First of all, with the new ortho I asked for the strongest, and most elastics as I could get. I want to get this open bite closed and be done by the end of the year. So the following whines are my old fault and I could easily back off on the amount of elastics if I asked.
So definitely for me the moral of this appointment is: “Be careful what you ask for. “
Top Whines/Annoyances
1) With all elastics in I can barely open my mouth. I can about a third of an inch, and can mostly talk normal. I just feel like I am talking through a straw.
2) Snacking is tough. This is the first setup that has controlled how much I eat. No pain any more, its just really tough chewing with them in, or even getting food in.
3) When I do eat, the cross bite elastics tend to push food away from my teeth. That’s a fun battle.. Tongue vs Elastics.
4) My mouth feels so flipping narrow right now as I have no side to side or forward back movement. Even though the cross bite elastics are widening it just a smidge, they stop my tongue. Oh wait, that’s my problem in the first place. Posterior tongue thrust. We actually will be doing a retainer with a posterior tongue crib on it (or at least that’s the plan).
5) There is no way to gracefully remove this many elastics. Riding with my wife, she buys a snack, offers me some, previously I could easily just eat with the elastics in, or pop them off with my tongue to eat. These elastics are so tight they don’t come out without a crowbar.
6) On the rare occasion that I eat with them in (Like squeezing a pretzel in), Ever try to clean junk out from your braces or between your teeth and cheek without your tongue being able to reach them?
7) I don’t mind wearing elastics but I am being forced to it seems. Wear them, or bite brackets.
Inserting the cross bite ones are fun. Especially while sitting at my desk. Anything else I can just quickly pop in with no concern. With these I basically need two hands and hope no one walks around the corner and sees me with both hands up to my elbows in my mouth.
Braces on: 2/25/2013. Braces Off: 12/23/2015
Current Retainers: Hawley Top, Essix Bottom, and Permanent Lingual Bottom