Did Your Elastics Cause Narrowing of The Arch?

[mapleleafman888]

So over the last 10 months or so I've have class 2 elastics and I feel like my upper palate has shrunk in size. I'm constantly biting my tongue and even have waken up nights with a super sore tongue.

Did any of you who had elastics experience a shrinkage in palatal arch size? Where is the tongue supposed to fit in? When you put your tongue to the tip of your front uppers is it supposed to be resting on the teeth around it or should it be in between all the teeth?

Thanks.

[oldfart]

It should not be resting at the top of your teeth at all. But more in the middle of your arch at the top of your mouth. The class II's will bring in your top front eliminating the overjet (or is it overbite). If your tongue is pushing against those teeth even at rest it deters that movement.

[mapleleafman888]

Upper left and right 4-6's(1st bicuspids to 1st molars) feel like they have collapsed inward. My class 2s were on upper 4s to lower 6s. Between those teeth is where I bite my tongue. Sure hope the ortho doesn't leave my arch this way, hopefully my last damon wire can widen the arch back to where it was.

[TMJJill]

I wore class II's my entire treatment and it didn't impact my arch. In fact, with the Damon's, my arch increased significantly. What I did have problems with was the biting/chewing on the tongue when I slept. It was especially bad as my bite adjusted during braces treatment. I did a lot of facial manual therapy and trigger point work to loosen the facial muscles (PT and by staff at my dentist's office). I also had some ultrasound treatments at the dental office and they gave me oils to help me relax those muscles. I also used Deep Blue rub too. When the chewing was at it's worst, they had me switch up and add additional elastics when I slept at night to help me hold better jaw position. At one point, I even did muscle relaxers at night because I was waking myself up so often during my sleep from the pain of biting on my tongue that I couldn't get a good night's sleep.

As my bite sorted itself out during treatment, the tongue chewing/scallops got much better. It was a combination of the muscles being unhappy and my subconscious trying to find a 'correct' bite. Changes with braces certainly can confuse that subconscious.

As for my tongue space, my dentist said I went from twin size space to king size space during treatment. The pictures really seem to reflect that. You might ask your dentist to review the measurements of your arch if you are concerned about that. The Damon archwire system is pretty good in encouraging the arch development.

I do have custom retainers at night now that hold my jaw in position when I sleep so I don't go back to those bad habits.

[Lorianne]

MLM: yes, definitely happened to me, but with my lower arch sort of caving in. I was biting my tongue and lisping like crazy because there was NO ROOM in there. However, with a new archwire, it helped that problem. It's back to where it started now I guess. I would like wider, so we'll see what the next wire will bring!

[mapleleafman888]

Ok thanks for your responses everyone. I guess I'm just starting to get anxious about all the things on my orthodontic laundry list of concerns because I am supposed to be finished in 2-4 months. Perhaps the ortho has more plans for my treatment in the time left. Sure hope it's enough time to fix my concerns. We will see, these aren't coming off until I'm happy. Thanks again!

[Lorianne]

I'm at one year in braces now. At my last visit (a few weeks ago) my ortho seemed to think I would be done very soon too (4 or so months) and I'm wondering the same exact thing! haha!

[TMJJill]

I had some unexpected changes in my teeth that I didn't expect that popped up in about the last month of my treatment. I had an in-depth conversation with my orthodontist about some of my concerns, options--pros and cons, and what I could live with before I agreed with the removal date. I ended up with a bit of dental work (build up on a molar that we couldn't get to erupt even after a year of the VV elastics). I also ended up with a gap just behind one of my lower canines. My bite is wonderful. If we closed the gap, the bite would be off and that is why I was in the braces in the first place. That was something I chose to live with. I accomplished my goals in the braces by getting my bite sorted out. The rest of the aesthetics of the braces was a bonus in my eyes.