I Don't Know What To Do!

[Blondii428]

I've wanted to get braces for awhile now because I have a bad overbite, minimal upper crowding, and moderate lower crowing. I went to an Ortho earlier this week and he proposed a bite plate, clear bracket upper braces, and metal lower braces.

My first concern was the lower metal braces. I'm 21 years old and will be graduating college, looking for a career, getting married soon, and don't want them to be too noticeble. He said that the clear brackets are made of porcelain which can wear away at the tooth enamal of the opposing teeth they touch. He wants metal braces on the bottom because my overbite would cause erosion of the enamal of the upper teeth they touch.

My second concern is wearing the bite plate at the same time as the braces. I'm worried that this will be very painful, I will not be able to eat or talk at all, and will freak out with so much being in my mouth at one time.

Here is my proposal, but I'm not sure if it would work: I wear the bite plate until my bite is fixed and then wear clear bracket braces on both my upper and lower teeth.

But does anyone know how long a bite plate would most likely need to be worn? Also, would it then be okay to wear clear braces on the bottom or does nobody wear clear on the bottom?

Thanks guys, I need all the advice I can get...I go in for my bite plate impression tomorow and am scheduled to get the braces in one week so I need to decide FAST!

[mariahfromchicago]

Ceramic uppers, metal lowers is common. The lowers don't really show when talking. Sorry, but I don't know about the bite plate.

[Sunny]

Welcome to this forum Blondii!

Firstly I advise you to have further consultations, so you can compare what other orthodontist's recommend as the best treatment for your bite.

Ceramic brackets can be worn on both arches, but there is a risk of damaging the enamel, if teeth come into contact with these brackets, due to there hardness. Ceramic uppers and stainless lowers is preferred for patients who risk this. For patients who do not want stainless steel brackets, we offer upper lingual brackets (ibraces) and lower ceramic brackets. Also one ortho were I work has a few clients wearing upper ceramic brackets and lower invisalign, where the lower teeth need minor correction. There are options.

I've not experienced a bite plate, but I've seen a few patients with them to help open a deep bite. There appears to be an adjustment period, during which speech may be affected for a short period of time. When wearing a bite pate, it is normal for the back teeth to not meet all the way. It may take a few weeks to completely adjust to this, but the patients I've met said they adjusted within a couple of weeks.

The length of time for wearing a bite plate I'm not real sure about, but I've heard talk of 3-6 months, and I'd think maybe longer, depending on how your teeth respond to treatment.

With regard to you getting married while having ortho treatment, ask the ortho's you consult with, how they would feel re you having your front brackets removed for that occassion ... if that's what you'd like. Last week one of our patients had her upper front eight brackets removed on the Wednesday, married on the Saturday, replaced this Tuesday, before leaving on her honeymoon. She did pay a small fee for this service, but it was something she was happy to do. She has ceramic brackets on her lowers, and they don't show, so she didn't have them removed.

Good luck, and please don't begin your treatment, until you're confident you've explored your options and are making the best decisions for you!

[Blondii428]

Today I decided that I am going to get the bite plate and upper clear bracket braces on my upper teeth. This way, once my bite is corrected I will be able to put the clear brackets on my lower teeth. I hope this works out and that they don't tell me they still won't be able to The lady that did my impressions mentioned staying away from clear bands..she says they stain really easily and that I should go with light pink. Does this sound correct?

[Sunny]

Blondii all ligatures (O rings) stain, but usually the lighter the shade, the more obvious it is to us ... it doesn't really seem obvious to anyone else though. Clear and tooth coloured appear to stain the quickest, followed by light pastel shades. Blue will turn a green shade if stained by yellow foods and so on.

If you like coloured ligs, wear them. You'll most likely find that no one else notices them. I've mostly worn purple and black and love those two shades, as I eat and drink loads of staining foods. Grey turns a fluro green/yellow on me, and the light colours fade and look murky really quickly due to my diet.

Where I work, we offer fine silver wire ties and white teflon coated wire ties for people who don't want colours and are worried about staining.

Good luck with making your decisions!