Leaving off my back molars - TMJ Disorder -TemporoMandibular Joint Message Board

luvtocamp · 11-11-2005, 03:07 AM

My tmj dentist whom might ( Might- is the word) be making my new upper denture and lower partial said he might eliminate my back molars because I have a small mouth. He said this would not affect my tmj. I'm a little nervous if this is the right thing to do. He said he has made other dentures this way and people don't really need back molars. Any opinions? Thanks.

Marylander · 11-11-2005, 09:07 AM

I have not heard of this, but they do pull teeth on a lot of people who get braces as adolescents. My husband had four adult teeth pulled at the age of 13 and then braces and no problems. I know there are people with TMJ who attribute it to having had braces, but most people some to come through them okay and pulling four teeth at that time is pretty common. I actually attribute my problems to the fact that I DIDN'T have braces. I am congentially missing two adult teeth on the bottom, and my childhood dentist just let the baby teeth rot out and did nothing at all, so I had gaps in the bottom of about 10 years and all of my back teeth shifted and sit at funny angles. The first dentist I saw as an adult said the matching teeth on top should have been pulled and I should have had braces to pull the back teeth up. I also have a small mouth. Anyway, my point is there are a lot of people who have less 32 or even 28 teeth, a lot with 24, and they seem to be okay. But any kind of change for someone with TMJ is risky.

Is there anyone you can ask for a second opinion? I can try to ask the dentist I am seeing now what he thinks of the whole idea...he seems to really know the commonsense answers to tooth questions. Yesterday he showed me the different styles of crowns that can be ordered, with various angles of molar cusp incline ranging all the way from absolutely flat to 33-degree angles. He said my own teeth and other restorations are flat, and the dentist who replaced a bridge for me this summer and made my problems worse put in 33-degree angle teeth, and that flat teeth and sharp teeth will never work together. He is working on gradually flattening the bridge while not throwing my bite further out of balance, it is a slow process but seems to be working.

I'm afraid that's not much of an answer...but I will ask him what he thinks when I see him next week.

Marylander.

GoodThings · 11-11-2005, 11:31 AM

Hello,
That to me is a BAD thing. Without the presence of back molars, how would you be able to support the tm joints? Does not matter if you have a small mouth or not, you still need the back molars to support the joints. A lot of cases people have short back molars and that is why they have "tmj." So it really doesn't make any sense to leave the back molars out.

GT

luvtocamp · 11-11-2005, 01:55 PM

Marylander and Good Things thanks. Marylander-you dentist sounds like he knows his stuff- I would appreciate it if you'd ask him. It would be my second molars he would eliminate. I can see where sharp teeth against flat teeth might be a problem. I would think that might make your sharp teeth glide over the flat ones, instead of locking into them. Also its good hes doing a little at a time- otherwise you might end up with too low o teeth. I see my periodontists Tues. and I'm going to ask him too. I'll let you know what he says.