teeth extraction for braces??how does it affect the face shape??

Question

im 19 and my ortho suggested i have 4 premolars removed in order to create space for braces. Note that this is after i just had 2 impacted wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago. My main concern is that gettin these 4 teeth removed would mean that i would be deprived of 6 teeth which seems like a big number. Would this effect the shape of my face as it develops???Ive read on forums about people complaining that theyre face tends to develop to be longer and thinner after gettin teeth removed. Would this affect me?? At what age does the human skull and jaw stop developing??

Answer 1

19 yrs is almost an ideal age for orthodontics(Braces) although at 16 yrs it would have been a bit better and less tedious...but still at this age growth of the jaw might be in its final stages..anywayz the reason of extraction of your premolars is to create space in your lower and upper jaw as your teeth must be crowded and for bracres to work space is required so that movement of teeth can take place..
and ofcourse it will affect the shape of your face..but mostly for the good as it will create space for proper movement to take place in jaw...and i think that it wouldnt actually affect your mastication(eating.etc) as your molars are still intact(if molars are not present then thats another story because they are the most imp teeth for eating,etc.)...anywayz but still if you are v.concerned regarding extraction ask your dentist that is there anyother loophool to avoid extraction.alternatively you could take a second opinion from an ORTHODONTISTS(Specialist in orhtodontics)

Answer 2

Hi Jason,

When I got my braces, I had four teeth removed as well. They were the first set of molars next to the canines.

It totally changed the shape of my face, and my face is much slimmer and longer. However, I think I look a LOT better. I just had too many teeth for the size of my mouth, and now I look just right. The bottom half of my face was very full before, and my cheeks were a lot fuller. It was difficult to close my mouth, and my teeth were crowded.

Talk to your orthodontist about your reservations, and see if there are alternatives to your treatment...but just about everybody has teeth removed, so I don't know what s/he'd come up with.

PS: I got my braces after I turned 19, and I still looked different. It's not so much about your face growing, as it is the shifting of the teeth that cause the difference in your appearance.

Hope this helped!

Koku

Answer 3

Only your orthodontist knows how to get you from where you are to where you're going orthodontically. Don't even consider your wisdom teeth at this point since a vast majority of the population needs to have them removed. Also, more and more people aren't developing wisdom teeth, period, as we refine our diet and need crushing teeth less and less.
The shape of you lower face may change somewhat due to your orthodontic treatment, but not because you have these teeth removed. Orthodontists make very careful measurements of facial and skull structures and know scientifically the proportions that are considered "esthetic" by most members of society. Things will change shape, but they will do so for the better. An alternative to pulling teeth can sometimes be orthgnathic surgery. This surgery involves breaking the jaws, wiring you shut, and have plates and screws placed. I would rather have some teeth removed. At age 19, you are most likely done growing, and your skull is almost certainly done growing. Gaining weight makes the head look larger, but that is a soft-tissue issue, not a skeletal growth issue. Your face will not get longer nor thinner at this stage of your life. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

Extraction of premolars to make room causes what is known as a dished-in profile. That means when you look at your face from the side the area around your mouth will look sunken in and make the nose and chin stick out more (think of what a witch typically looks like). Traditional orthodontists like yours are trained to only consider how the teeth will look after treatment and totally disregard what the face will look like. That is what he meant when he told you it will look like you never had any teeth removed. That's because all the teeth will line up nice and straight with no gaps. However, when you look at the face and other parts of the mouth, this is what pulling perfectly good teeth to make room does in addition to what I stated above: it will make your mouth smaller, it will make the upper and lower back teeth not articulate properly, it will make the lower jaw bite too far back, and it has been shown to cause TMJ problems, especially in females. A better way to create room would be to have expansion done to the jaws. This would have avoided all the undesirable effects listed.

Answer 5

GET A SECOND OPINION!

A lot of times it isn't necessary to have teeth extracted for braces! I once had an orthodontist suggest that I have 4 premolars removed, too. I ran away as quickly as I could and went to another orthodontist who let me keep my teeth! I had braces for only a year and a half (would've had to have them for up to 4 if I had been trying to fix the empty space where the premolars had been extracted!), and even years later my teeth look great.

If you're concerned about it, I really really really suggest that you get a second opinion!! I don't want you to extract teeth for no reason like I almost did!!

Answer 6

I really think you should get a second opinion. It sounds like you are having a lot of teeth removed. Im not saying that is definitely wrong, but that's a major step that can not be changed once it is done. It is better to be safe than sorry and a second and even third opinion may be very beneficial! Dont go through with this until you are SURE that is what YOU want to do!

Answer 7

Talk to your othodontist about this. I had that many teeth removed, too. I don't know about when the human skull and jaw stop developing. Have you noticed how older actors heads continue to get larger as they age? i.e. Tom Hanks, John Travolta...