Teeth extraction for braces

[vanqueen]

My two boys both need to have teeth removed as their mouths are overcrowded. We've got appointments with our normal dentist but I'm nervous as I had bad experiences as a child with tooth extraction - shall I go in with them? Neither of them have had any work done at the dentist before, 2nd son has to have 5 removed, will the dentist do it all in one go............I'm dreading it

Hmm

How old are your boys? Are all baby teeth gone? Who has advised the extractions?

I can't imagine they'd take out 5 teeth at once.

I took dd (10 years old) to the orthodontist this past Monday for a preliminary assessment. He said though it was fairly common in the past, they don't really remove teeth anymore, as they can do 'other things' to deal with overcrowding (not sure what he meant - perhaps 'shaving down' the sides of the teeth? No idea.).

The orthodontist measured dd's palate, and said that indications are that her future growth will mean overcrowding should ease a bit. Did anyone measure your palates for your sons?

Fwiw, we are in America where I suspect cosmetic dentistry (straight teeth) is much more common for young children - and therefore presumably techniques are more advanced?

Final question/comment - was this NHS or private? If you can afford it, I'd go for a private consultation to see what they advise.

We saw two orthodontists for dd. The first suggested extractions. The second suggested a functional brace which will help her lower jaw to grow to a better size and that she wouldn't need any extractions. This is all on the nhs. so maybe worth asking whether there is an alternative solution or getting a second opinion?

When I was 14 I had 4 teeth out for braces. They were done one side at a time. Looking back my mouth was overcrowded, but I wish I'd never had it done. If I was unhappy with my teeth to start with then fine, but I really wasn't bothered, just had a very pushy mother.

I don't even like the result (still have gaps all over...maybe because my orthodontist died before my treatment finished...) and having teeth out is quite an ordeal, though not painful, just the experience.

There may other options, please ask.

what age are they? dd (7) got referred to the orthodontist and was told her mouth would be overcrowded when her adult teeth came in - she will get referred back around the age of 11 and then they will assess what will need to be done re: braces

DS2 had to have loads of extractions (some were milk teeth) to make space, as well as having his palate stretched later, & at 18 he has no gaps so it was necessary!

IIRC the dentist did one side at a time, top & bottom. He coped quite well although the first time, because his numb lip felt strange, he kept rubbing it & it swelled up hugely so I had to remind him not to do that again.

Dentists have a really neat gadget for extractions now, not sure how it works but they push instead of pulling & the gadget does the pulling, so it's not as horrible as it used to be - if you go in with them you will probably be pleasantly surprised, but if you are really twitchy about it is there someone else who could go in with them instead?

I had teeth removed as a child to make space however my current dentist has stated that they don't do it as a matter of course anymore. In fact as they left spaces my rear teeth moved forward and began to crowd my front ones. Hence years of braces which I hadn't needed before the work began. MY teeth are fine now though!

I would get a second opinion.

BadKitten: your Dd had a brace to make her lower jaw bigger? DS orthodontist (NHS) implied that's not possible.

its a 'twin block' appliance. It needs (according to dds orthodontist) to be done at the time of the pubertal growth spurt. She said it would make the jaw grow more.

one of these

although when looking for links for you i wonder if I misunderstood (or maybe I was being patronised?) - perhaps they just realign the jaws?

DS2 had a thing to move his lower jaw forward - his fixed braces, top & bottom, had little clip things at the sides & he had to put tiny rubber bands between the clips at night to move the lower jaw.

For his upper jaw he had a thing where he had to turn a key a quarter turn a day for weeks.

He has no wisdom teeth (they never developed, he had a full-mouth X-ray taken early on & they weren't there) - I don't know if that means his teeth are less likely to move forward as there is nothing pushing them?

dd1 has a block to move jaw out - and a palate brace on top. She has small chin/mouth which was one of the reasons her teeth were overcrowded in the first place. When they first put them in, the mouth looks very peculiar, a bit sort of bumpkiny if that makes any sense, but as they're removable it's not so bad. It's worked really well.

In answer to OP, both mine have had four teeth out to enable braces: our dentist will do two at a time. I doubt anyone would do all 5 at once.

They didn't enjoy the needle going in much, and were a bit wobbly after - dentist said on no account should they go back to school that day. But they were fine again very soon.

I did stay with them - even the 13 year old. I think it's a good time to have a hand to squeeze.

It made dd look like desperate Dan at first! I have a thread somewhere here where I cried with the awfulness of it all. But actually, just a couple of weeks on it all seems very normal. Her speech is still a bit unclear but after having surreptitiously looked at a lot of peoples mouths recently I've decided it's worth it