long will it take? Did they initially suggest surgery? I think the TAD's are a great alternative then and I have heard promising things about it!
He gave me the options of using just rubber bands, TADs or surgery. He preferred TADs..as did I. He seems to be pretty optimistic about it. Not sure how long he want the TADs in. He estimated 24-26 months in braces and I've had them on for 7 months. He thinks he can close it but has warned me about the unpredictability of TADs.
Ciara wrote:Glad to hear the pain got less after a week. They look so uncomfortable and won't you chew through the blue ties/elastics?
Good luck!!!
Well I'm not allowed to eat anything that I have to chew. Also the power chains are changed weekly. Even then its still hard..i have to stop myself from playing and biting down when i'm bored
You're not allowed to eat anything you have to chew? How long is this going to last?
I had jaw surgery and wasn't allowed to chew for the three weeks after being banded shut for 3 weeks. That was incredibly annoying and I had a hard time eating enough calories.
I can't imagine not being allowed to chew food for longer than "recovery" time when I was basically too weak to chew anyways.
I had to go back the next day in order to get a prescription. I have 4 on my outer gums and 4 in my upper palate (these are the ones that were causing me the most pain). After 4-5 days I felt relatively pain free. The only bad thing is I thought I would get spring like this (image courtesy of google)
. The plan is to have the rubber bands changed weekly. I may post pics if you guys are interested. I couldn't seem to find too many first hand accounts of TADs before I got mine put in, so wanted to share my story and hope to answer any questions. (I am not sure if this the right forum for this..if not please let me know. )
