Teeth out for orthodontist?

[wendywendy]

My daughter had finally got a date for braces. The orthodontist has said to have four healthy adult back teeth taken out to make room. Has anyone else been through this and is it worth it? I was wondering whether to ask if orthodontist can do braces without taking any teeth out.

At 14 she should be young enough to have a jaw widener instead of teeth out. This is what DD had starting at 14 and it has been really successful. She had a Hyrax expander. It is not available on the NHS so we did have to pay quite a lot for it. The NHS route would have been teeth out.

Yes I had 4 teeth out to make space

My dd was Scared and had to have an op to take teeth out and a 2 year brace . She didn't want it , I made her and she is grateful I did at 19 .. I work with many adults who wish their mums made them as teens ! Teeth are so important ! Get them done while it's free!

I had 4 teeth out to make space aged 16 before my brace. I have a small mouth and my teeth were crowded. 20 years later and my teeth are still straight. My son is on the waiting list for a brace and the dentist said he will definitely need teeth out too. No concerns from me.

I had at least 4 adult teeth out as a child. Now all my friends are having big problems with impacted wisdom teeth. Mine came through when I was quite young and are perfect, no problems, because there was plenty of room for them. Although if I remember correctly, that was not the reason for having teeth out in the first place. I think the reason was to make enough room for my front teeth to be nice and straight.

DD1 had a small jaw, over crowded teeth but had an expander retainer for 18 months with bottom braces then 18 months of top/bottom braces.

NOt the NHS though, in Australia. Our orthodontist said they don’t remove teeth as much anymore.

DD had four out at the same age before her braces. There was another option but to do the proper job she needed the teeth out, I left it to her to decide. The only mistake I made was underestimating her recovery time, I assumed she would be back in school next day but it took a few days.

No it's not normal anymore (all these previous posters obviously had the teeth pulled out years ago or are having nhs treatment where they are only concerned with straight teeth and not how it affects your face) and extremely lazy practice, most private orthodontists won't pull out healthy teeth. They're the scaffolding for your face. You can ask about having treatment to widen her jaw and then have braces to straighten the teeth when they come in. If her jaw has been widened then her teeth won't come in as crowded and she more than likely won't need the braces for so long. DS was 13 when his treatment started so I don't think it will be too late. DD is now 8 and the orthodontist suggests she'll start treatment at 10-11 years of age. It can be expensive though if your regular nhs orthodontist won't do it.

I had 4 back teeth out before my braces were fitted, back in the 80s. My mouth was overcrowded. I've not missed them. Might post the before and after moulds of my teeth later to show what a great change braces meant.

I too had teeth removed for orthodontia work. As above with others, too many teeth for my mouth. They were bunch up and overlapping so in order to be straight, there needed to be room for the tetra hence extraction. It is normal procedure. Especially so if there is an overbite.

I had my jaw widened and I still needed 4 teeth out - no issues whatsoever. I also have had no problems with wisdom teeth.

I had 5 out from a butcher of a dentist before braces (he wasn’t the ortho, the anaesthetic didn’t work properly and I was too young to know any better/speak up).
Moved dentists afterwards. Make sure you have a good one!

Hello & welcome to MN.

your DD is 14, this is your decision as her parent, she doesn't have the life experience to make it.

if you think her teeth need sorting out, just proceed as matter of fact.

GO elsewhere if you don't trust the orthodontist. Or at least get a second opinion.

what does her dentist say?

anecdotally, I had 4 out & then my wisdoms.

DC & friends almost all had teeth out. If there was room for them, they probably wouldn't need braces!

DC & their friends all have beautiful teeth/smiles now!! & with far less drama than when I had mine done by the dinosaurs!!

I had 4 out as an adult for braces. Went fine and the straightened teeth filled any gaps. Go for it!

It is certainly normal for NHS orthodontics, whilst it may not be ideal it is better than the overcrowding and mis aligned teeth.
As with everything, I'm sure there are more expensive procedures if you can afford to go private.

I had teeth out before braces and so did both of my children, not been an issue

Not sure why some posters are suggesting it is some kind of second rate NHS cost saving measure. It was the advice of our excellent private orthodontist, a lot of my kids’ friends seeing various private orthodontists had similar within the last five years.

I remember reading about Damon braces and people saying that in America they don’t routinely take out teeth which is why they have such big smiles! This may or may not be true. But I wasn’t able to afford private so didn’t look too deeply into it in case I depressed myself with an expensive alternative that I couldn’t offer DS.

Had 4 out at the age of 14 to make space plus braces. Have lovely straight teeth now! Can't say it was particularly traumatic or that I've missed them

My DS was 13 when he had 6 teeth taken out (in hospital) due to over crowding before his brace was fitted.

It’s really been a game-changer for him, as the end result is amazing.

Now is the time to do it.