to be horrified at the idea of my DS having 3 healthy teeth ripped out in the name of 'perfection'?

[keithlemonsbackdoors]

My son (nearly 16) has been offered orthodontic treatment on the NHS. Ay the first appointment they talked up how great his teeth would look after treatment, how he could have whatever colour braces he wants etc etc. No mention of pulling out teeth.

At the second appointment, after taking inpressions, x-rays etc, the orthodontist says casually (paraphrasing slightly) 'So if you can just make an appointment to have these 3 teeth extracted, thank you, lovely, bub-bye.'

Maybe I'm a bit, I don't know, overprotective? Squeamish? Mental?? But every time I think of taking him to a dentist & allowing him to go at his mouth with a pair of pliers I just want to cry. The pain, the blood, the massive gaps until his teeth are fixed... I actually cannot bear it. If he was in pain, or had massive issues about how his teeth look then I could probably get my head around it.

Truth is, he's never been THAT bothered about hs teeth (they're a bit sticky-outy - technical term I believe - because he sucked his thumb for years & a bit wonky it the bottom. When you look you can see they're not straight but you wouldn't think 'bloody hell, look at the state of his teeth!' to look at him.) but having a brace has become a bit of a fashion statement among his friends. I think he wants the brace more than he wants perfect teeth (although he's been brainwashed into thinking he NEEDS straight teeth by the orthodontist).

He also has ADD & has trouble seeing the big picture or thinking ahead. I don't think he really gets that it's a 4 year commitment, or that he will have to give up drinking coke, go to appointments every 6 wks etc. I don't really think it's fair to say no, because it's his choice to make. Also, it's now or never; we couldn't afford to have this done privately.

So am I being unreasonable in thinking I'll probably try to talk him out of it until he (hopefully) forgets about the idea?

yanbu to worry, everyone does.

I had 5 out at 14 to make room and then a brace. Having the teeth out was painless the brace hurt everytime it got tightened. Without them I hate to think what sort of state my mouth would be in now.

I would get it done. I had 4 teeth removed because there wasn't enough room in my mouth. I then had a fixed brace for a couple of years. Yes, it was pretty horrible but I'm really glad now my mum made the decision ( I was early teens).

I know how you feel, OP, orthodontist wanted to pull one of DS teeth just after his 11th birthday... the tooth refuses to come thru enough to be extracted, so we have a reprieve until next yr after DS is 12. I am still hoping DS' mouth will magically grow enough that extractions (4 expected) don't seem necessary.

children who suck their thumb usually have a narrow upper jaw. if this is the case the dentist may b able to make room by expanding it.

I had teeth taken out years ago to "make room" & in prep for a brace & was under the impression that this was bad practice & not really done any more

it varies from case to case and also depends on what the dentist favors.sometimes its inevitable but most orthodontists wud try their best to save teeth if possible

I had to have 8 teeth extracted, painful at the time, but worth it! I dont see it as cosmetic as in vanity but a confidence booster, as he gets older and his mouth gets more and more crowded he will surely become very self conscious!
Dont get the fizzy drink comment, i've not known anyone to be advised against drinking them, and anyway if he has good oral hygiene then I dont see the problem. It's a bit selfish for you to decide what's best!

That reminds me
a friend recently finished with three years of braces in her 40's to cure crippling migraines caused by nerve damage linked to an untreated overbite ......

teeth extractions are to make room for the tramline braces to do their job generally

Just wanted to add, DD had all four done at once with no complications or pain. She was nine and a bit of a wuss.

I had extensive orthodontic treatment, which included getting 8 healthy teeth removed, done in my early teens and am so glad I did!
Though it may seem purely cosmetic it really isn't. If my teeth had been left as they were I would probably be in agony now and have had to have them removed anyway as there wasn't enough space for them.

Orthodontists don't generally do work that isn't necessary

From my personal experience I would be devastated if my mum had talked me out of getting braces as I would have had to get an awful lot of work done anyway as an adult when it costs a fortune and bad teeth in adult life can have quite serious implications

YABU, get it done now. My DH's teeth are truly awful- overcrowded and overlapping. I am annoyed at MIL as she mumbled something about taking him to the dentist once when he was younger but it was too late to do anything once they'd grown (bollocks!) He is now an adult with appalling teeth and we face a massive bill to put it right.

I had to have 8 teeth removed as a teen before I had my braces to straighten my teeth.

DD is only 9y and already we know she'll need braces, but we need to wait longer til more of her adult teeth are through. She will definitely need at least one tooth extracted. I just see it as part of the deal tbh. And having uncrooked teeth will make her teeth easier to look after, easier to clean and therefore help to protect them longer.

BTW don't worry about the pain of extractions. DD, 9y as I mentioned, had a ttoth extracted last year. She has no enamel on some of her milk teeth and one finally gave way and crumbled - always feel i should justify it as some people judge, but it wasn't anything we could prevent from happening sadly. She had it extracted with a local anaesthetic. It only took a few minutes, she didn't feel a thing and it was painfree. She had a funny numb mouth afterwards but no pain.

YABU. DD1 had braces on the NHS. DD2 is now not eligible, although her teeth are worse than DD1's were. The criteria has been tightened up, if your DS needs braces on the NHS, then he needs them.

you are bloody lucky the NHS are funding it - it costs up to 3K for most people

you can't straighten teeth without extracting some normally

his mouth is obviously overcrowded

I think you are being both naive and short-sighted and it is your role as his mother to ensure he has the best possible health (including dental)

Am feelign quite pissed off that you are so moany about it

Totally natural to feel worried, but they wouldn't suggest it if it weren't necessary surely? And if they're offering it on the NHS bite their hand off!

I had three teeth out as mine were overcrowded and badly overlapping. Four years of removable braces later and they were lovely and straight. Wisdom teeth came through and pushed my top set out of alignment so had slightly overlapping front teeth again. Not amused.

Yup, £3K for DD2's braces. That's going to be fun as a single mother and XH has just walked out of his job.

Be bloody grateful he's having it done on the NHS, and bloody grateful that we even have an NHS.

I haven't read all the replies, but my teeth are awful.

My mum didn't want me to have a brace and 5 teeth removed. As a result I have hurrendously overcrowded teeth, a huge overbite and 4 severely impacted wisom teeth.

Actually, it's three now, but it took the teeny tiny dental surgeon (seriously, I've eaten cakes bigger than she was) 50 minutes of drilling to cut my bottom right wisdom tooth into 8 pieces to remove it, and an hour and a half over all.

If I could afford such a thing, I would get braces tomorrow :( but 3k isn't coming my way any time soon!

I think YANBU to worry about it, but the future impact might be worse x

Hulababy my sister had that! They painted her teeth with this varnish stuff after.

My mum was mortified! Not her fault though. It's not fair really, DSis got the perfect teeth and the brains. All I got was massive norks.

Two of my DSs had crooked teeth and an overcrowded mouth. They both have lovely teeth now. The orthodontists know what they are doing. (get a second opinion if you really don't like it). It was well worth it-and all for free-not something they would get when older.

Get a second opinion about the teeth coming out (unless you really really trust your dentist) they pulled a load of mine out, gave me a brace and now I have mega gappy teeth, which I hate. Obviously this does not happen to everyone and I may have just been the victim of 1980's NHS dentistry. But still I would get a second opinion if DD ever needs braces.

My mum brainwashed me into having this exact same procedure done... And I have regretted it every single day since.

The orthodontist gets paid by how much treatment he does, so it's in his interest to do as much work as possible. In fact, mine was struck off the NHS register for doing unnecessary work about 7 years after treating me.

The dentist doing the extraction actually said that the overcrowding would fill in naturally if he took the teeth out... But no, my mother believed the flash orthodontist and I endured the misery of braces. I never wanted them in my mouth, they were painful, I couldn't eat foods which I liked, they constantly broke and rubbed my mouth... Oh and when they are finished, you'll have some lovely stains on your teeth too from the fixative.

Those braces overcorrected my teeth and they are now very squint. I costed having these sorted and it is MEGABUCKS.

My advice: Go get a second opinion from someone who DOESN'T have a vested interest in getting the work done.

I spent most of my teen years in braces, and had several teeth removed (4 I think) to make way for my eye teeth coming through. My mouth would have been severly overcrowded otherwise and would have looked awful.

I don't regret it for a moment and I am now very proud of my smile thanks to my lovely NHS orthodontist and probably gave me a small amount of confidence in my otherwise critical opinion of myself.

I can't actually remember the tooth removal itself, it was so insignificant!

Agree that if the NHS is funding this treatment it is primarily about dental health in the future and not about cosmetic effect.
Having teeth out is not a big deal in the general scheme of things. i would follow your dentist's advice. No parent wants their child to have extractions or braces but it is for good reason, not just about looks.

I had 4 healthy teeth removed at 13 on the NHS "in the name of perfection" and I'm so glad my Mum agreed to it. I wasn't bothered either way, in fact I don't even remember being asked. We just took the dentist's word for it, we trusted him. 2 years later when I was bothered about my appearance, the braces came off and I had perfect teeth.

TBH my teeth weren't bad in the first place, but the dentist obviously believed he could make an improvement and he was right. I'm sure you're DS will thank you in the long run if you agree to it.

Let him have his teeth straightened they have to remove teeth to make room for when his teeth become straight it isn't rocket science. It won't hurt and will heal in no time at all, just a week.

Why does he have to have sticky out teeth because you would rather he did? Don't be so mean, consider him and how he will feel when he is older.

I'd push for my son to get that treatment done if he needed it.

It depends on how bad they were. My DCs were dreadful and now they are lovely-it was hard-dental hygiene has to be good-but they think it well worth it.