Cleats on the fronts of teeth

[Shaushy]

I've had my top braces for about 6 weeks now, and got the lower ones put on today. The ortho put clear (cleats?) on several of my bottom teeth right above the brackets so that my top teeth doesn't bite down on the bottoms. In addition to them looking ridiculous, it makes it impossible to chew food. All I can manage right now is liquids. I tried to eat soft solids and every time I bit down, it felt like i was chewing on a rock-gross sensation. For those of you who have had cleats on the outside, how long did it take before you were able to eat again?
In addition to the brackets and cleats, he added a coil in place of the arch wire over three teeth (only on one side). What was the purpose of this? I always thought my lower teeth were straight until I saw the arch wire.

-Shaush

[msw]

I'm not sure what you mean by "cleats," but my ortho put these small rubber-like blocks on the top of my bottom brackets (just the front two) so that I don't damage my front teeth by biting down on the metal. He referred to them as "bumps." I think these might be similar to what you have? They were put on maybe a week or so after I got my braces, so now I have molar buildups and the bumpers, although the buildups are barely there at this point. The bumps are kind of annoying, but it's been nice not having to worry about chipping my teeth by biting into the bottom brackets.

Eating will get easier as your teeth and bite start to shift. I've had braces for just over a month and my bite is *just* starting to get opened up to the point where my top front teeth overlap my bottom brackets when I bite down. I've been able to eat pretty much anything I want for the past couple weeks.

Hang in there! I promise it'll get better!

[samoorelaw]

I've always referred to those "cleats" as "bumpers." I had one early in treatment and it was taken off at my first adjustment 8 weeks later: yes, the teeth moved that fast. It felt comfortable eating about a week later.