Freaking out about first extraction...

[Em1]

Hi all!

I've had braces on for 7 weeks now, without much progress as my ortho wanted to take it slow (I'm kind of a nervous patient) and in any case no serious movement can take place until I get some extractions done - I have severe overcrowding.

There's this one tooth which has been giving me grief since the beginning - at first it was superrrr sore, so I popped into the ortho's office and he loosened something to relieve the tension, and it got a lot better, but there's still a weird shooting "pain" (it's not super painful, just a strange sensation) when I bite down into food on this tooth. If I touch it with my tongue or my fingers there's no pain, and it's not sensitive to hot/cold, just strange when I chew. It's also just this tooth that has this sensatoin - all the others got over their initial aching phase in 4/5 days, so I've kind of convinced myself I have a horrible hidden cavity and will need a root canal or something hideous.

Long story short, the tooth NEXT to the one that feels weird (both are bicuspids) needs to be extracted to make space for my fang to come down, and the dentist has given me an appointment for Tuesday, i.e. in 4 days time.

I am having a huge panic that they'll extract my perfectly healthy 1st bicuspid and then discover there's something seriously wrong with the one next to it, but my ortho (without taking any kind of close look) just brushed off my concern with an "it's normal, it's got nowhere to go so it's painful".

I've booked an appointment on Monday evening with my boyfriend's dentist to see if he can check everything's OK and reassure me, but just wanted to know if anyone else had had a similar experience?

[assertives]

If you do have a cavity in this tooth, it would show up on an xray, so when you go and see the dentist, request for an xray and tell him about your concerns about this tooth. But if you are not exactly experiencing pain or temperature sensitivity, chances are it's unlikely to be a root canal problem, but your dentist will be in a better position to advise you. All the best for your dentist appointment!

[derekwilliams]

Don't do it, your face will change and look worse, better to expand than extract always. Look for another ortho that specializes in SARPE or palate expansion.

[cutiepie2404]

Em1, a lot of people will tell you not to go forth with your extraction. It does you a disservice to automatically tell you not to get your teeth extracted without knowing your particular issues, seeing x rays, etc. if you’re worried about extractions and it’s possible effects, ensure that you thoroughly went through all your options and had a conversation with your ortho and possibly others. But automatically ruling out extractions without taking it by a case by case basis is disingenuous.

In your particular case, like another poster said, cavities would show up on X-rays. I had a cavity on my molar and I would experience pain in the tooth adjacent to it although I did not have a cavity. I’m not sure why, but I got a root canal and I have no pain. Make sure to consult your dentist with all your concerns!!

[Em1]

Thanks everyone. The other dentist reassured me that all was OK, although I ended up not getting extractions yet as my dentist has now decided to get my wisdom teeth out first... yay?

Anyway, re: premolar extractions, I'm aware that it's not ideal, but my case is, in the words of literally every dentist/ortho I've ever met, "mmm.... quite complicated". So if they have to do it, they have to do it.

So let's just see what happens.

[angeamber]

Hello Em!

I completely know how you feel as I need to get extractions myself. I am quite worried as well because I have read everywhere that the shape of your face changes after extractions and yada yada yada! My ortho had gone with the extraction route as well. I am trying to convince myself that my ortho knows what he's doing and will not let me down. I am interested in knowing what your boyfriend's dentist will say about your other teeth.

Good luck to you and do not worry! In the end, with or without extractions, I am sure you will have a perfect smile!