Are overbites in adults corrected with night braces?

[hadbracesonce]

I had braces as a teenager but I never did as I was told. I was rebellious to the core. I rarely wore my rubber bands meant to correct my overbite, ate foods that regularly broke my wires and when my braces came off at last, I was supposed to wear a mouthpiece in the evenings and while sleeping that was similar to a boxer's mouth guard, which I hated having in my mouth because it felt large, cumbersome and uncomfortable and I had to take it out just to talk or eat, so I didn't wear it at all.

My wisdom teeth came in impacted in my 20's and pushed all of my orthodontia around and pretty much wrecked it. My overbite remains, my teeth are maddeningly crooked and I SO want an "orthodontic do-over". I want braces again and this time I want to do it right. Being middle aged, would I wear a night brace? I wouldn't mind having to do this if it meant that it would fix my overbite. I didn't wear one before but my sister did and she never seemed to mind it, so it must not be that bad to wear one if I had to.

The biggest obstacle to getting braces this time is money. I don't know how much my dental insurance would cover and how much would be MY responsibility. I don't make, much money and things have been tight in this economy, but my overbite drives me nuts and so do my crooked teeth. If I could find an orthodontist who could give me braces without it costing every penny I have, I'd get 'em as soon as my dentist could give me the go-ahead to get them. I want them SO badly. I remember how much they hurt so since I've been there, done that, going around a second time, this time being much older, won't be so bad. I can take the pain and having a mouth full of metal for several years.

So if I do go ahead and get them to correct a bad overbite and crooked teeth, at my age (54), what can I expect? Anybody here ever do it that late in life and can share their experiences? I'm eager to hear what experiences people have had. I'm ready for traditional metal braces and appliances to fix the overbite. It's just the money issue getting in my way right now.

[josie]

Hi -

I'm 33 and have braces. I'm really glad I did it. I had removable appliances as a child and I also was very rebellious and didn't comply with the treatment plan, and then stopped wearing them early. But the treatment this time has been much less painful than when I was a child - I do believe that the newer self-ligating braces cause less discomfort than more traditional braces.

Your best bet is to go have some consults with some orthos, so they can give you a quote. Some orthos do consults for free, others you will have to pay for. Have a few different consults so you can choose who you feel most comfortable with.

[Sunny]

Good luck with being able to have orthodontic treatment again!

I started my ortho treatment in my late 40's and I'm about to finish it ... yah!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me it's been painfree and so easy!

Please go and see some ortho's and find out what they recommend and will charge to treat you.

By mouthpiece in the evenings after your braces were off ... are you referring to your retainers. If you are, they do need to be worn for life and that's usually either every night or three nights a week. Retainers are necessary because teeth continue to move for as long as we're alive, so we need to retain them if they're to stay where they moved to during orthodontic treatment.

Good luck finding a treatment plan that goes with the money you have available!

[hadbracesonce]

Last time I had braces, I had to wear my mouth guard from the time I came home from school until I woke up the next day. I hated having to do that and I couldn't talk to anyone or eat unless I took it out and then I had to put it right back in again. It made doing anything after school a near impossibility since I had this big bulky thing in my mouth. Being an already self conscious teenager, it didn't help having to walk around having to keep it in every day for so long. I couldn't go anywhere or do anything knowing I had that thing to wear all the time once I got home from school. It seemed like I spent more time in the bathroom having to brush and water-pik my braces than I did much of anything else. Every time I ate anything, I had to brush and water pik and then put the hated mouth guard back in again. Being on the varsity swim team meant we practiced after school and swim meets were also at that time, so I couldn't very well keep it in and hope to be able to swim and breathe at all. So my single minded devotion to swimming pretty much made me decide, to hell with the mouth guard if it's going to interfere with swimming. I got the braces off in November of 1972 and I started our High School's girls swim team in January 1973 (because as a result of a car accident in July 1971, I was no longer allowed to participate in impact sports, which had been my life in Junior High School, and failing being able to do those anymore, I had to do SOMETHING, so I spoke to our athletic director at the High School, conveniently my neighbor who knew of my bad accident. My doctors were suggesting swimming to rebuild my shrunken body and I took to that idea like a duck to water, so our High School AD helped me get the team started and it's still going strong to this day!). Once I began swimming, the mouth guard was kaput. So I never again wore it after that and my orthodontia went to hell and the moreso when I let my impacted wisdom teeth come in while I was in college.

I know I'd have to wear one again once I got braces on then off, but hopefully not for so many hours per day like I had to before! That was just too hard to manage when you're a social butterfly of a teenager.