Are my teeth reall "good enough"

[phasedarray32]

I had braces on and had to have upper and lower orthognathic surgery about 2 years ago to fix a bad type 3 underbite.

I got my braces off about 18 months ago and still wear my retainer every day or every other day at least. Concern I have is that if you look at the following pictures below...

http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...3232/teeth.jpg
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...3232/right.jpg
http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/o...y3232/left.jpg

You will see that first of all both of my back teeth do not even come close to touching. That part does not really bother me to much.

The part that does is that my back 3 teeth do not touch on my left side. The teeth finally touch on my 4th from the back molar.
On my right side, my 2nd from the back molar does barely touch, then the next 2 smaller molars in front do not come close to touching, and then finally makes contact with my right canine tooth.

When I got my braces off, both my orthodontist and surgeon said "that was good enough".

Now I have pictures that were taken 18 months ago of my teeth and after closely looking at those, my teeth did not shift at all. I had the same gaps and contacts as I did when I got my braces off. Should I be concerned. I haven't really been to concerned until a month ago. Would this cause and issue in the future with any other problems due to the fact that my back right has a back molar contacting but my left side does not have any of the back 3 molars contacting.

Yes I do have an essex type slip cover retainer. I questioned my orthodontist and he said that does not matter and if your teeth will settle, they will settle in this type of retainer. I am doubting that, is doesnt sound right logically.

Thanks for any help

[Sunny]

Hi phasedarray and welcome to this forum.

Your teeth look amazing from the front, but I can see the areas you're concerned about at the back.

you say your teeth haven't changed since you had your braces removed, which is good, as it means the retainers are working. But I can see that your concern is whether your orthodontist and surgeon's comment that "that was good enough", is in fact correct.

You can consult with more orthodontist if you wish and see what they say. Long term there may be some issues with chewing, but you need to talk to a professional to find out if that will affect you or not.

Good luck!

[Zoso]

I wonder if their hope was that your posterior teeth would settle into a better occlusion during retention; what type of retainer are you in? Is it the Hawley (acrylic plate, with a wire that runs in front of the teeth) or a slipcover (commonly referred to as Essix - similar in appearance to an Invisalign tray)? If you're in slipcover retainers, there's no way that your bite would settle, but if you're in Hawleys, it certainly is not uncommon for the posterior teeth to settle into a better bite during retention.

But obviously that's not happened, so I suppose that's all a bit academic. Point is that you have a posterior openbite, and I'd say that constitutes a functional issue. If I were you, I'd not only contact my former orthodontist and seek a consultation there, but I'd also schedule consultations with one or more other orthodontists. Definitely mention your previous treatment when you see other providers.

Hope you manage to get it sorted.

[mikeg]

your teeth look very good.. i would put the minor details behind you and not worry about it... you did great by getting your teeth to that level.. most people would kill for that bite

[Zoso]

I wouldn't call a significant open bite a minor detail, Mike. If someone is unable properly to chew their food, then this can lead to difficulties with digestion. I'd also think that the few teeth that can chew would, as a result, be subjected to excessive wear.

[eatyourpeas]

I was also wondering if you had an essex type (slip cover) retainer.