My daughter has had braces on for 4 years. At today's visit (which we thought was the start of the removal process) her dentist told us that she would have a straigher smile if he removed 4 teeth (pre molars) and kept the braces on for another year and a half. The problem is that she has short roots and after the removal of the four teeth, the force may cause some her regular teeth to fall out.

Our options are to:

1. Take the braces off, and deal with an overbite.

2. Remove the four teeth and hope that the short roots don't cause the teeth to fall out.

She is only 16 and I'm just not sure what the right thing to do is! After all this time and money, I want her smile to be the best it can be but it would be a diaster if her teeth started falling out. :confused:

Please help.

Thanks


Del

hi ! just see whetherher teeth look reasonably OK(not Julia Roberts). if the ans is yes then dont go ahead & pull the healthy teeth. If anything, she can go for 'cosmetic' treatment later on (say after 18) . Take care.

Hi. Thanks for your posts. I really appreciate all help.

To clear up my confusing post:

According to the dentist, all her teeth have short roots and removing the four teeth will allow her top teeth to lay alittle flater than they do now. The risk is that the force of pushing the teeth back (after the removal of the four teeth) will cause some teeth to fall out due to the short roots.

Am I making sense?

Her overbite is somewhat noticable. She's a pretty girl and the overbite is not the first thing you notice BUT she feels like it's worse than it is.

Again, thanks for your help and input.

Del

You could always get a second opinion from another dentist.

Good luck

chatty

what about just removing two teeth, maybe the strain on her teeth will be less and give more conservative approach??