Open Bite Treatment. Non surgical

[PrincessBellePepper]

Hello everyone!

I'm 29. I have a 3mm open bite with 3mm of overjet. Other than that, my teeth are pretty straight. I have already been in braces twice. Once when I was in middle school and then once when I was 19. I had some jaw issues in middle school so my ortho gave me a splint which I am convinced made my bite change, or my jaw just grew more. When I was 19, they suggested jaw surgery and I was against that so I just had my teeth aligned and they left my bite alone.

Now I am wanting to get my bite fixed cuz it is really starting to bother me but I absolutely do not want surgery. I have done so much research and I have bad anxiety, especially with health related issues, so I just don't think surgery is an option for me. I would like to give TADs a shot but it has been impossible to find an orthodontist who is experienced/willing to do them.

I did have a consult at the faculty practice at the dental school at the Univeristy of Indiana. I got the X-rays done, impressions etc and the doc took 4 weeks to develop my treatment plan. The day before my appointment he said he didn't want to treat me because he didn't think it was worth it to do TADs because they fail and aren't as stable as surgery. I was extremely disappointed because at the initial appointment we discussed all this and I said I was willing to take the risk. If there is some relapse, fine, that still leaves some improvement. I'm not after perfection here. My guess is that he lacked experience in this area.

I live in Champaign, Il but I am willing to drive approximately 3 hrs away to get this done. So I guess my question is if anyone knows of any orthodontists around that are experienced in TADs or are experienced in treating open bites non surgically?




TL;DR: I am searching for an orthodontist somewhat close to Champaign, IL who is experienced in treating open bites non-surgically.
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[mmkay]

he didn't think it was worth it to do TADs because they fail and aren't as stable as surgery.

Urrrrg, such a lazy response.

Relapse occurs with surgery also. With molar intrusion they typically aim to overcorrect the open bite in order to account for relapse. You should not expect an inferior result in terms of getting your open bite closed.

More relevant is whether you'd benefit from what else surgery can do (advancement, reduction of gummy smile, etc).

Can't answer your main question, you may just be outta luck.

[PrincessBellePepper]

I don't really have much of a gummy smile in the front. Just towards the back. My chin is a little retruded but I think my jaw would autorotate into the right position if my molars were intruded.

[mmkay]

Also consider the interlabial gap (although usually associated with gummy smile) and whether you need advancement.

If you have insufficient overjet they can intrude the lowers. They can also retract the lower teeth in order to increase overjet.

[HummerMan3]

Hi Princess,
I have a very similar story... Had braces as a young adult to straighten my teeth, but was left with a small open bite that rapidly increased to its current state within a few months of getting the braces off. At the start of my current treatment, I had about a 2mm overjet and 2mm open bite. I went for a surgical consult and the surgeon (of course) recommended surgery over TADs for stability of the bite. I was not very excited with the prospect of surgery, and my orthodontist admitted that I should expect reasonably stable results from TADs, so that is what I went with. TADs are still relatively new technology, so outside of bigger cities, it may be more difficult to find an orthodontist well-versed in them. Mine had me go to an oral surgeon to have them placed, as he was trained well before such devices were an option. During my research into molar intrusion, I came across Rapid Molar Intrusion devices - basically stiff springs connected to upper and lower molars that constantly put intrusion pressure on them. This may be something else to ask about if the orthodontist if they feel uncomfortable with using TADs.
Lastly, you want to make sure that whatever caused the open bite in the first place is addressed. In my case, I am working on fixing a tongue thrust habit to reduce the chance of recurrence.
Hope all goes well in your orthodontic endeavors!

[mmkay]

I went for a surgical consult and the surgeon (of course) recommended surgery over TADs for stability of the bite.

A surgeon was the first person I consulted, 3.5 years ago. I expected him to recommend surgery due to the severity of my open bite, but he in fact said '10 years ago I would have recommended an impaction, but now we have these things...'. He inserted them, so wasn't excluding himself from the process completely, but still wasn't acting in his own financial interest.