So I am at the 'end' of my journey with braces and it seems like all the problems are now starting. And despite my insistence that things are wrong my ortho keeps saying all is well, to trust him, leave it be, take the braces off and wait eight weeks to see.
The issues are as follows...
My bite seemed pretty good except for a slight gap on the right side. I was put in elastics for a brief period of time to close that. In his own words it would be "mostly downward force with a little backwards".
When I was done with that the gap was well closed and that was great. Problem was I felt the backward force had left me with not enough room in my mouth for my lower set of teeth to sit properly. Whereas before the lower teeth made full contact and sat BEHIND the upper front teeth, now I was left with either having my jaw sit too far back in an uncomfortable position so that once more my teeth would be in full contact and the lower front sat behind the upper front, OR I could let me jaw sit in its natural position which would leave the bottom front teeth resting on the upper front teeth with none of the other teeth in contact.
I wanted to just move the front teeth forward and be done.
Originally he said my overjet was great, but the elastics clearly reduced that to a level where it was previously and at which point he insisted we needed more. It makes no sense to me.
So now my jaw is sitting in a forced back position. His original suggestion was to use elastics to pull more teeth down but this again made no sense because why would I pull teeth down? There is not enough room. My jaw sits in a sore position. Even if all the teeth were in contact in the new position my mandible is resting too far back.
His claim is that taking braces off the teeth will move and this somehow will result in my bite coming good again. Can anyone confirm this? To me it sounds like crap and I see no reason not to move my top teeth forward just half a mm to resolve my issues.
Since the elastics I've also developed some soreness / TMJ that I've NEVER in my life before had, and which I believe to be the result of my chewing now being done with my jaw in an unnatural position. I also find that for the first time in my life when I jut my jaw forward (to move it into a comfortable position) I get popping noises in the joints. Again, all signs to me that the jaw is TOO FAR BACK and needs more room created.
His claim to this was that it was a soft-tissue issue and I would need a splint.
What is everyone's opinion here? Do they knew what he is talking about with the teeth moving? Is it legit? Because right now my feeling is that there is no way in hell I'm taking my braces off with these kinds of problems. Even though he tells me orthodontics can't be too precise, I don't see why I couldn't get elastics to gently move the top teeth forward a little, and when I personally feel the bite is good just stop. Surely that would be good enough?
I'm also strongly considering contacting another orthodontist for a second opinion.
