Bicuspid extraction experiences

[justices]

[quote="kazw"]Good luck with it Lynn, I'm from England, and have found a functional orthodontist who is going to help me. You need to find a functional orthodontist. They are totally against extraction and retractive orthodontics for all of the above reasons. I hope you get it sorted.[/quote]


Hi

Im looking to get this reversed as well, im also from England. Im looking for an orthodontist to do this but struggling to find one. Could you let me know where in England you are having this done if you dont mind.

Thanks

[Undecided]

I had a functional brace as a child to correct an overjet. Wore it as directed. Finished treatment at 15. By the time I was 17 my jaw had grown some more and the overjet had come back to a lesser extent. I'm now contemplating extractions on the upper arch to reduce it again.

Why did this happen with my functional brace? Surely functional orthodontists should account for growth... How could a functional orthodontist correct my overjet now without extractions? There's no way I would wear a block again. It was bad enough at the time! I'm after invisible treatment now.

It was looking at old home videos and seeing myself in that contraption that made me regret all the time I'd spent in braces without tangible results.

[Stargirlxx]

I had my 2 upper bicuspids extracted 6 months ago to correct an overjet. I am so upset at the results, my appearance has deteriorated immensely, I have trouble breathing and chewing, and I'm experiencing tmj symptoms. I am devastated. I live in BC, Canada and cannot afford to fly to California for the reversal process. Anyone in BC getting this reversed by a local ortho? Please message me if you are aware of any info.

[lynn]

Justice and stargirl/ it pains me to hear what you are going through and I have been there too. Dr hang in westlake village CA is the only orthodontist I know who routinely reverses bicuspid extraction space and understands the issues and problems. Go to facefocused dot com. He also trains orthodontists to do his technique. He is training one in England now. Perhaps he has trained one in BC. My face was sunken in; tmj issues; malocclusion; no room for my tongue... it is so wrong to remove permanent teeth. I have suffered the consequences. He is opening my extraction spaces now. Most orthodontists do not understand that what they are doing is wrong; and many are causing tmj problems and malocclusion. Good luck. I hope you can find someone.

[lynn]

Read s. Kent laussen's book: straight talk about crooked teeth; the new orthodontics. He does not believe in extractions. He has before and after pictures. Some of the before pictures were of very crooked teeth ; and crowded mouths. He used appliances to expand the palate; which from what I understand can be done at any age.

[Stargirlxx]

Hi Lynn, are you writing about your journey anywhere? How far into the reversal are you?

[Riley123]

God help you if you went with extraction/retraction orthodontics. I had childhood extractions and braces and developed TMD, a dished-in profile, large nose syndrome due to retracted teeth, a deformed profile, my tongue is now entirely too large for me mouth, and very severe sleep apnea. In fact, on x-ray, my jaw impacted my airway to where it is only 1/4th of what it should be. Do your research before doing this and get an opinion from a functional orthodontist. You are warned.

[UnhappyCamper]

Hi Stargirlxx. Did you end up going through with the reversal?

[justices]

Hi

Just wondered if anyone knew anyone in the uk who is reversing othodontic treatment and moving the front teeth forward thanks Simon

[Stargirlxx]

Hi Stargirlxx. Did you end up going through with the reversal?

No, not yet. What I did was get a full refund from my orthodontist.

I consulted with Dr Hang over the phone and he was confident he could help me just that it would be quite expensive and involve regular travel back and forth to California. I have three small kids so that's not an option right now. He agreed that getting the braces off from my bad ortho and allowing my spaces to open up on their own was an option in the mean time.

It's been about 3 years, and my spaces naturally opened up maybe 3 mm on each side. (It's just my upper two that were extracted.) I at least have some tongue space now and feel better than I did when everything was fully retracted. Aesthetically, I'm not stoked on having the gaps where my bicuspid should be. I'm still hoping to find a more local option in British Columbia for reversing the extractions. Not looking forward to a third round in braces, either!

For now I've made peace with the situation in in. TMJ, facial damage, destroyed bite.... Ugh, it's rough, but I've learned a lot and will do anything I can to prevent others from making the same mistake I did.

[aep4pDC]

Hi!

I wanted to see if anyone is beginning to start the braces journey with bicuspid extractions. I will be having mine done in 3 weeks, and wanted to see if anyone else is on a similar timeline wanted to keep up / track experiences on the journey.

Thanks!

[captainTom]

Never remove any teeth. Goto another orthodontist who will widen the palate to make room for you teeth rather than removing teeth to fit your existing (narrow) palate.

[Sadjaw]

Lynn, I wonder how are you know. Is all resolved? What orthodontic in BC were you working with?

[Lovespain5]

My braces are off and I am very happy of the result! I had protrusion of both jaws and some crooked teeth so my 4 first bicuspids have been extracted. After that I suffered for 2 years and 8 months in braces, powerchains, a special arch to intensify the retrusion and class II elastics. The improvements in the face and in the profile are incredibly good! My convex profile has become completly straight but not flat. And no thinner lips and ugly chin, only my mouth has become smaller but that's exactly what I wanted

Do you have some news? Is there some improvement in your treatment?

[audax719]

I've started my treatment of re-opening extraction spaces.
Here are the details:
4 bicuspids were extracted when I was 19, rubber bands and everything pulled back. Interestingly I had a deep bite with posterior open bite, so my molars could not have been brought forward to close the gap.
Since teeth were slightly crowded before extractions, and the overjet( or rather the appearance of overjet because my lower jaw was retruded) was corrected due to extractions, but the space was too much( almost 16mm each arch). In hingsight, I should have had a palate expander or just 2 second premolar extraction on the upper arch and lower jaw slightly advanced.
As a result, my anterior teeth tipped inwards( it should actually have a natural outward flare). Lost good amount of tongue space. I thought this was how I was supposed to look and got on with life.

8 years later, I'm suffering from TMJ issues, my lower jaw wants to bite by moving forward but the upper teeth are "locking" it in space.
Im having my spaces re-opened and lower jaw slightly advanced using forsus appliance. I'll get 4 implants later on for the missing bicuspids. Total treatment time is around 20-24 months. The doctor said I wouldn't need a palate expander and the results with that will be unpredictable. His highest priority is a stable bite first with an neutral occlusion. Second is making sure I have enough bone ( which he says I do) to re-open the spaces and third is the straightness of the teeth. Aesthetically, having my teeth move back into their original spaces will give me a fuller mouth and lip support, and more importantly my lower jaw will gain that space to move forward and bite, not to mention my tongue getting enough room to rest on the roof the mouth. I'm very vigilant this time to make sure nothing goes wrong.