I NEED HELP! HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION BY MONDAY

[lootee03]

Alright so I've had braces for 6 years, and although my teeth are straight, my midline is really messed up. Like, instead of it being aligned to my nose, it goes a little bit to the left which messes up my smile. For about two years, one of the dentists have suggested that I should just remove my right premolar/bicuspid which will create more space for them to shift my teeth to the right. That way, once she does that, my midline will be back to normal. For the past two years, she's trimmed my teeth and used power chains to shift them to the right but there's just not enough space for them to do that. Now I'm at the point where I'm just fed up and I just want to get my braces off and feel pretty and sesame. So I'm wondering if I should just go with it and get my first premolar/bicuspid removed? Do you think that it's kind of uncommon to get just ONE removed, since it might be uneven? Or would it be reasonable for me, since I have more of a "special case" Because people I know that get their bicuspids removed usually get that done because they have an overbite. I really need your opinion guys!!! I'd appreciate it!

[nikkibabie19]

I am not sure about your case.

But before i started my braces treatment, i got my left 1st premolar removed.
That was the ONLY tooth my ortho said that i should have extracted in order to fix my overbite (as u rightly guessed)

But i was worried as u would imagine about my midline and how symetrical my smile/face/teeth would be and my ortho assured me that it would me.

I am at an early stage in my treatment and it is difficult for me tell now.

But i have faith in him and i shall wait and see...

So far my gaps have close and my upper arch is symmetrical im wondering how he's going to fix my lower arch without extractions....

I know that doesnt really answer your question but i thought it might be a bit helpful.

[catgyrl]

I also had just one tooth extracted (upper left first premolar) due to an overjet and "off" midline. I just got debraced 2 days ago, and if you look at my pics (5th post down on the following page), you will see that my ortho was able to get my midline straight with just that one extraction:

http://www.archwired.com/phpbb2/viewtop ... &start=630

It CAN be done!

[sweetcynic]

I'm getting 2 premolars removed, but that's due to an overjet, and my midline is fine how it is. Question is: How much do you trsut your ortho? Is there any way to get a second opinion on this?

[ArchWired28]

Well, I think it all depends on the build of your upper jaw. Some people have one side of the upper jaw bigger than the others and in that case, single tooth removal may be an option. In my case, my midline is a little to the left and I am missing the upper right premolar. So as one may imagine, closing that gap will normalize the midline. Not the case, my ortho said. As removing a premolar will create at least 5mm of space, probably more. He said, one of my front teeth will end up in the middle of my face and that would be ugly.

So I guess to answer your question, you should ask your ortho whether removal of a single tooth will give you an ideal midline. Given the previous dental stripping you've mentioned, may be that you have a tooth removed, spend another many months in braces JUST to realize that your midline is still a tad off only to the other side. Have everything discussed with him before you make a decision. Chances are you will not end up with a perfectly centered midline either way, and that's ok. People usually don't notice slight deviations in the midline anyway.

[klobird]

After more than a year in braces, I was told that I needed 1 molar, and a wisdom tooth removed just to get my teeth to shift to the left. Then maybe I would be able to have a straight midline. So, I did have the teeth removed. No big deal. The ortho has power chains on my braces, and elastics on that one side right now.

The last time I was there, the ortho told me that sometimes a midline will be less than perfect, and that it is acceptable to be "off" by a millimeter or so. I just went to my regular dentist for a routine cleaning and I asked her about this. She said that with such an asymmetrical mouth as mine, this may be as good as it gets. She also asked if my ortho talked to me about surgery. He hasn't.

I am 56 years old. I just want my teeth to be lined up enough so that I don't keep fracturing them, and so that I can keep my teeth for the rest of my life. I would love a perfect midline, but I don't have the money or the desire at my age to have surgery.

Hopefully in the next 8 months or so, my midline will line up more than it is now. All I know is that there is no way in hell I would have my braces on for 6 years to get the midline perfect. I told myself that I would have my braces on no longer than my 58th birthday, which will be just under 3 years. Then I'm done.

So, I guess it just boils down to the final result that you can live with. If you will be sorry you got them off when things aren't quite perfect, then I would go for getting the tooth pulled. Considering that, you probably would never be happy without going for the full effort, especially after 6 years. If you know that you would be happy with less than perfect, then if it were me, I would say enough is enough, and have the braces taken off.
Only you can make that decision for yourself.

Good luck!!