Metal Mouth Message Board

How many extractions did you have in order to prepare your mouth for braces? Yesterday they told me I would need 6 extractions. I am scared as I've never done any extractions... is it painful? Any advice? They also said that towards the end of my treatment they may ask for my bottom wisdom teeth to be removed because it's not growing in the correct direction.

While extractions aren't as common as they used to be, it's still pretty normal for teeth to be pulled. The most common teeth to extract are pre-molars and wisdom teeth.

WanderingWallflower wrote:How many extractions did you have in order to prepare your mouth for braces? Yesterday they told me I would need 6 extractions. I am scared as I've never done any extractions... is it painful? Any advice? They also said that towards the end of my treatment they may ask for my bottom wisdom teeth to be removed because it's not growing in the correct direction.

I had six extractions. Upper wisdom teeth, top and bottom second premolars. I was put under. My recovery was fine. I only bled the first day, no swelling, no infection, or dry socket. That was with SIX extractions at the same time.

I had only one. But years ago I had a wisdom tooth removed (not for braces, it kept getting inflamed).

My ortho says I need 8 extractions because I have a small mouth and an oversized tongue.

Hammykid wrote:My ortho says I need 8 extractions because I have a small mouth and an oversized tongue.

Ok, please think about it twice! I mean, small mouth and oversized tongue AND your ortho wants to make your mouth even smaller with 8 extractions??? Not an ortho here but to me that spells future disaster in terms of breathing for example. Where's your tongue going to go when it has even less space? I'd say down, obstructing your airway!

WanderingWallflower wrote:How many extractions did you have in order to prepare your mouth for braces? Yesterday they told me I would need 6 extractions. I am scared as I've never done any extractions... is it painful? Any advice? They also said that towards the end of my treatment they may ask for my bottom wisdom teeth to be removed because it's not growing in the correct direction.

I had 4 premolars extracted because of bimax protrusion.

[quote="pcspinheiro"][quote="Hammykid"]My ortho says I need 8 extractions because I have a small mouth and an oversized tongue.[/quote]

Ok, please think about it twice! I mean, small mouth and oversized tongue AND your ortho wants to make your mouth even smaller with 8 extractions??? Not an ortho here but to me that spells future disaster in terms of breathing for example. Where's your tongue going to go when it has even less space? I'd say down, obstructing your airway![/quote]
8 extractions = 4 wisdom teeth and 4 regular teeth, just to be clear
I am going to see two other orthodontists next week for a second and third opinion.

Yes, yes, I suspected that much. But still, 4 premolar teeth removed is a LOT of space to close and your mouth will become even smaller.

WanderingWallflower wrote:How many extractions did you have in order to prepare your mouth for braces? Yesterday they told me I would need 6 extractions. I am scared as I've never done any extractions... is it painful? Any advice? They also said that towards the end of my treatment they may ask for my bottom wisdom teeth to be removed because it's not growing in the correct direction.

Had my first 3 extractions last year October(2 pre molars +1 damaged tooth that had to go either way), extraction were done for crowding. Close to the end of treatment I'll also need to get all 4 wisdom teeth out because they're impacting.

I personally was terrified going in there and I googled the worst case scenario's but overall it wasn't a bad experience. My dentist was as gentle as could be and his assistant held my hand the whole time. My extractions were done while awake but they numbed the area so I didn't feel a thing, the worst part was the sound but it was not painful at all .

Tips for care afterwards(from my experience):
(1) Luke warm salt rinse, only in the morning and night, move the water around the extraction gaps slowly and do not swish it roughly.
Your extractions are gonna form a clot for healing and you want to help it but not accidentally remove the clot because it might cause issues in the healing process.
(2) Don't stick your tongue in the extraction holes(I'm not gonna lie this was hard for me, I asked the mister to keep me in check because I would absent mindedly poke it), if you're too rough you might dislodge the clot.
(3) Liquid or soft food for the first few days, I had mash potato's and cup of soup, sometimes breaking some bread pieces into it, even had noodles a few times.
(4) Keep your face warm if need be, I had swelling but it was end winter/early spring in South Africa so the weather didn't help, just wrap a scarf or wear a hooded jacket at night.
(5) If after a week you feel that you haven't healed properly in one of the extractions or if you are worried about the healing process then just go see your dentist for a check up, it may be nothing but you want to be better to be safe then sorry.
My damaged tooth had a rough time being pulled, not painful just stubborn to come out, so the slight trauma caused it to take a little longer to heal and I was worried but a quick dental check(which he said looked like it was healing fine) with a weird antibiotic plant(just in case there was an issue) in the extraction gap sorted it out in a day.

Everyone's pain threshold is different, what might be sore for me is nothing to someone else, and the way people heal is different, some heal in a day or two, others a week or two. Just take it easy, follow the dentist care instructions and you'll be sorted in no time

Wishing you all the best with your extractions and your smile renovation ahead xx

I had 4 premolars removed for overcrowing and bimax protrusion.

The extractions were my least favourite part of my treatment so far, but the procedure itself is over really quickly and the wounds heal surprisingly fast. It was only the first 2 days after extractions that I was super cautious as I was worried about bleeding and dislodging the clot.

It's definitly worth getting 2nd/3rd opinions to be sure this is the correct approach for your teeth, but when used correctly extractions are still fairly standard practice.

[quote="Vicki04"][quote="WanderingWallflower"]How many extractions did you have in order to prepare your mouth for braces? Yesterday they told me I would need 6 extractions. I am scared as I've never done any extractions... is it painful? Any advice? They also said that towards the end of my treatment they may ask for my bottom wisdom teeth to be removed because it's not growing in the correct direction.[/quote]

Had my first 3 extractions last year October(2 pre molars +1 damaged tooth that had to go either way), extraction were done for crowding. Close to the end of treatment I'll also need to get all 4 wisdom teeth out because they're impacting.

I personally was terrified going in there and I googled the worst case scenario's but overall it wasn't a bad experience. My dentist was as gentle as could be and his assistant held my hand the whole time. My extractions were done while awake but they numbed the area so I didn't feel a thing, the worst part was the sound but it was not painful at all :).

Tips for care afterwards(from my experience):
(1) Luke warm salt rinse, only in the morning and night, move the water around the extraction gaps slowly and do not swish it roughly.
Your extractions are gonna form a clot for healing and you want to help it but not accidentally remove the clot because it might cause issues in the healing process.
(2) Don't stick your tongue in the extraction holes(I'm not gonna lie this was hard for me, I asked the mister to keep me in check because I would absent mindedly poke it), if you're too rough you might dislodge the clot.
(3) Liquid or soft food for the first few days, I had mash potato's and cup of soup, sometimes breaking some bread pieces into it, even had noodles a few times.
(4) Keep your face warm if need be, I had swelling but it was end winter/early spring in South Africa so the weather didn't help, just wrap a scarf or wear a hooded jacket at night.
(5) If after a week you feel that you haven't healed properly in one of the extractions or if you are worried about the healing process then just go see your dentist for a check up, it may be nothing but you want to be better to be safe then sorry.
My damaged tooth had a rough time being pulled, not painful just stubborn to come out, so the slight trauma caused it to take a little longer to heal and I was worried but a quick dental check(which he said looked like it was healing fine) with a weird antibiotic plant(just in case there was an issue) in the extraction gap sorted it out in a day.

Everyone's pain threshold is different, what might be sore for me is nothing to someone else, and the way people heal is different, some heal in a day or two, others a week or two. Just take it easy, follow the dentist care instructions and you'll be sorted in no time :GapToothed:

Wishing you all the best with your extractions and your smile renovation ahead xx :)[/quote]

Thank you, you have no idea how much you helped me. I had no idea bout the clot... and that I had to ensure to keep it in tact... knowing myself I would've tried to get rid of it haha! I get my first two extractions on Monday, I will keep everything that you said in mind.

I've never had extractions for Orthodontics, only if the tooth was too rotten to save and my 3 wisdom teeth (i was lucky to not have 4 because the 3 I had were bad enough); it's actually the opposite for me, I'm getting 2 permanent implants to replace missing teeth.

I got 3/6 today and one just refused to clot so I guess that's what they call dry socket? It hurts so bad! And the anesthetics kept wearing off really quick for some reason so I ended up getting a bunch more than usual. I cried because of all the pain and cried when I got home too.

So... speaking of Wisdom teeth. I have 4 impacted Wisdom's and this was never a topic of discussion at any of my consults with the Ortho, Dentist or Oral Surgeon.
I had two baby canines pulled last Friday and braces put on, and I'm getting my adult (and I'm 41) canines chained down over the next 2 years. Hence the braces in the first place. My wisdoms are not giving me any problems, but now I'm wondering are they going to make things difficult and I will have to get them removed after my braces?? Anyone with similar issues?