Friday, July 13, 2012

REALLY Open Bite

My orthodontist told me at the beginning of this process that my bite would get MUCH worse before surgery, but I didn't believe him. I thought "How could my teeth look ANY worse than they already are?" Oh my, was he right. My bite is so open I can stick out my tongue while completely biting down. If it was just aesthetics, I wouldn't even mention it, but the biggest thing I'm dealing now is the way I speak! I have developed a CRAZY lisp. I think I had a bit of one before the braces, but now it's a full blown speech impediment. I didn't realize how bad it was until I tried to make a video about a month ago for a post. I was shocked (horrified) when I played it back.  I cringe every time I speak!

Here's a comparison of my original vs. new, more open bite:


5 comments:

  1. Same here. My overbite has gotten so bad. It's like they say... The worse your bite gets, the closer to surgery. Or somthin like that lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had a similar open bite to yours now for many years. And the lisp was really annoying. I was able to compensate most of the time, but had to always concentrate. I learned to form my S's and T's on the roof of my mouth instead of on my teeth. But, when I was really tired, drunk, or my jaw hurt badly, the annoying lisp was there. It will go away after surgery. I bit the tip of my tounge A LOT before I figured it out though. Hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm 2 weeks from surgery, and my overbite is soooo bad, I spit when I talk, and struggle to keep my mouth closed when I eat! We have to hang in there!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I remember thinking the same thing! How could my bit POSSIBLY get worse? Well, it is - but I am less than 2 weeks from surgery. I too, can stick out my tongue while biting down (I have an underbite though) and have also developed a lisp, which is a problem because I'm a speech therapist who is supposed to teach children the correct way to say their sounds (palm to face) I know it will resolve after my surgery, but it is still frustrating. I have to be very conscious of my tongue placement of /s/ and /t/. Making sure your tongue tip is placed on the bony ridge behind your top teeth is a good physical cue to make for /s/ sound correct! Hope that helps a little bit

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that we all have/had the same problem. T.Smith, how terrible to have this issue as a speech therapist! Thanks for the tips and good luck everyone with surgery!!

    ReplyDelete