orthodontics question

[Minnie824]

DD is 8 and has a lot of crowding with her teeth. She's been doing consults with an orthodontist. Recently we had an appointment and he recommended gradual extraction instead of braces for now. So basically, they'd pull her not loose baby teeth to make room for the permanent teeth, 2-4 at a time. Then when those permanent teeth came in, they'd pull the next set of baby teeth, and so on until her permanent teeth were all in. However at some point, he said they'd need to take out probably 4 of her permanent teeth because she just doesn't have enough room in her mouth. Has anyone heard of this before? DH & I are just a little nervous going down a path where she's going to have permanent teeth pulled at some point. From her big mouth, you wouldn't know she has such a small mouth (thats a joke). Seriously though, anyone been thru this or think its a good solution, bad solution? Thanks.

 

[minkydog]

Get a second opinion. All of my kids have that high narrow arched palate, so their teeth were all crowded. My older two started wearing palate expanders when they were 8. Over a period of 3 years their palates were broadend so as their baby teeth fell out their was room for the permanents to squeeze in, albeit crookedly. They didn't have to have ANY teeth pulled, a near-miracle if you could have seen their tiny little mouths(and giant teeth!) My daughter wore the palate expander, followed by her first set of braces(2yrs) followed by a rest, followed by another set of braces(2-1/2 yrs). We have over $10,000 invested in her mouth, but she has all her own teeth and they are beautiful.

Don't pull teeth if you don't have to. It just seems kinda barbaric to me. I know they provide sedation and all, but pulling teeth is pretty invasive. It will be worth your time and money to get a second and even a third opinion.

 

[design_mom]

I know my sister had some baby teeth pulled when she was little, but I think I'd get a second opinion before I started pulling that many teeth!

My DS (he's 9) also has/had a small mouth. They put in a palate expander and made his mouth bigger. It's amazing what a difference it made in his smile and his tooth alignment.

If her mouth is too small, I don't really see what the point of pulling out the baby teeth is. Won't her mouth *still* be too small when the adult teeth come in? (I am not an orthodontist though...obviously.)

 

[lilmissdisney216]

I'm a dental/ortho assistant and I've heard of this however the doctors that I've worked with have utelized a palette expander with some kids to make room for their teeth so that they fit in their mouth. In some cases, this can minimize the amount of extractions that need to be done but not every mouth is the same.

Its not too bad of a solution but what you could do is go to another orthodontist and ask for a second opinion. That way you could see more than one solution/option to which path you could go down for your daughter. It wouldn't hurt. Even if they pulled some of her permanent teeth, I would assume that it would be likely that they would eventually pull the spaces closed during her orthodontic treatment.

Hope I helped a little, I'll see what else I can find out for you.

Meredith

 

[simba20]

Well, I am an adult, but I can tell that every dentist that has looked at my mouth had said it was small and has recommended extractions of some of my teeth to reduce overcrowding so it doe smake sense.

When I became pregnant with my daughter, I developed this huge fear of the dentist and had not gone in three years. I will also admit that I rarely went as a child and young adult, so I have a plethora of dental problems. Last August, I finally got my tush in the dentist's chair and since then have been working my way around my mouth to try and save/fix/fill what I do have.

After I get all of the health issues taken care of (some teeth do have to be pulledd ue to decay), my next step will be to see and orthrodontist and fix the "cosmetic" issues that plague me (i.e my canines I call my vampire teeth because they are up in my gums like fangs. My bottom teeth are also tightly packed together as well. I did ask my dentist's assistant -- who knows her stuff -- what could be done about the top teeth (canines) and she said that likely because my mouth is so crowded they will be pulled and my other teeth can move in to fill the space. So extractions to make room for other adult teeth is a common practice and can be used.

I also have decay of all of my molars, even some are missing. A number of years ago I met with an oral surgeon who wanted to remove my wisdom teeth. Well it's a good thing I have not had this done. It's likely that once the bottom decayed molars are pulled, my wisom teeth can move forward a bit and help take up space.

Of course I'll also need some bridge work for all of my missing/pulled teeth where spaces are left.

Due to my dental health as a child, I am now anal about taking in my daughter to see the dentist (her first visit was at the age of 1). I want problems fixed early and not have her suffer with appearance like I did. Truth is, it has only been recently that the appearance of my teeth have bothered me. So far, she has a slight upper protrusion due to her paci habit, but her dentist is not worried about it. It is slight.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would go for at least one more opinion. I am a MAJOR fan of orthodontists and braces for kids- no sense having them walk around with ugly crooked teeth if you can help it but I would seek another opinion to see if maybe a palate expander cold be used instead.
And please disregard anyone that comes on and says braces are torture devices etc....you would be doing your child a gret disservice to not fix their teeth when they are young!

 

[design_mom]

And please disregard anyone that comes on and says braces are torture devices etc....

I already posted above about my son's palate expander. But, just to add... I had a palate expander when I was 12 and it *was* a torture device. My son didn't have any complaints about his. His orthodontist said they prefer to do the expanding at a younger age because around puberty the plates in the top of your mouth start fusing together, making the expansion much more difficult. He bets my plates were starting to fuse by the time I got my expander.

So... take them to the orthodontist when they're young so you don't "miss the window!" You can always take them back when they're older if they don't need expansion!

 

[HeatherH]

DEFINITELY get another opinion. My daughter has a small mouth as well and had the palate expander. Her dentist originally recommended pulling a bunch of teeth too. We saw an ortho that we LOVE (my dentist uses him for her kids) and he did the palate expander.

The ONLY tooth my daughter had pulled for braces was one baby tooth that was hanging in there way too long, and they needed to get it out to get the bracing started. The expander made room for the permanent teeth to come in before the braces went on.

You're at the prime age for an expander, so don't wait. The older a child is to get it the longer the process takes, and after a certain age the palate is completely fused and you can't do it any more.

Good luck!

 

[samshane]

I agree with the others - I would get a second opinion as well. I knew I liked our orthodontist when he wanted to wait a year for all of our DD11's baby teeth to fall out (she is down to 1) before putting her through pulling anything.

Good luck with it! We just got our cost estimate of her braces in the mail through insurance... I wanted to cry.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

My DD 15 has a small mouth and big teeth (not freakishly big, just too big for her mouth). The orthodontist sent us to the oral surgeon to get some of the teeth removed. The oral surgeon disagreed with the orthodontist and they consulted with each other and could not come to an agreement about what the best treatment would be. This was SO wrong. These men have been to dental school and have practiced for decades (the orthodontist, was my ortho when I got braces at 13). We were so confused. We still don't know if we made the right choice and we won't know until she gets her braces off. Ok, this is what I think we ended up doing. The oral surgeon (who I did know and trust, he extracted my wisdom teeth a few years ago) suggested that we remove her eye teeth (?) and then when she got her braces removed, they would file down the teeth in front that are pointed (we all have them, maybe they are the eye teeth, I'm not sure) and make them look like the teeth that are supposed to be on either side of her front teeth. The orthodontist was not pleased that we chose those teeth, but we were going on the oral surgeons recommendation. And the oral surgeon said he had removed the teeth that the ortho wanted removed on other patients and the end result was less than desirable. I'm still confused but what's done is done. I just think it stinks that we, who have never attended a day of dental school, ended up having to roll the dice on what to do with her permanent teeth. They should have been able to come together and agreed on a treatment.
By the way, neither one mentioned a palate expander. I don't know if this was just not an option for her situation, or if they both assumed that we had been told by the other and we decided against it.

 

[OceanAnnie]

It's funny I came across your thread today. We had our first orthodontist consult today for my DS. I have another scheduled for tomorrow and I *may* end up scheduling another. The plan I heard today is pretty far off the mark from what the dentist recommended. I'm hoping the next orthodontist's plan will be more in alignment with the dentist's findings. I trust our dentist. He has been in practice for a long time and knows his stuff.

I'm big on second or even third opinions.

Anyway, I had the same type of problem with crowding, when I was young. I did have a number of baby teeth pulled and my braces were done in phases: spacers, retainers, night brace thing. I had my 4 wisdom teeth cut out for the final stage. Are the wisdom teeth the ones they are referring to? If so, it worked out fine for me.

 

[krcit]

I'll add to the chorus of 'get another opinion'.My dd (11) just got a palate expander a couple of months ago. She has been seeing the ortho since she was 9 but we were waiting for her baby teeth to fall out. They did end up pulling 2 baby teeth b/c they were taking too long to fall out.My youngest ds just went to see her(he's 9) and they want him to get a couple of teeth pulled and to come back in October and see where we go from there.

 

[Minnie824]

Thanks for all the input. It looks like we may go for another opinion somewhere. I think I'll actually ask our current orthodontist about the palette expander as well. I hope thats a possibility...the teeth they want to pull are 4th back from the front...I just don't want to do anything that will cause her issues when she's older. Thanks!

 

[mlclements]

My dd10 has been going to the ortho since she was five. At first she just went a few times a year. Her front permenant teeth were coming in behind the other perm. teeth because there was no room. At 8 she had 5 baby teeth pulled and had an expander. And followed by a set of braces. She had the braces taken off at 9 and wore a mouth piece up until she turned 10. She got her second set of braces on. And ended up having another 4 teeth pulled before her second set of braces were put on. I can't believe how wonderful her teeth look. They thought that she would have to have perm. teeth pulled but it doesn't look like she will now. She did such a good job with her expander, first set of braces and a mouth piece. That now with the second set she is just finishing getting them straightened. After a year or so she will go to mouth pieces. I am so glad that we went ahead and started her now.

 

[Nicolepa]

DO NOT PULL PERMANANT TEETH! OK that was my FIL screaming. My FIL (a dentist) is adament about not pulling permanant teeth. He says it was common 20 years ago but now they start them earlier and are able to get better results with the expanders and such that pulling adult teeth is rarely needed anymore. He told me to run from any ortho that told me to pull adult teeth.

My son has HUGE teeth. HUGE. My ortho had 3 pulled to make room for ones that had already fallen out. We will probably be "chasing" them down like the OP said, but we will not pull adult teeth. As soon as the teeth finish coming in that we made room for, or 6 months, we will put the expander on my son. (He just turned 8.) That will stay on for 4 months. Then he will have 12-18 months of braces. Then, if needed we will pull the next set of 4. It will all depend on how much room they are able to get from the expander and how big his teeth actually are when they come in. Everyone agrees (2 dentists, Ortho & surgeon) that his teeth are huge and we will probably have to pull more teeth in a couple of years.

 

[bumbershoot]

he said they'd need to take out probably 4 of her permanent teeth because she just doesn't have enough room in her mouth. Has anyone heard of this before?

Yes. From my orthodontist. It was BS then and I personally feel it's BS whenever anyone says that about a child who still has baby teeth. Now if they say it to a 25 year old, that's another thing.

I had no babyteeth pulled, but my first ortho appt was at 9. Later they pulled several teeth, I had a torture device (palate spreader), then braces.

My teeth now look...exactly like they did before, except I was forced upon pain of death to smile showing my teeth after the braces, where I had a shy-girl lips-closed smile before.

So I think it's BS. Let her grow into her adult face. Then let her make the ortho decision on her own.

 

[bumbershoot]

I already posted above about my son's palate expander. But, just to add... I had a palate expander when I was 12 and it *was* a torture device.

Seriously!

I posted before reading the responses, so didn't see the one telling the OP to disregard anyone with such an opinion.


Hello (person who said that), were YOU at my house on the nights that the key was turned? Did you feel my pain? Did you see my cry EVERY SINGLE TIME? No.

My mom ONLY did it to us b/c she felt she had to do every single thing "professionals" told her to do, so that my dad didn't try for custody. That's the only reason. My mom had awesome, gorgeous strong beautiful crowded teeth. She had proposals nearly every year while she was single (despite having two kids!). People loved her despite her funky teeth. And they were made even more interesting b/c of a bike accident as a child where she broke the two front ones off while going over the handlebars and hitting the concrete (made dents in the concrete, she said), and the teeth were never fixed. She was bothered by her teeth, but no one else was. They were gorgeous gorgeous teeth, even though they didn't look like Hollywood teeth.

Think about the main actress in Chuck right now. She has a few twisty teeth, and a big size difference between front middle teeth and the next ones over. It makes her HER. She looks incredible with those teeth. I so hope no one forces her to go Hollywood with her teeth.


anyway, palate spreaders (what they called it with me) might not hurt everyone, but they hurt ME, and I should not be disregarded just b/c someone else believes we should all have Hollywood teeth.

Harumph!

 

[MAKmom]

Get a second opinion. All of my kids have that high narrow arched palate, so their teeth were all crowded. My older two started wearing palate expanders when they were 8. Over a period of 3 years their palates were broadend so as their baby teeth fell out their was room for the permanents to squeeze in, albeit crookedly. They didn't have to have ANY teeth pulled, a near-miracle if you could have seen their tiny little mouths(and giant teeth!) My daughter wore the palate expander, followed by her first set of braces(2yrs) followed by a rest, followed by another set of braces(2-1/2 yrs). We have over $10,000 invested in her mouth, but she has all her own teeth and they are beautiful.

Don't pull teeth if you don't have to. It just seems kinda barbaric to me. I know they provide sedation and all, but pulling teeth is pretty invasive. It will be worth your time and money to get a second and even a third opinion.

 

[nskjerven]

Dare I say that we had DD 4 adult teeth pulled and now she has a BEAUTIFUL smile - to each his own. We had it done lots of people here have it done and we are good with our choice. Everybodies mouth is different so you must really make that choice on your own kwim

edited to add : She had the pallet expander 2 years prior to the pulled teeth - it doesn't always "fix" the issue

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

We just went thru the same exact thng with our now DD12. She got braces on last week. She had to have her baby teeth pulled also because of crowding. She also has to go back in a month or two to have permanent teeth pulled. Her roof in her mouth is narrow, so her orthadontist took a mold of her mouth and had a special device made that he will insert in 2 weeks, that will stretch the roof of her mouth wider. Not sure about it, never heard of such a thing.