Re: Long-term effects of not having the surgery with an open bite.

[Guest guest]

i didn't know this but my OS poined out to me that i had an

extensive amount of caivities and they are all in the back..

basically because all s o[pen biters can only use our back teeth to

chew.. hence only our back teeth get doube the damage and workload..

it could lead to extensive cavities and tooth decay my OS told me..

trust me i didn't think it was anything to have surgery over

either.. but not ever having to worry about the size of a sandwich

before i bite into it.. is definately worth it to me

good luck

t

ps. i am just one week post op

>

> I have an open bite. Only 12 of my back teeth touch. I looked at

> pictures of myself back in high school and my open bite was barely

> there. However, ten years later it is noticeable. I am not

really

> concerned with the appearance. Friends have not noticed it unless

I

> point it out. However, I can't bite through anything. I have to

cut

> sandwiches into bites. My speech is off, and I have had problems

> with my child learning to talk by watching Mommy. She does not

know

> how to pronounce her 's'. I have pressure on my jaws in the back

> from trying to close. I look at these reasons, and yet I feel I

> could live with them. However, I have also been told there will

be

> long-term effects from not correcting an open bite. I see an oral

> surgeon next week. Do any of you know of the long-term effects? I

> would greatly appreciate any input.

>

> Larra

>

> P.S. Does anyone know of a reputable surgeon in Houston, Texas?

[Guest guest]

Hi Larra,

I had and open bite also. I only had my two back teeth touch on my

left side. I did not always have this, I am 35 now. I don't

remember when I first realized I did not have all my teeth touching,

but I do know that I used to be able to bite a nail and eat a

sandwich. I still can't eat a sandwich, my teeth are too

sensitive!! I hade surgery on November 5th. I am not at the point

yet where I think it was all worth it, BUT, I do NOT have any

headaches, something I had every day, and my friends say it is

strange talking to me on the phone because my speech is different.

I am sure when the numbness goes away totally, that I will have a

different outlook. My husband thougth I was crazy doing this

surgery, but, no one understands what it was like, and my open was

not noticeable to the average joe, but I could not even rest my jaw

on my hand without a problem. Please feel free to ask any specific

questions, if you need to.

bethanne

>

> I have an open bite. Only 12 of my back teeth touch. I looked at

> pictures of myself back in high school and my open bite was barely

> there. However, ten years later it is noticeable. I am not

really

> concerned with the appearance. Friends have not noticed it unless

I

> point it out. However, I can't bite through anything. I have to

cut

> sandwiches into bites. My speech is off, and I have had problems

> with my child learning to talk by watching Mommy. She does not

know

> how to pronounce her 's'. I have pressure on my jaws in the back

> from trying to close. I look at these reasons, and yet I feel I

> could live with them. However, I have also been told there will

be

> long-term effects from not correcting an open bite. I see an oral

> surgeon next week. Do any of you know of the long-term effects? I

> would greatly appreciate any input.

>

> Larra

>

> P.S. Does anyone know of a reputable surgeon in Houston, Texas?

[Guest guest]

Hi Larra,

I have open bite and only my 2 back molars touch on each side. I

have not always had this. I distictly remember being able to bite a

thread and skin off from sides of nails if they got torn. That was

almost 10 years ago and it got progressively worse. My dentist tells

me that when I began seeing her 3 years ago it was definitely not

this bad and I had 5 teeth touching on each side (I mean five bottom

and 5 up on each side). My chewing and headaches got very bad last

May and I saw an OD to see what she could do. I was shocked when I

learned that now the only solution will be braces and surgery which

I had never heard of before.

Apparently the already imbalanced system broke completely down after

I had to have a molar extracted. Since then (last May) life has been

hell. What I call chewing is basically just breaking food down into

portions I can swallow. This can lead to very serious problems of

the digestive system as stomachs are designed to digest and

not " chew " food. Besides it is a pain to go to see friends and they

offer foods people normally can eat and I am just like sitting there

and keep saying no thank you I can't eat this. It is very

humiliating in a way. I had and still have increible jaw joint pain

as there is so much pressure on them. For some reason I now have

less headaches but I still have more than it would be acceptable.

If this is not corrected the joints suffer and then you end up with

something even more serious. I have had pain in the only teeth that

touch that resembles that of a tooth with an untreated cavity while

there is nothing wrong with it. It is just under so much pressure

that you have to give it a day or two to rest. Worst of all your

back teeth will wear very fast. (and be full of cavities as someone

else already pointed out and then eventually you lose the teeth

you " chew " with).

As for speech. We compensate the physical defects by changing the

position of forming sounds. I was told to go to a speech therapist

before I got my braces on to correct my 's''z'and 'ch' sounds as I

was not forming them with my tongue behind my bottom front teeth but

behind my upper front teeth and after surgery this would start

pushing teeth back to where they were. It is not easy even now that

I can correctly say them (mostly) becase they don't come out right.

But at least I am now aware of this. (I am Hungarian so we form

sounds slightly differently from English but mostly the same. Except

that in Hunagrian we don't have the sounds like at the beginning

of 'think' and 'though' which confuses me as you kind of push your

tongue in between teeth and thsi is the one thing you are not

supposed to do in Hungarian. I will have to learn to speak two

languages again as I am an English teacher.)

You should go and see a few doctors and see what they have to say

but I recommend speech therapy as well as it halps in relaxing those

tired jaws as well.

Hope this helped,

Good luck with your decision

Karola

p.s.: I am at the beginning of this whole process and have had my

braces on for 3 weeks so I have a long way to go. I sometimes would

just like to tear these wires off and go on with my life as this is

hard work but I have to do this for myself to be able to enjoy

things like proper food again and to improve the quality of my life

in general. I know I will benefit form this for decades so the 2

years ahead don't seem too long (at least from this perspective).

[Guest guest]

Hi Larra,

I have open bite and only my 2 back molars touch on each side. I

have not always had this. I distictly remember being able to bite a

thread and skin off from sides of nails if they got torn. That was

almost 10 years ago and it got progressively worse. My dentist tells

me that when I began seeing her 3 years ago it was definitely not

this bad and I had 5 teeth touching on each side (I mean five bottom

and 5 up on each side). My chewing and headaches got very bad last

May and I saw an OD to see what she could do. I was shocked when I

learned that now the only solution will be braces and surgery which

I had never heard of before.

Apparently the already imbalanced system broke completely down after

I had to have a molar extracted. Since then (last May) life has been

hell. What I call chewing is basically just breaking food down into

portions I can swallow. This can lead to very serious problems of

the digestive system as stomachs are designed to digest and

not " chew " food. Besides it is a pain to go to see friends and they

offer foods people normally can eat and I am just like sitting there

and keep saying no thank you I can't eat this. It is very

humiliating in a way. I had and still have increible jaw joint pain

as there is so much pressure on them. For some reason I now have

less headaches but I still have more than it would be acceptable.

If this is not corrected the joints suffer and then you end up with

something even more serious. I have had pain in the only teeth that

touch that resembles that of a tooth with an untreated cavity while

there is nothing wrong with it. It is just under so much pressure

that you have to give it a day or two to rest. Worst of all your

back teeth will wear very fast. (and be full of cavities as someone

else already pointed out and then eventually you lose the teeth

you " chew " with).

As for speech. We compensate the physical defects by changing the

position of forming sounds. I was told to go to a speech therapist

before I got my braces on to correct my 's''z'and 'ch' sounds as I

was not forming them with my tongue behind my bottom front teeth but

behind my upper front teeth and after surgery this would start

pushing teeth back to where they were. It is not easy even now that

I can correctly say them (mostly) becase they don't come out right.

But at least I am now aware of this. (I am Hungarian so we form

sounds slightly differently from English but mostly the same. Except

that in Hunagrian we don't have the sounds like at the beginning

of 'think' and 'though' which confuses me as you kind of push your

tongue in between teeth and thsi is the one thing you are not

supposed to do in Hungarian. I will have to learn to speak two

languages again as I am an English teacher.)

You should go and see a few doctors and see what they have to say

but I recommend speech therapy as well as it halps in relaxing those

tired jaws as well.

Hope this helped,

Good luck with your decision

Karola

p.s.: I am at the beginning of this whole process and have had my

braces on for 3 weeks so I have a long way to go. I sometimes would

just like to tear these wires off and go on with my life as this is

hard work but I have to do this for myself to be able to enjoy

things like proper food again and to improve the quality of my life

in general. I know I will benefit form this for decades so the 2

years ahead don't seem too long (at least from this perspective).

[Guest guest]

Possible long-term effects include TMJ trouble, pain, headaches;

cracking teeth; wearing teeth down; destructive bite -- and the

general frustration of problems in eating.

Cammie

I did not have an open bite; this is just what friends have shared

over the years.

>

> I have an open bite. Only 12 of my back teeth touch. I looked at

> pictures of myself back in high school and my open bite was barely

> there. However, ten years later it is noticeable. I am not really

> concerned with the appearance. Friends have not noticed it unless

I

> point it out. However, I can't bite through anything. I have to

cut

> sandwiches into bites. My speech is off, and I have had problems

> with my child learning to talk by watching Mommy. She does not know

> how to pronounce her 's'. I have pressure on my jaws in the back

> from trying to close. I look at these reasons, and yet I feel I

> could live with them. However, I have also been told there will be

> long-term effects from not correcting an open bite. I see an oral

> surgeon next week. Do any of you know of the long-term effects? I

> would greatly appreciate any input.

>

> Larra

>

> P.S. Does anyone know of a reputable surgeon in Houston, Texas?

[Guest guest]

I was told that yes these things you mention are possible but

certainly not definite. I had surgery not for fear of what may happen

if I did not, but really for cosmetic reasons. I hated the way the

open bite looked.

> >

> > I have an open bite. Only 12 of my back teeth touch. I looked at

> > pictures of myself back in high school and my open bite was barely

> > there. However, ten years later it is noticeable. I am not really

> > concerned with the appearance. Friends have not noticed it unless

> I

> > point it out. However, I can't bite through anything. I have to

> cut

> > sandwiches into bites. My speech is off, and I have had problems

> > with my child learning to talk by watching Mommy. She does not know

> > how to pronounce her 's'. I have pressure on my jaws in the back

> > from trying to close. I look at these reasons, and yet I feel I

> > could live with them. However, I have also been told there will be

> > long-term effects from not correcting an open bite. I see an oral

> > surgeon next week. Do any of you know of the long-term effects? I

> > would greatly appreciate any input.

> >

> > Larra

> >

> > P.S. Does anyone know of a reputable surgeon in Houston, Texas?