Pulling bottom tooth for Orthodontist

[merchantship45]

Hi, a few months ago I had braces put on. My Orthodontics wants to pull a tooth on top which is understandable because I have a tooth on top of another. But she also wants to pull from the bottom and it’s one of the smaller front ones. So then I’ll have three bottom front tooth’s. Is this even common? Wouldn’t I look funny? This experience makes me nervous and I’m an older person doing this. I’ve never had a tooth pulled and scared about it. I still currently have all 32 teeth in my mouth. I hate to lose any.

 

[Gordon]

It's not unusual, apart from a dentist it's unlikely anyone else would notice. Mostly the lower front teeth are hidden behind your lower lip. It's not compulsory though, if you don't like the idea then you don't have to do it!

 

[merchantship45]

Thank you for your response. I’m afraid that if I refuse, she’ll take both lower pre molars. I’ve never had a tooth pulled and not looking forward to it. On my upper jaw, the right side I have a cuspid sitting on top of the lateral incisor. Therefore my midline is off. To correct this she has to remove the 1st pre-molar on the other side. In 2007 I had a root canal for a fractured 1st molar on the left side. I asked her to remove that one with the crown and she said it’s too far back. Now she’s about to put a bracket on it on my next appointment and send me for extractions. I’ve never seen anyone with three lower incisors. Not sure what to do.

 

[Gordon]

They can't just remove teeth for the sake of it... if you are unhappy with the proposed treatment you are perfectly entitled to refuse it.

As we we got taught this back in the 70s, taking out the first molar instead of the premolar will double the treatment time and half the prognosis. So I wouldn't argue about that one