Metal Mouth Message Board

Oh well the more i read this forum the more i feel worse as alot of people seem to have regretted extracting teeth.
Anyway is there anyone here who does not regret extracting teeth and love his/her profile now?

I am not so keen on the extraction route, but that's just my personal opinon. I was really hoping the Orthodontist I saw last week wasn't going to say he wanted me to have extractions and luckily he said a big fat no to them.

I think it can really depend on your issues and your bite etc.

I think possibly someone with a large overjet might be someone who wont regret getting extractions (other than maybe regretting extracting healthy teeth) and maybe wont notice a negative change in their face, as the teeth are pulled back to close the gaps, lessening the overjet?

I am SO happy I got extractions! I had a bit of a wide face before and I love how my profile has slimmed out, my bite is much better and I finally feel like my teeth are where they should be. I'm actually very glad that I found this website after I had the extractions because I would have been a lot more reluctant to get them if I had read all the posts about it. I'm not saying that the extractions route is the best way for everyone, but personally I have absolutely no regrets.

I do not regret my extractions (4 pre-molars), the process was a pain in the butt and I had periods of depression and anxiety, but in the end it turned out for the better and I tortured myself over nothing. My profile has changed, but minimally and for the better. I imagine if I went against extractions my mouth would protrude too much. I would like a wider smile but otherwise I think my smile looks very nice. Good luck!

I am definitely glad I extracted. (4 teeth). If you have protrusive teeth, and your lips protrude out too, then there is a good chance that extractions is the best option for you. Now, I will say that some people get extractions who shouldn't have.. if you have a dished in profile already, or a perfectly fine profile, then you should not get it. But in my case, it most definitely made my profile sooo much better!!! I am no longer self conscious of my lips sticking out like crazy. When i was young, i'd have to suck my lips in as much as I could.. all the time, and when I'd smile, I'd try to fold my lips in so they didn't stick out so much. Now, I don't have to do that. Also, I'd have a hard time talking w/o my teeth getting in the way.. again, now talking is not a problem.

So,... it all depends on what you need done in your mouth. If you have overcrowding too, with overlapping teeth, etc.. then you might consider extractions too.

I also had a friend who just wanted to straighten her teeth, but she had such big teeth that protruded, that when she had her braces w/o extraction, all it did was make her mouth more horselike. Straight teeth, but horrible profile. If i were her i would have extracted for sure.

wow really thanks for all the replies. I'm happy for you guys that never regret.
Anyway for my case there are some overlapping teeth and teeth that are not rotated properly.
And from my side profile i can see my mouth is sticking out.
But i can close my bite though.
then i ask my ortho if i can don't extract teeth.
She replied that if i don't extract my teeth, my mouth is going to stick out more and i might not be able to close my bite.
Is that a valid reason for extractions?

VA5 wrote:If you have protrusive teeth, and your lips protrude out too, then there is a good chance that extractions is the best option for you. Now, I will say that some people get extractions who shouldn't have.. if you have a dished in profile already, or a perfectly fine profile, then you should not get it.

I also had a friend who just wanted to straighten her teeth, but she had such big teeth that protruded, that when she had her braces w/o extraction, all it did was make her mouth more horselike. Straight teeth, but horrible profile. If i were her i would have extracted for sure.

I totally agree with what VA5 put above. This is kinda what I explained in my first post. I think people with protrusive teeth will benefit from extractions, but not with a 'dished' in profile etc.

The Ortho I saw last week said no to extractions. He said if I were to have extractions, when the teeth are pulled back/together to close the spaces, my profile would sink/dish in and my lips would look odd and my nose would appear more prominent (wow, I do NOT want that! my nose is already big in my opinion). Because I have no overjet/protrusion going on, I think in my case I wouldn't be happy with the outcome if extractions happened.

So yeah, it can totally depend on each case.

wulfgarian wrote:wow really thanks for all the replies. I'm happy for you guys that never regret.
Anyway for my case there are some overlapping teeth and teeth that are not rotated properly.
And from my side profile i can see my mouth is sticking out.
But i can close my bite though.
then i ask my ortho if i can don't extract teeth.
She replied that if i don't extract my teeth, my mouth is going to stick out more and i might not be able to close my bite.
Is that a valid reason for extractions?

closing your bite is not relevant to extractions. my bite was actually perfect, and my teeth were super straight too. but, i had protrustive upper and bottom, so my lips/mouth were always "sticking out" and i hated it. it made me look mad b/c i looked like i was pouting, and it was awkward to smile.. i never felt like i had a normal smile.

i totally think from what you're saying that you need extractions. also, the mouth sticking out more bit.. that's exactly what i was trying to say when my friend got braces w/o extracting. it happens!

I am very glad I had extractions my bite is sooooo much better now!

I have no idea whether my teeth could have been straightened effectively without extractions, to be honest. Back when I had my treatment initially, most orthos used extractions routinely, you didn't hear about expansion much for adult patients. I didn't really notice a change in my profile at all due to extractions. My main problems were major crowding, no overjet, and large teeth/small mouth. I still don't see how any ortho could have created enough room with expansion to solve the problem, even if it had been tried. I don't recall being told I had a narrow jaw, and I'm sure there's a limit to how much you can expand a 'normal width' jaw lol.

The only thing I regret is that the teeth that were extracted were actually completely healthy teeth, if they had extracted my other set of bicuspids, it would have been better since those had fillings in them lol. Oh well...