Extractions?

[AlexO890]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and I might be getting braces soon. I've been reading some posts and I see people talking about getting teeth extracted. Does everyone need to have teeth extracted for braces? I have bad dental phobia and thinking of getting braces without having teeth pulled is scary enough.

[sirwired]

No, not everybody needs extractions; you are simply going to have to go to one or more orthodontists and get a diagnosis.

[anedia]

Nope not everyone needs extractions. It just depends on your mouth and what your teeth look like.

I had to get a baby tooth removed to let the adult tooth behind it move forward. Extractions are super easy, they numb you up and take it out. It's not that big of a deal.

[AlexO890]

Thanks for the replies! I'll wait and see what my ortho says about my teeth.

[newbite]

no, getting extractions isn't necessary for many people. it depends on your bite and how much room you have in your mouth. if you see an ortho who automatically wants to pull 4 (or 2) healthy teeth, I would get another opinion quickly! extractions are an old-school approach to orthodontics and shouldn't be necessary unless you have a very large mouth/overjet/etc. Once teeth are pulled you run the risk of your jawline/cheeks/face becoming sunken, which isn't a problem if you have a nice large jaw and large teeth-- but if you already have a small jaw and/or small teeth you could regret it!

[AlexO890]

Thanks! I do have a large jaw (I've always been told I have a big mouth, haha!) so we'll see what happens when I go to the ortho this week.

[asylumgreen]

No, I don't think anyone strictly needs extractions. My orthodontist said that I could still have straight teeth without extractions, but that if I wanted to fix my overbite, I'd need to get some teeth extracted to make room for the teeth to move back. I've always considered myself to have crooked teeth as a much more focal issue than an overbite (even though I do literally have one), but in looking at the molds that were made of my teeth, it's actually the opposite - they aren't really THAT crooked, but the overbite was very obvious on the mold. That pushed me to go ahead and get the extractions done. The point is, I still could've had 'straight teeth' without any extractions, it just depends on exactly what sort of results a person is looking for. I figured if I was going to sink all that time and money into it, I'd rather get the overbite corrected than get to the end and realize I should've done it.

[AlexO890]

I had my consultation this morning, and the ortho said I don't need extractions!

[newbite]

That's awesome! Are you going to go ahead with the braces?

[AlexO890]

I think so!