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On the recommendation of my dentist and two different orthos, I went to the oral surgeon today to see about getting my impacted wisdom teeth removed. It's his opinion that the risks would far outweight any benefits in my case, for a variety of reasons. (its amazing how much I've learned about my mouth in such a short time. ) He did say he does know of people who have still gotten braces with wisdom teeth and he'll gladly conference with whatever ortho I choose about it.
So now I'm wondering... how much is this going to affect the braces? I thought the wisdom tooth removal was the absolute first step until now, but now it's a step I can't take. Does this mean braces are out, too?
I still have all my wisdom teeth and have had no problems at all with my braces. Mine are not impacted though.
I'd think that if it was too risky to remove them that the ortho could work around them, but I'm no expert
My friend had unerupted wisdom teeth. She had her first 4 pre-molars removed and braces fitted. As the gaps were closing this made the space for the wisdom teeth to come down. By the end of her treatment they were all the way in place and perfectly in line.
Don't know if this would be an option for you though..
This is something I've wondered about too. Only one of my wisdom teeth ever errupted so I don't know if any of the other three were just absent, sitting in my jaws or impacted (impacted means they're pushing into a second molar, doesn't it?).
I'm concerned on two fronts: one, that some will try to come out due to whatever tweaking/surgery takes place and send everything wonky; two, that if they're are impacted they could be pushing on the roots of my second molars, increasing the prospect of long term decay. I mean, one of my second molars has just had to have a filling and I'm due for another one on the other side.
But here's the rub. There seems to be a totally different approach to dealing with wisdom teeth on each side of the Atlantic. In the UK/Ireland the prevailing thinking seems to be that wisdom teeth should only be extracted if they're causing an existing problem; by contrast in America wisdom teeth extraction seems to be a precautionary measure. So it seems many more Americans have their wisdom teeth removed.
But I wonder does the above divide apply for those who go for treatment. I mean, if you where going to the lengths of having surgery on your jaws in the UK it would seem awfully shortsighted not to extract impacted/unerrupted wisdom teeth if there's a chance they could mess everything up.
I got my two right wisdom teeth removed last year and like you I have one impacted wisdom tooth on the left bottom. I got braces in mid-June and my ortho said he would just work around it, he is also working around the top one which though not impacted has to be removed.
I think personally he made the decision because I had enough space for my teeth to move. I assume that if the extra space that my wisdom tooth is taking up would be needed for my other teeth to move it would be something that would have been taken care of before my braces were put on.
Hope it makes you feel better that someone is in the same boat
"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
I have braces with three of my wisdom teeth still in place...I had the fourth removed because it had a cavity in it that was too close to the tooth beside it. My boyfriend had braces in high school, and they actually removed all of his 6's (the molars two away from your wisdom teeth) and closed in the spaces to make room for his wisdom teeth to grow in. I think it depends on whether or not your mouth has enough room for all your teeth and how difficult it will be to work with them.
UGHBRACES - I don't think the wisdom teeth are ever going to come out prettily, seeing as the bottoms are lying horizontal rather than vertical. But at least it is possible to work with the darn things in there!
dentalguy - I've often wondered if dentists are yank-happy when it comes to wisdom teeth, and I guess over here they are when compared to the UK. My boyfriend's dentist is currently refusing the fill a cavity on a wisdom tooth since "it needs to come out anyway". But the tooth is already erupted, causes him no pain, and he has gorgeous teeth. So... neither of us are exactly clear on why they need to come out.
Lela/Lo/lizard - Yay, I feel lots better that someone else is in the same boat! I do have some crowding, but I'm sure they can work around this somehow. I have one more ortho consult to go on so I'll see what he has to say and then I'll pick one. Hopefully these teeth aren't too much of a problem.
My son got his braces off about a year ago and just got his wisdom teeth out last week upon the recommedation of his dentist. I got mine out before I got braces. One of them was wedged against the second molar and the molar ended up breaking, beginning my first visit to a dentist since Reagan was president, and ultimately leading upto me finally getting braces.
I had my uppers removed years ago but the oral surgeon saw no need to remove the lowers as I have "plenty of room" at the time, I wasn't looking to correct my class III bite. As of now, I still have my lowers and the ortho's probably not touching them. They don't seem to think it'll have an effect.
) He did say he does know of people who have still gotten braces with wisdom teeth and he'll gladly conference with whatever ortho I choose about it. 
