The 'perfect' smile - Page 6

qwerty · December 4th, 2008, 06:12 PM

I had a perfectly good eyetooth shaved down and crowned for a straighter smile. 5 + years of orthodontics and oral surgery (because the eyetooth was impacted in the roof of my mouth) could not get the eyetooth in perfect or permanent alignment with the rest of my teeth. The surgeon must have chipped too much bone away because the tooth planted itself about a 1/4 of a cm behind my natural toothline, resulting in a bit of a jumbled smile. I had a veneer on it for years (which built the tooth up to the toothline) but then a crown seemed like the best solution and so far 10 years later, I've had no complaints. I spent a lot of time with the dental tech making sure the crown looked natural and matched my natural teeth color.

I still have bit of an overbite though which I've been thinking about getting corrected. It's not noticeable to others but for some reason, it's started to bother me. Maybe because I just noticed that I have one and we all have to pick on something about our physical selves.

Shinola · December 4th, 2008, 06:51 PM

^^ I have been wondering if for my one iffy tooth a crown might work.

Ya know, I think a mild overbite is sort of cute. How would you go about correcting it?

qwerty · December 5th, 2008, 09:13 AM

^^I just did some cursory research on correcting an adult overbite. Looks like some kind of bite plate or jaw surgery are the options. I doubt I would opt for the surgery. The correction I need (well want) is minor.

Shinola · December 5th, 2008, 01:08 PM

^^ The surgery (orthognathic surgery) is kind of a big deal. I opted not to have it, myself.

I don't know anything about bite plates.

There are at least a couple of other approaches to working with the teeth. One is called "Inman aligners"--I think these are touted as an alternative for people who want their smile fixed but don't want braces, sort of the potential veneers crowd. I have no clue whether these can help with the bite, but I'm guessing not? Might be something for the OP to look into, though.

There's something called "orthotropics," but I think it's only for kids.

Lastly, there's "functional orthodontics," and I think this can treat adults. The point is to deal with the jaw, so this might be an option for you, qwerty.

t13nif · December 5th, 2008, 01:34 PM

Invisalign can help with bite problems--that's one of the reasons i decided to get them. My teeth have shifted in a way that i cannot make a biting surface in the front, making it impossible to bite and tear anything but the thickest food. You should see me trying to eat pizza! I fully expect to have a normal bite when i'm through

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DeadDwarf · December 5th, 2008, 02:58 PM

^ From what I understand, invisalign can help with MINOR bite problems.

I had to get traditional braces to correct my bite. My front teeth went too far down when I smiled, so you could barely see any of my bottom teeth.

I had to get bumpers places behind the back of my front teeth, so when I bit down, my teeth couldn't touch each other. It was like that for a year, I was unable to chew thin things last lettuce. I kind of mashed stuff so I couldn't eat a lot of foods.

Then I was upgraded to a bite plate, which pretty much did the same thing my bumpers did. When I went to bite, my lower teeth would hit the bite plate and my teeth couldn't touch each other. I had that for months.

I don't know if my description is making sense, but those were my bite issues.

Anyway, orthodontics me helped big time. I use to have clicking in my jaw and sometimes it would pop because my bite wasn't correct. Plus my lower teeth were wearing down badly and my front teeth were chippes slightly from the bite problems. I also clentched my teeth in my sleep and had headaches. I don't have those problems anymore.

I recommend to go to a orthodontist if you want to improve the look of your teeth. Some people can get veneers and be fine, but a lot of people have bite issues and will destroy their teeth if they don't correct the real problems.

AliceInWonderland · December 5th, 2008, 05:37 PM

i would live with the imperfection if its slight. the most beautiful beings have them too

t13nif · December 5th, 2008, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadDwarf

^ From what I understand, invisalign can help with MINOR bite problems.

I had to get traditional braces to correct my bite. My front teeth went too far down when I smiled, so you could barely see any of my bottom teeth.

I had to get bumpers places behind the back of my front teeth, so when I bit down, my teeth couldn't touch each other. It was like that for a year, I was unable to chew thin things last lettuce. I kind of mashed stuff so I couldn't eat a lot of foods.

Then I was upgraded to a bite plate, which pretty much did the same thing my bumpers did. When I went to bite, my lower teeth would hit the bite plate and my teeth couldn't touch each other. I had that for months.

I don't know if my description is making sense, but those were my bite issues.

Anyway, orthodontics me helped big time. I use to have clicking in my jaw and sometimes it would pop because my bite wasn't correct. Plus my lower teeth were wearing down badly and my front teeth were chippes slightly from the bite problems. I also clentched my teeth in my sleep and had headaches. I don't have those problems anymore.

I recommend to go to a orthodontist if you want to improve the look of your teeth. Some people can get veneers and be fine, but a lot of people have bite issues and will destroy their teeth if they don't correct the real problems.

I had regular braces for 4 years when i was a teen,. along with pre-molar extractions, teeth shaving, wisdom teeth out, etc. etc. From examples i have seen, Invisalign can correct bite problems, but i'm not an expert so i don't know whether they can do it for anything more than minor. I know what they are planning to do with my teeth / bite and i don't think it would be possible with regular braces (they are expanding my arch). In anycase, i am a clencher and my jaw pops all the time. I am plagued with headaches. At the moment, all of that is actually worse, because i can tell that my bite is shifting. Can't wait till it gets better.

DitaPage* · December 5th, 2008, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinola

^^ Lord, I wish there were some easier way than braces to fix a bad bite. I hate these metal mofos in my mouth. But now that my teeth are almost done, I have fewer headaches. I used to have a headache at least every other day. I also think my face looks better overall.

Mouth breathing can't be fun. It would have to dry out the mouth!

I hear ya, my braces weren't a huge problem, but they did give me headaches alot, especially when I had to wear those awful elastics! It makes you think the mouth just wasn't designed for it! And it really makes a difference to your face, I agree. I think braces are worth it, i really do. Even though they are a pain. Mine were clear though as well so no one really noticed.

It's all worth it, so hang in there! The day I got them off I was ecstatic. It wears off though, the excitement haha. Nothing beats when the ortho shows you your teeth for the first time. Plus they feel so clean and slimy! And you can't help but smile, it's like your mouth is so happy they're gone too haha. As for the procedure; it takes longer to get them off than it does to put them on, I think! But it doesn't hurt. I know its so weird but i got used to being worked on after all those appointments, and i could just lie back and relax. So it wasn't painful but I did start to get shitty. Like 'is it ALMOST DONE!?'

And yeah my mouth was like a desert. I had no saliva, so I had trouble with swallowing food too. It's also a really bad practice and the ortho was concerned about that too.