Why did my cross-bite return after wearing braces?

Doctor's Answer

Relapse after orthodontic treatment is common especially if you had braces worn earlier on in life and motivation to consistently wear the retainer drops with time because patients are happy with what they see till the changes become more prominent.

Let's break up the two parts of your question into 2 parts: the relapsed crossbite and the bottom row shifting to the right.

Reasons for a relapse in crossbite can be due to

a. lack of retainer wear

b. prior incomplete orthodontic treatment

c. habits such as chewing on one side

d. underlying issues such as gum disease which causes instability in teeth alignment

Reasons for a bottom row shift is commonly due to a phenomena called 'late lower incisor crowding' and/or lack of retainer wear, which can happen in young adult life.

This leads me to my main question to you which would be, how much does the crossbite and lower teeth shift bother you?

There are always solutions and things we can do to correct that using orthodontic measures or perhaps veneers to mask the appearance but it all boils down to how much you are willing to commit to the treatment in terms of time and money which can be discussed after a proper examination and consultation is done.

I hope this helps and should you have any further questions feel free to ask more.

Have a great day ahead!

Regards,

Dr Beth

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