As an orthodontic patient, I caught a lingual tipping deep overbite. Deep overbite means when you bite, the upper front teeth will cover more than one third of the lower front teeth. The deep overbite caused my teeth to wear badly, my mandibular retrusion, my masseter muscles over developed, and my face joints clicking.
I brushed my teeth once when I was in junior high school, and I felt that a piece of my lower front teeth were suddenly missing. At that time I asked my parents, they told me that it should have been dental calculus. I did not care it first, but I always feel that a piece of my teeth are missing.
Afterwards, my face starts to sore every time I chew something for a while. The face joint made a clicking noise when yawning. And sometimes it is difficult to open my mouth wide.
After I had a job, a colleague of mine wanted to go to orthodontics. I accompanied her to go. I also asked orthodontist to help me check my teeth and found that I had a deep overbite.
Normal teeth are neatly arranged and about the same height. But my molar is shorter than other teeth, so when I eat things each time with the molar, because the distance between the upper and lower molars is longer than ordinary people, I have to use stronger power to bite.
As a result, the upper front teeth will bite deeply and even cover the lower front teeth completely. This will cause excessive wear on the lower front teeth, and masseter muscles are particularly developed.
The principle of orthodontics for deep overbite patient is to lower the front teeth and raise the molars. To put it simply, make the front teeth shorter and the molars longer to make the teeth at the same height and neatly arrange. Lowering and raising teech after calculation by the professional orthodontist will not damage the teeth.
Invisible and metal braces.
1. Invisible braces
1.1 Advantages
1.1.1 Beautiful.
The doctor will make precise calculations based on the condition of the teeth, and then make many pairs of invisible braces.
During the orthodontic process, the patient only needs to return visit regularly and then put on the invisible braces. Invisible braces are hard to find out, so it will not be as ugly as the metal braces.
1.1.2 Comfortable.
In the process, if you wear metal braces, there will be some cases that the braces may stick to your face or other uncomfortable situations. For a while, I even had hyperplasia of the parotid glands because of the long braces friction.
However, there is a way to solve this problem, which I will talk about later. The invisible orthosis will not bring this kind of trouble at all, and it is very comfortable to wear.
1.1.3 You can eat almost everything.
In the process, if you wear metal braces, there will be some cases that the braces may stick to your face or other uncomfortable situations. For a while, I even had hyperplasia of the parotid glands because of the long braces friction.
However, there is a way to solve this problem, which I will talk about later. The invisible orthosis will not bring this kind of trouble at all, and it is very comfortable to wear.
1.2 Disadvantages
1.2.1 Only applicable to simple teeth problem like simple irregular arrangement.
For a complex condition like deep overbite, the effect is not as good as metal orthotics.
1.2.2 Need to clean.
If you want to achieve the best correction effect, it is best to wear it when eating, but this way, you need to brush your teeth and clean your braces every time after you eat.
2. Metal braces
There are many types of metal braces and it is better to learn it from a doctor.
2.1. Advantage
2.1.1 Good effect.
2.2 Disadvantages
2.2.1 Uncomfortable.
But this uncomfortable feeling will only happen occasionally. For example, the braces will stab the face and there will be friction. Generally this will not happen just after adjustment, but as the teeth move, the position of archwire will also change.
If this happens, you need to ask the orthodontist to help you adjust it, or buy some dental wax to solve this problem.
2.2.2 Eating more carefully.
Chewing a particularly hard object may cause the bracket to come off, which will prolong the treatment time. It is also necessary to re-stick it to the teeth immediately.
2.2.3 Not pretty.
You can imagine how embarrassing it is to leak a row of braces every time you laugh. But when you and the people around you are used to it, this is not a problem.
2.2.4 It is easier to get food impaction and trouble cleaning teeth.
Invisible braces will also cause teeth gaps, but metal braces will not only make food impaction in the gaps between teeth, but also between the braces and teeth. This makes tooth cleaning very difficult.
In the end, I chose metal braces, because deep overbite is a little complicated. My friend chose invisible one for her teeth were just not tidy enough. Then I started my orthodontics.
Detailed Process of Treatment
First of all, I’m asked to take teeth x-rayed, then take the model of the teeth, and finally the orthodontist told me the treatment plan and the possible risks. I have three teeth that may prevent the treatment, two wisdom teeth and one supernumerary tooth.
Before I put on the braces, I chose to pull out the 3 teeth first, although some teeth can be pulled out after putting braces. After everything was ready, the doctor began to put on braces for me.
The whole process lasted about half an hour without any discomfort. The doctor first just put braces on my upper teeth, because my symptom is a deep overbite. If the upper and lower teeth are fitted with braces at the same time, the upper teeth will often bite off the bracket of lower teeth.
In fact, there is a small tool to solve this problem, which is the flat bite plate. But it would be very uncomfortable to wear, so the doctor first tried to correct the upper teeth without it.
There was no discomfort right after it was put on, but when I went to sleep, I obviously felt tooth pain. In the next day, it is hard for me to chew food, even eggs and breads as even if it is only a slight chew, it will be very sore.
This soreness lasted for about a week before it was completely over. I had to make a living by eating liquid food. I lost 7 pounds in this short week.
After my teeth no longer sore, I started to eat and drink normally. With the exception of some hard and cumbersome foods, I ate just like ordinary people.
But it didn’t take long for the archwire to break when eating. So I resorted to my orthodontist and she replaced me with a new archwire, but it didn’t take long for the new archwire to break again.
The doctor thought that I had a tooth that is too stubborn, so every time that tooth moved with the help of the braces, it will return to the original state when chewing. The back and forth switching in this state broke the archwire.
So, I entered the second stage of treatment. The doctor still chose to use the flat bite plate. This is my flat bite plate.
The first step is to take the mold, and then customize the plate. One week later the plate was made and I put it on.
It feels strange. After wearing it, I can’t speak clearly for several days and can’t chew things like before. It prevented my deep overbite, and my upper and lower molars were completely untouchable.
During this time, I chose to eat something a bit little larger in size, otherwise I would be unable to chew and grind food at all. It’s incredible that after two or three months of wearing it, my molar has become the same height as other teeth. And I could chew food as normal.
Then I started the third stage of treatment that I put braces on the lower teeth.
While putting the braces on the lower teeth, the flat bite plate was not taken because it can prevent the upper teeth from biting off the bracket of the lower teeth.
When the upper and lower teeth bit without touching the bracket, the flat bite plate was taken off. During this time, may bracket were off for 2 times and then never lost any more.
The improvement of deep overbite took about a year, and every one and a half months went to regular return visit. During the visit, the orthodontist will put on a thicker archwire.
Every three or four days after the adjustment, the teeth will still be sore, but it is much easier than when I just put on the brace. The tooth that broke the wire was too stubborn.
The other teeth have been neatly arranged, only that tooth was still not in the correct position. So the doctor decided to implant a bone screw in my teeth to help traction.
Implanted a bone screw were not as painful as imagined and were much easier than tooth extraction. It’s just that anesthesia injection was really painful.
The process was about ten minutes. I can clearly felt the doctor tightening bone screw with a tool. This experience is really unforgettable. Bone screw had little effect on daily life.
The time for revisiting after bone screw implanted would be longer. The next visit was in two months. After taking off the bone screw, the entire treatment is nearing completion.
In addition to the deep overbite, my teeth were lingual tipping, and doctor needed to help me adjust it to a normal state gradually.
After one and a half year treatment in total, I took off the braces. And there is another most key point to keep your teeth beautiful which is to wear the retainer, otherwise the teeth will rebound.
Especially for deep overbite, the retainer needs to be worn for a long time. It may take three years, it may take five years, or it may take longer. However, the holder is transparent, so the teeth are normal and beautiful while wearing it.
In order to maintain the good state, I should insist on wearing it for a long time.
Notice in the orthodontic process
1. Teeth cleaning.
You must remember to brush your teeth every time you eat, otherwise it will be partly yellow and partly white after removing the braces, which is very ugly.
If the cleaning is not done properly, it will also cause gum inflammation, which will prolong the process. There are four amazing tools are used for tooth cleaning during orthodontics: toothbrush, water flosser, floss and floss threader.
When your teeth are full of food debris, brush your teeth first, and then use a water flosser to remove most of the food impaction. Generally, these two tools are enough.
However, at some stages, food impaction will be particularly difficult to clear, even if the water flosser is used, there will still be residues. At this time, you need to use dental floss and floss threader.
After using the floss threader to let the floss pass through the wire, you can use the floss normally to get the food impaction out.
2. Do not eat food that is hard or needs to be torn.
This behavior can easily make the bracket fall off. Each drop will make your correction time longer. Be careful if you want to end the treatment soon. All other foods can be eaten normally.
3. Tell your orthodontist about any discomfort.
I will consult my orthodontist every time I have any discomfort. On the one hand, it is to reassure yourself, on the one hand, to avoid that if other problems occur, but the doctor does not know that and treatment cannot be done in time.
4. Prepare dental wax.
If you choose metal braces, dental wax will definitely be used. Whenever you feel the braces are uncomfortable, you can stick a small piece on the wire. So there will be no problems such as inflammation or pain in a certain part of the mouth due to friction or hyperplasia of the parotid gland.
Final Words
That’s all my orthodontic experience and I’m quite satisfied with the result. I can eat food without sore and I look better. Oral health is so important, and there is not a strict age limitation to orthodontics. The oldest patient of my orthodontist is 60 years old. But of course, the older you are, the process will be longer and harder.
Update
As an update, I’m so glad to tell you I take off the brace. My teeth are healthy and beatiful now!
But I have to wear retainer for over 22 hours/d, and need to take it off before eating and brush teeth after that.
