Surgery pre braces

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My daughter has been on a wait list for a good while. She has impacted canines and as such her baby teeth haven't fallen out. The orthodontist said she needs surgery to expose the teeth and then braces to bring them into line. It will take 18 months to 2 years. She's just 16 and due to do her GCSE's. I've found info on the procedure o line and it sounds horrendous. Has anyone experienced this with their teen? Thanks

www.uhcw.nhs.uk/download/clientfiles/files/Patient%20Information%20Leaflets/Surgical%20Services/Oral%20and%20Maxillo%20Facial/Surgical%20exposure%20of%20impacted%20canine%20teeth.pdf

I had very similar issues myself as a teen. I had to have my baby teeth removed as they would not come themselves therefore my adult teeth grew on top of them, giving me what looked like fangs. It was a painful process at times and time consuming but I'm 42 now and I'm happy I went through it and more than happy with my teeth. I would imagine the methods used nowadays are much better than back then when I had it done. I would recommend salt water gargles and Corsodyl for sores inside the mouth. Soft food during these times which need minimal chewing. I hope your daughter gets on okay. It will be worth it x

Thank you for your reply. It's very tricky convincing a 16 year old to do something she knows will be painful!

Hi I was scanning for similar case as my son he has had a brace fitted ( his teeth are straight very straight ) purely to allow a tiny cable to be connected to a buried adult tooth in his upper gum - thing is we are still waiting for the surgery on NHS 18 months on - I wonder if your waiting also and how long for the surgery - we have had the hospital ‘ assessment’ eg feel and ‘ yep the tooth is there ‘ . No surgery though and he doesn’t need a brace it just facilitates the cable to draw it down into place

My dd had the baby tooth removed and was referred for the surgery to get the adult tooth exposed and a chain attached. The referral took so long that the adult tooth came through into the gap by itself so never needed the surgery.

Have the baby teeth been extracted yet?

No baby teeth are still firmly in place. We now have a surgery date for March. A couple of days before her birthday 😔

I had this done at a similar age. Dentist removed the baby tooth in the hope that the adult tooth was just lazy and would come down on its own. It didn't so day surgery to expose the tooth, put a band and chain around it.
It was painful after the surgery, but I also had 2 impacted teeth removed from my hard pallette as there was no space for them, and I think they hurt more than the chain.
The chain was then threaded through the wire of the braces I had fitted to slowly pull it down. It was adjusted to pull it down further when the brace was adjusted. Generally, that process didn't hurt. The brace tightening hurt more. As did the wire on the brace cutting my cheeks as the teeth moved.

Interesting - I'm nearly 50 and still have a canine baby tooth, perfectly fine.
X-rays show adult tooth above it, also fine.
All 4 wisdom teeth also not come through yet, also fine .
Has anyone else had this? I go to dentist regularly - my teeth & gums are v healthy they reduce the frequency of my appts to yearly / 18 months.
Any advice?

Hi, my daughter had this done at 14. They exposed her tooth in her pallet at the top then put braces and a chain on it to pull it into place. She has the braces for 5 years. After the op she wasn't in pain and her teeth are now lovely and straight.

I'm another person who had this procedure done at a similar age (17) I'm now 37. My baby teeth were still there at 16, the dentist removed them and thought the adult teeth would come through by themselves. Unfortunately they didn't, so the exposed the adult canines through the gum and pulled them down over time using my brace.
I'm not that great with pain but I honestly don't remember it being that traumatic. I would say I had it done under sedation so if that is a possibility, it's something I would recommend.
Like another poster said, I was really thorough with hygiene and mouthwash after this, and I really do think it helped with the recovery.
As far as I remember, the general tightening of the brace hurt more than the procedure.
I remember being really reluctant to have it done at the time but coming from someone who doesn't deal with pain well, I'm so glad I did!

Hi. I do oral surgery and paediatric dentistry. This kind of procedure is extremely common - the most common oral surgery procedure in teenagers. Lots of guidelines regarding surgical removal of impacted canines and very routine. It’s very hard to visualise now, but take it from a professional - relatively short term pain for a lifetime of beautiful and well-aligned teeth! @Peasnbeans In response to this, it’s very normal! We often see it as an ‘incidental finding’ on an x-ray, when looking at something else. As long as there is no cystic change, usually the right thing to do is leave it where it is (the same with wisdom teeth) ☺️ xxx

I had this done when I was 14. I had the baby teeth removed and the canine exposed. It was sore for a bit, I would recommend having soft foods in! I ate lots of soup and ice cream 😂 I did get a post-op infection (that’s actually quite rare) but that settled quickly with antibiotics.
It was totally worth it, 2 years of braces and I still have lovely straight teeth 20 years on.

This is my exact job (the orthodontics after surgery has been carried out on the buried canines). It is quite common to all be happening around GCSEs age. The oral surgeons are really skilled and everyone manages well. The orthodontics might take a bit longer than a more straightforward case but is not uncomfortable. Be reassured.

Hi @18daychallenge thanks for.the reassurance.
I've always been religious at going to the dentist.
They found it when I was a teenager, (at least 35 years ago) but said whilst it is firmly in place they would leave it (+wisdom teeth).
They sent me to the maxillofacial dept at hosp.in the next city once a year every year for an x-ray and a "No, it's fine, not moved, come back next year."
I did this for five-six years until a doc said, "it probably won't move until you're in your forties..."

So I stopped going to the hosp. That was over 25+ years ago. Had an x-ray last autumn at my dentist and they said, "yes, still there, not moved...."

Do you think I should do anything about it @18daychallenge in your professional experience? Will it finally crack / fall apart / fall out?

@Peasnbeans Id leave it now as chances are nothing will happen and hopefully they will just stay out 😁

My 17 year old daughter had it done in October - 4 teeth removed. She was a bit dribbly for a few days post surgery and it took a couple of weeks for her speech to adjust to the plate she had to wear. Braces went in a fortnight ago.

Thank you to the replies above as useful reading….
My 14.5 yo has 4 impacted canines and we need to decide if:
option a) surgery to remove 4 premolars and add gold chain for one ‘tricky’ top canine… the other 3 seem ok to be aligned into place with braces,
or
option b) remove 3 premolars and the tricky canine then braces.

The first option does have a risk that the tricky canine might not come down which worries me (apparently an implant after surgery to remove the canine would be ok) but the second option worries me that she’ll have an imbalanced top set of teeth and she’ll have been through all the work and still be awkward about her teeth. Also, does it affect your eating/jaw aside from aesthetics?

To add to it all, we’ve also been informed the waiting lists for all parts of the treatment from
hospital consultation to general anaesthetic surgery to braces will take years … up to 4 years… so I’m worried how it will impact everything going on in the those formative years! I was thinking if we knew the costs we could try and save for private surgery but don’t even know if this is possible?

All and any perspectives/advice helpful! Thank you 🤩