Metal Mouth Message Board

I am 23 years old guy. When I was a teenager I had two teeth extracted from the upper teeth as I had very prominent upper front teeth. This resulted in many facial changes for me like little bit of saggy cheeks and thinning of my upper lips. Also lost my lower jaw definition. I'm unhappy with the thin lips, and flattened cheeks.

I'd like to know if the spaces can be reopened and the teeth replaced to to reverse the extracted teeth ?

I'd really appreciate anyone's help.

thanks

anyone ?

No idea. Are you thinking "implants"? They can do that if the bone is still there to set the in...Interesting to find out if you can ...

Theoretically, it might be possible IF you have space. However, if your teeth were removed because there was no space for them, I cannot imagine braces opening enough space for the implants now. It is possible to open smaller spaces and do bridges, but this is a suboptimal solution because 4 healthy teeth need to be shaved down.

Overall, it is a complicated, involved, long, costly and risky procedure. People usually do it to get rid of lifelong TMJ pain, but if you have none, I think you need to think very hard and weight carefully all pros and cons.

It sounds a pretty drastic step to me. Have you considered other cosmetic approaches such as dermal fillers?

It can - and has - been done, but it certainly requires a lot of consideration, time, and expense on your end. The first thing you would need to do is see an orthodontist to determine if it makes sense for you. Here are some things to consider

1) Because upper teeth were extracted, you likely have what we call a Class II molar relationship, and this is often accompanied by a Class II skeletal relationship (lower jaw behind upper). Opening for those extracted premolars will start to cause the upper incisors to flare. This will start to increase upper lip support, but

2) Your teeth will start to buck out! You'll need a plan to help the lower teeth advance to meet the upper. This can be jaw surgery, or it could be a functional appliance (ex Herbst). A functional appliance will advance your lower teeth, but it will also begin pushing your upper incisors back again, so if maximum advancement is what your looking for, surgery to advance the lower jaw could be best.

3) Finally, you'll need to replace the missing teeth with implants or bridges

Charlene White, a popular orthodontic consultant, is a big advocate of surgical orthodontics and tells a story like yours. She was treated with premolar extraction, not happy with her profile, so she had spaces reopened and her mandible advanced surgically (David Sarver in Alabama was her orthodontist). She was thrilled with the results.

Lots of factors play into a treatment plan, so an orthodontic consult is absolutely essential here.

Thank you all for helping me. I was a kid when I had extractions my parents gave the ortho a green light to go ahead and extract my healthy teeth !

I had very noticeable overjet that other kids used to tease me. I really hate what happened to me it was like camouflaging the problem without really solving it properly. What Kind of dr is this ?

DrBill unfortunately I don't live in the US and it's hard to find a functional orthodontist where I live. I have an appointment with an ortho who I hope knows how to treat me properly.

I want to reverse everything and I will do the surgery if I have to. But not sure if reopening spaces of the extracted teeth is possible or the spaces would be enough for implants to fit in. My main concern is that going through a phase where I will have noticeable overjet again and look like what I used to look when I was a kid, how do I work this out ?

I think the proses will take years .. sigh

I was thinking if they would reopen the extraction gabs and the incisors will start to flare out again, can't I use some kind of expander appliance to widen the arch and look acceptable at least before I have the surgery to advance my lower jaw ?

If surgery is truly indicated and the changes you're seeing aren't the result of ordinary aging, facial type, etc then you WANT lots of overjet before the procedure. The more overjet you have the further the lower jaw can be advanced. It's not uncommon for surgery patients to look worse during presurgical orthodontics as we remove any dental compensation for the skeletal conditions. Unfortunately it's part of the process.

Hi Nasser,
Can you please update if you found the right orthodontist and what's your plan for reversing the extractions?
Based on researches I've made the upper and lower jaw can be moved thanks to functional appliances and the profile restored to how it should be ...