Thinking about getting braces... but there is a big problem.

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#1 Post by **lilly82** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:32 am

I have a few baby teeth in place. Im 26 years old and have no adult teeth over the baby teeth. My x-rays show I have strong baby teeth with strong roots. I have three baby teeth on top and two on the bottom. Next to my front teeth I have both adult canines. The adult incisors never developed. Then I have a baby canine that went behind the adult canine on my upper right...an adult pre-molar and then a baby molar. On my upper left I have the adult canine next then a small gap...an adult pre-molar and another baby molar. So in total on top I am missing 4 adult teeth and have three baby teeth in place holding strong. Since I have a gap on my left side the teeth shifted slightly in that direction, so my midline is off by 2-3 mm. My front teeth are also bent inwards a little and my adult canines are out too much. On the bottom I have two baby pre-molars in place and Im missing one on the front bottom teeth but there are no gaps. I have no teeth on top of eachother waiting to come out. They just never developed.

The ortho wants to pull out the baby canine next to the adult canine on my upper right side so that with braces he can move the teeth more centered. But instead of just adding implants later where there will be two small gaps, he wants to shift all my teeth forward and do some cosmetic re-shaping. My fear is that moving the baby molars on the top of my mouth will cause them to fall out. If this happens the cost will be much, much more and I don't know if I can afford implants to begin with, so Im not sure if I should do anything.

I have two big questions Im hoping to get some good advice on:

1. have you guys had any experience with this? Will moving baby teeth cause them to fall out? My ortho says they're strong and might not fall out but he can not gaurentee it.
2. I will be wearing retainers after the treatment. How long will I have to wear the retainers? Can I gradually use them less and less after a few months, and after a years use them even less until I stop using them and my teeth will not shift?

Thanks in advance for your support.

I would like to add photos... how can I do that?

A lot of people tell me my smile is fine... but I see where it is off and I am self concious about it. I want to like how I come out in photos but I also dont want to put myself in a painful and expensive rollercoaster and regret doing anything about this later... please help....

#2 Post by **dugsmom** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:08 am

I don't have an answer for you...have all my adult teeth and have just been braced so I don't have any experience with retainers
but I was just thinking that I've seen young kids (as young as 8 years old) with braces and they still have most of their baby teeth. If wearing braces hasn't caused their baby teeth to fall out then they surely shouldn't cause your teeth to fall out.
I agree with Meryatan, see some other ortho's and see what they think. It's always best to get as many opinions as you can. I saw 5 ortho's before I made my decision...the last one I saw told me that he'd be able to fix my teeth without extractions or surgery...all the others were either for extractions, or surgery.
Good Luck!

Jessica

#3 Post by **RocknRollFun** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:02 am

I have 2 baby teeth on my lower jaw. I've only got upper braces, but that will be changing soon enough. So I've been informed that I have to pull those baby teeth. [one is holding up but the other is not-so-good.]
I guess my only advice is this: I'm 29. The baby tooth that's not-so-good lasted forever but when it started going, it was all downhill. [It fused to my jawbone and is dying.] I wouldn't count on those baby teeth to last you forever... so you might not plan on keeping them forever.

#4 Post by **jun08** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:48 am

lily,
I recently got braced for a similar problem that you described. But I have only one baby tooth. It had not bothered me that I had retained a baby tooth. As someone said, baby tooth wont last forever. I am 33, I have retained a baby tooth (canine) and have a overbite. It did not bother me that much. But now, cavity has formed around the baby tooth & needs to be extracted. So I was reffered to ortho to determine the treatment plan to close space & correct my bite.
After consulting 4 orthos, and thinking through for 1 year, I finally decided to get braces. The treatment would be to extract baby tooth & one other permanent tooth & close space & correct bite over a period of 20-24 months.
I guess I did not have any choice other than the 2yr sentence!!
Use your judgement & good luck!!
Thanks,

#5 Post by **krzygrlm** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:04 pm

I wouldn't be too worried about it - but ask your ortho if you're not sure. I believe that I have a minimum of 6 baby teeth left (I know 2 have been extracted, so that's down from 8) and I have no adult teeth underneath. My ortho said they were in good shape and shouldn't affect the treatment -no guarantees of course! He didn't seem overly concerned about the baby teeth (Im 28), other than I also have full wisdom teeth at the same time! He calls my mouth odd and somewhat confusing! I got banded (top) this Tuesday and couldn't be more excited about finally seeing a beautiful smile! Good luck to you!

#6 Post by **Jerseyman** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:16 pm

My son is missing 16 permanent teeth. All his baby teeth were fine and healthy but the dentist at the U of Iowa told us that the roots would not be healthy for much longer. We had them pulled and he was fitted for braces then bridges after getting the spacing right. We have so far resisted implants due to the expense and the lack of guarnatee that they would last more than 15-20 years and he is only 23 so he would have to go through implants 2 times at least (hopefully.) He would also need some bone grafts that sounded painful. He did fine with the braces and the bridges. Not sure if this answers your question but there are answers other than implants.