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I also had four healthy teeth pulled to make room for braces. In my case it was the upper and lower premolars on either side. Those are the ones immediately behind the canines. It wasn't fun, but I can't say it impacted my appearance, as those teeth aren't normally visible when you smile anyway. Once the orthodontics was done, the gap was closed completely.
As far as teeth moving around an unfilled gap, I did have to have one of my upper incisors pulled later (which wasn't related to having braces) and my teeth have not shifted in spite of the fact that I haven't had the hole filled.
anyone here have their teeth filed as well after or during braces? such as ipr, which is an alternative to extractions in which they shave off minute amounts of enamel??
Shaving enamel and pulling teeth are very common to orthodontics. In the great, great majority of cases everything turns out just fine. When things go wrong, it's not usually associated with pulling or shaving teeth. It is also very common for teeth to move if you don't wear your retainer (or get a bonded retainer).
I didn;t read all the other poster's info, but I will tell you about our experience.
My daughter is 7 and has NO room in her mouth for her permanent teeth. She only has the 2 front ones on top and they are overlapping on top of each other. The dentist that we consulted with suggested a palate expander. He said that it is very "old school" to insist on pulling teeth in children to make more room. It can lead to sunken cheeks and is only used as a last resort these days. While I was hesitant to get an orthodontic device for such a young child, we decided that we were comfortable with his diagnosis. He is very young, recently out of dental school and this does seem to be the new trend. Also, I like that the palate expander is undo-able, whereas pulling permanent teeth would be... well, permanent. She has had the expander for about a month and will be wearing it for at least a year. It has made such a difference already! She never complains about pain, though it is a little uncomfortable. It is pretty expensive ($950) and our insurance doesn't cover it. She is already starting to feel more confident about her smile, so to me it is worth it.
Our daughter had a very small palate.........Baby teeth were pulled to make room, and she has gorgeous teeth now. The braces worked to line everything up.
Our other daughter had 8 baby teeth pulled at 16! They just would not exit.........
The braces then worked well with another function done to drag down the eye teeth( they would not come into place)
A fantastic smile she has........
I don't know about the new contraption, but the old way worked quite well.
My 8 year old daughter is getting braces and the orthodontist recommends pulling 2 upper baby teeth to make room. Will she only need the baby teeth extracted or will she need oral surgery to remove the permanent teeth as well? Can someone let me know, worried Mom.
My 8 year old daughter is getting braces and the orthodontist recommends pulling 2 upper baby teeth to make room. Will she only need the baby teeth extracted or will she need oral surgery to remove the permanent teeth as well? Can someone let me know, worried Mom.
You answered your own question. You said "the orthodontist recommends pulling 2 upper baby teeth to make room."
What prompted you to ask if they'd need to remove permanent teeth in addition to baby teeth, when the ortho already told you he recommends only two baby teeth?
Hi my 11 year old daughter needs braces and the ortho says that she needs 2top and 2 bottom teeth removed to make room.. i've never heard of this and after reading on the internet about it alot of people say to get 2nd opinion. alot of dentist dont want to take the time to fix the teeth that are already there. so now if i do get it done wont she have spaces in her mouth until braces get put on?with school starting and all i dont want her to look funny.
anyone else experience this?
deb
nj
I had to have my eye teeth removed, but only to expose the extra pair I had. They exposed the teeth that were in my gums and put brackets on them to slowly pull them down (I had three sets of eye teeth). The dentist/orthodontist said my back molars were not there so I wouldn't have to worry about pulling any other teeth to make room. Luckily since I didn't have the molars when my wisdom teeth came in I didn't have to have them removed.
I had braces back in the 1960s. The orthodontist recommended pulling some teeth, but my mother refused.
My upper teeth are OK, though they have shifted a little. My bottom teeth have shifted and overlap noticeably. All 4 wisdom teeth were impacted and removed when I was 16.
If there is not enough room in the jaw, something has to be done, either expand the available space or remove permanent teeth so less room is needed. I would have had better long term results if a few teeth had been removed.
Removing baby teeth is no big deal. That opens space for the permanent teeth before they have a chance to grow in crooked.
My teeth were awfully crooked before the braces, and paying for them was not easy for my folks. I really appreciated being able to smile without covering my mouth when it was all over!
Usually, the orthodontist does not do the extractions, so there is no financial gain for him to recommend it. Oral surgeons do a lot of them, and many use nitrous oxide. It should not be traumatic for the child.
I had 4 teeth pulled for braces when I was 16. The pulling was just done with novocain and the dentist had to wrestle to get them out but I didn't feel a thing. The assistant was shocked and asked if I was o.k. My teeth are nice and straight. Later, I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed. Here's the thing. I don't think anyone involved was concerned about the effect it would have on the overall structure, especially the oral surgeon with the wisdom teeth. I'm not sure he considered the fact that 4 of my teeth were already gone. He just wanted to pull away. I am now minus eight teeth and am 24 years older. I have some pain in my jaw now and then and if I lose another tooth, I think I'm screwed. I won't have enough support for my jaws and the dental work will be very expensive if and when that happens. I think I'd rather have slightly crooked teeth (they weren't very bad to begin with) and just have had the wisdoms removed had I a choice to do over again. Then I could weather an old-person bad tooth experience later in life. Or, my parents could have insisted that the orthodontist work without removing teeth or get a second opinion. Someone mentioned in a prior post that pulling teeth for orthodontics was old school. I believe that if there is serious crowding as some people mentioned, that it is necessary. However, I think in my case the orthodontist just wanted an easier job and had them yank away for his own convenience. That was probably common, back then. PARENTS, GO THE EXTRA STEP FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND FIND OUT EXACTLY WHY PERMANENT TEETH NEED TO BE REMOVED. I WANT MINE BACK!
Last edited by terrapin52; 06-15-2011 at 11:57 AM..
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