Braced day be kind to me.

[GraceGab]

Hi! I'm new here. I just happen to stumble upon this forum and find very informative and helpful as I was researching about my bite problem. About a week ago I decided to consult an orthodontist for a more professional and proper diagnosis regarding my concern. I was a bit scared and embarassed at the same time. Scared because of the diagnosis that my problem could not be fix and embarassed that it took a very long time to finally have my teeth fix. Scared and embarassed as I was I decided to push through it and let me hear what I have to hear.

After she examined my teeth I found out that I have class 3 malocclusion. I do have an open bite and a cross bite too. She then sent me to xray to have a better look on what treatment is best for me to fix mu bite. My xray shows that I have a very shallow roots for my front teeth to grow to a proper height in order for my bite to close thus resulting to an open bite. My jaw is slightly tilted to the right due to improper bite and jaw development. I really don't what causes my cross bite. But my open bite is so severe that it leads to TMJ. I'm just so shocked and my migraine starts to tick after hearing all of those.

My dentist said that since I have handled my TMJ very well the past years and not really suffering from worst symptoms that it is a good chance to fix further damage that my open bite and tmj might cause me in the long run. She said that others opted for surgery as she was mentioning this I felt like fainting. Haha! But she suggested that I might cope well with Metal Braces. Braces will help correct my bite and reduce the symptoms of TMJ. So yay!

After the dreadful diagnosis we proceeded on making my dental impressions and she inserted several tooth separators which at first I found no discomfort but 24 hours later I can't even have my teeth touch each others surfaces due to the slight painful sensation in between my teeth. I'll be having my Braced Day this saturday morning and I'm hoping that it will be kind to me since I do have a lot of bite problems to fix.

[SunshineRay]

Good luck, you wont regret this decision in the end!

[newbite]

Congratulations on taking such a huge step!! I, too, have a class III bite and a crossbite and my ortho said that surgery would be ideal to advance my upper jaw but that I could probably make do without it. I also have TMJ issues (grinding, clenching, which is what initiated the braces process in the first place). I was extremely concerned that not being able to wear my nightguard while having braces would cause my teeth to crack and break, but amazingly I have apparently stopped grinding/clenching for the most part. Perhaps it's just the novelty of the braces, but for now at least I have relief. I did find that I was shifting my jaw around a lot once my teeth started to straighten (thrusting it forward and clicking my teeth) but once I got class III elastics that stopped entirely.

How big is your underbite? Mine is 3mm, so apparently borderline for surgery (it would be considered cosmetic and my insurance would laugh at a claim for it). If you have a significant underbite then you should really consider surgery if your insurance will cover it. At a certain point braces just can't physically make the necessary changes.

Your crossbite is probably (possibly) caused by an underdeveloped upper jaw, considering that you also have an underbite. At least, that's why I have a crossbite. They will try to fix it by expanding your upper arch so that your top teeth will shift to their proper place overlapping outside your lower teeth, instead of inside. If you can't physically get enough expansion in your top arch (without SARPE, etc) then they can also extract teeth from your lower arch to make it smaller and so fit inside your top arch.

Good luck on Saturday!! It will probably be rough the first week or so, but it does go away eventually and the braces do become part of your normal everyday life (hard as that is to believe at first!).