Will I need extractions to wear braces?

I think I’ll step on your toes again and tell you: it depends.

The answer depends on your situation (the complexity of the orthodontic problems), age and treatment. For the youngest patients (kids and teens) extractions might not be needed (many claim they are not even recommended since the bone structure is not yet final and changes can occur). Even if a kid has crowded teeth his jaws are still growing. Helped by an expander for instance the mouth can develop some more to accomodate all the teeth. This is why for kids the extractions occur scarcely and if nothing else can solve this.

Things are different for the older patients, the adults. In our case the jaws won’t expand anymore and if we have big teeth (my case too), they just can’t be straightened without extractions. My huge teeth got crooked because they couldn’t fit normally, the only way to solve my issues was to have extractions.

The most common case is to have the 4 second bicuspids taken out. These are small teeth so the gaps they leave are enough to be filled with the moving teeth and not too big to remain as gaps forever. So many patients are scared since in the end these 4 teeth are good teeth we just throw away. In my case I had 2 molars taken from the lower jaw (actually it was 1 since the other one I lost years ago due to cavity problems) and the 2 bicuspids from the upper jaw. One of the teeth was the ONLY one I had with absolutely no problems all these years. I had small cavities in all teeth, except for that one. You can imagine how “happy” I was when I needed to get it out.

The extractions can be done at the same time or in few days. I chose to have 3 extractions in 8 days so that I can also have them heal and be able to eat on one side, while the other one was affected by the extractions. The doctors used a good anesthetic so there were no problems. I did have a slight headache and I just took Kethonal. I was advise to use something to fight the possible inflamation, antibiotics, but then I realized this might interfere with my contraceptive pills. I didn’t need any more medication, other than 1 painkiller after each extraction.

In few days the extraction gaps healed enough to be able to put the braces on.

Even if these extractions seem too “drastic” for you, if they are needed, then it’s a good idea to just do it. My teeth already closed most of the gaps and it doesn’t show I don’t have 4 of them. By removing 4 teeth I am able to make room for the others. Now they can be arranged in a healthier and why not, better looking way.

Popularity: 2% [?]