open bite, tads, braces no surgery

[rebecca121760]

Has anyone ever had their open bite repaired with Tads combined with braces or invisalign. I know there are a few select orthodontists who do this procedure. Thank you.

[mmkay]

Umm...search? There's a few of us here having it done at the moment and my orthodontist has been doing it for 10 years.

Don't listen to any orthodontist that says as a general principle you need surgery to close an open bite, and it seems like they still exist. Of course surgery may be required for other reasons, such as maxillary advancement. But your son is only 16, sounds kind of young for that.

[rebecca121760]

mmkay Thank you for replying. How is it going for you. The crazy thing is, he was in braces for 3 years when he was younger and nobody ever mentioned that tongue thrust and mouth breathing could be making his condition worse. Nobody ever mentioned this procedure to us. I had to find it on my own.
Thanks again

[mmkay]

Last I saw the orthodontist he was happy, but it's a work in progress. From the beginning he has been confident of a good result.

Doesn't surprise me at all that no one mentioned the mouth breathing or resting position of tongue (tongue thrust is a myth). Plenty of dentists/orthodontists will neglect to tell you things they should and may give you outdated advice, based on what they learned during training.

[girlgonemild]

This is actually my course of treatment (minus Invisalign). The first orthodontist I saw was relatively young and suggested that I really need jaw surgery. The second orthodontist was older and was really surprised that a younger orthodontist suggested jaw surgery for my open bite.

[JohnsonSon]

I'm in my 20s, I had an open bite in the front and down one side. I was told surgery would be the best way to fix it but braces could work. I've had my braces for 2 years now and it's completely closed up and my bite is basically perfect. I had to wear elastics like 75% of the time and I wore them very diligently, but it worked. Obviously it's gonna vary case by case but braces alone can work.

[rebecca121760]

Thank you so much. We are searching for the perfect person. They are not common.

[mmkay]

The second orthodontist was older and was really surprised that a younger orthodontist suggested jaw surgery for my open bite.

Yeah I'd expect it to be the other way around, as the younger orthodontist should have been exposed to more recent best practice during their training.

We are searching for the perfect person.

Be careful not to just find the orthodontist that tells you what you want to hear. The orthodontist who doesn't ever use TADs for open bite is the wrong one. But the orthodontist who says "I'd typically use TADs, but this case is special due to..." might be the right one.

[rebecca121760]

Thank you for your advice. Seeing another orthodontist tomorrow and then going to see a doctor in Denver too. We want to be well informed before taking any further steps.

[Artana237]

Hi- I plead beginner's ignorance. I am the mother of a young adult in her early 20's who had diagnosed but untreated tongue thrust and whatever degree of open mouth issues. She had 2 stages of braces- first beginning at age 8 which included a mouth expander (maybe upper only, I don't recall exactly) and having I believe 4 teeth removed. The orthodontist noted the tongue thrust but didn't seem to have any treatment offered and at the time I had no luck tracking down info on how or who treated it. So jump ahead some 5 years after her braces came off and things have devolved from near perfect alignment to a stage where it is apparent that tongue thrust "won" . Seeking to find solutions. I found one person (dental hygenist, 1 person office) in my State who is a Certified Orofacial Myofunctional Therapist. I am trying to understand how or if they work in conjunction with an orthodontist. If there are "appliances" to add to braces which train the tongue and everything else that goes with it- roller balls or whatever (please feel free to say, I am just learning and "spikes" won't likely work with this young person), is a therapist necessary? The teeth are not going to go back to being aligned without some sort of orthodontics is my guess. Just trying to get this addressed and be as wise as is doable with what it costs to get this successfully treated.

Thanks and what is a Tad or Tads?

Regards1