Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi Everyone,

I'm just curious to know how many others are out there like me, who need orthodontic treatment, despite already having almost straight teeth??

I know I'm really lucky, in comparison to most people on this site, in that I have got virtually straight teeth already, (especially the lowers) hence I'm not needing orthodontic treatment for that purpose. It was kind of a shock discovering I would need braces though.... I suppose one advantage with having wonky teeth is that you would probably always know that eventually you would need braces to fix the probs at some point? Whereas, I was completely happy with my teeth - I already 'had' what most of you all are aiming for.... but I was unaware of an undetected problem and was told out of the blue that braces were needed. But the teeth would need to be wrecked before they could be fixed 'again' was a bit of a shocker, if you get what I mean?! But, it's gotta be done I suppose!

I've got a few questions, which I guess only people in a silmilar situation can answer(?)...

Well, to those who don't already know - I had my canines exposed on 2nd August, so I've now got the huge gaps either side. Braces were put on both uppers & lowers on 16th August. I've got a gap between the 2 front teeth and a very slightly rotated tooth next to where one of the canines should be. The basic reason for the braces is to make space to bring down the impacted/retained canines.

The questions I've got mainly relate to my lowers. I understand that the lowers will need to move too, in order to be in-line with my new upper layout, however:

If they are virtually straight and do not need to move that much, why will they need to be on for the full 2 years too?? (I actually feel that my lower braces look worse than the uppers & the gaps!!)

Did anyone in a similar situation get the lowers removed sooner than the uppers?

I've noticed gaps forming in the lowers, which I assume means that they are moving.... will the gaps close again when the other teeth start shifting as well?

I hope that sort of made sense....

I would love to hear how other people with straight teeth feel about their orthodontic treatment and how their teeth changed during the treatment, as I can only assume we are obviously in a minority!!

Take care.

LUCY xxx

Hey! I had the same problem. I went to the orthodontist and he told me I would need braces. It was so surprising and agrivating. I have to have them on longer than some of my friends with straight teeth. It is very frustrating because I don't see any improvement in my teeth, because I don't have any gaps.

I had virtualy straight teeth on the top and minor crowding on the bottom. Apparently the top ones will remain on until I'm done in case I need elastics to correct anything. Also we discovered some of my teeth that appeared perfectly straight needed to be pulled down too. Even though they looked perfectly fine. I know that's the case at least with me although I would love to have him take the hooks away. Hope this helped.

Count me in! I had relatively straight teeth, but have to have my bite corrected, even though to most people, my bite looks fine too!

It is frustrating b/c I only have uppers, which is fine, but am getting lowers and a bite plate in a few weeks, and expect that it won't be much fun! It's just hard to go through all of this pain and inconvenience when my teeth look perfectly fine to most people!!! I'm getting REALLY nervous about the bite plate and lowers, feeling like I want to flee the country to avoid it ; )

So yes, I feel your pain and am glad to know I'm not alone!

*aka

I'm just curious to know how many others are out there like me, who need orthodontic treatment, despite already having almost straight teeth??

My teeth were relatively straight, however I had gaps in my upper arch. My bottom teeth were really crooked but when I smiled they didnt show. But my main goal is to correct my overbite & deep bite. I have been bothered by my overbite as long as I can remember. But since being braced other improvements like tooth leveling and arch expanding have really improved my perspective of my smile..

My teeth were pretty straight except for a gap between the front teeth.
This led to many comments and questions.
It seemed to be all OK once the TMJ pain was mentioned.

I also have braces on straight teeth. My teeth had always been almost perfectly straight, infact, people told me I had "perfect teeth". This may sound weird, but for 3 years I had recurring dreams where some of my teeth fell out and others were damaged. These dreams got so regular that I eventually decided to investigate. I went to my dentist, got an x-ray and discovered that the 3 teeth that fell out in the dreams were over-retained baby teeth and the ones that were damaged in the dream were being pushed on by 3 impacted teeth - 2 canines (1 of those is in the roof of my mouth) and 1 premolar. It was a shock to discover at 22 that I'd need braces on my straight teeth! The good news is the horrible dreams stopped as soon as I saw an orthodontist. I nearly backed out of the treatment at the last minute but had another teeth-falling-out dream so I went ahead with it. I've had ceramic braces for 2 months now (am still a bit self-conscious) and the surgery to expose those impacted teeth, remove the 3 baby teeth and all of my wisdoms is a while away yet. Pretty scarey stuff but it's much better than doing nothing and living with the consequences! I figure, if kids can cope with braces then I can too!

I knew I'd need braces for the crossbite but my front teeth look fine, so I'll get a lot of questions.

Kim