My daughter is about to graduate high school. She’s always had a problem where her adult lateral incisors are missing. This has made her very subconscious about her smile. My dentist is suggesting we pull the baby incisors and then get Invisalign to close the gap. I just wanted to get a second opinion before we make a final decision.
Bethany
Dear Bethany,
I am very glad you wrote. I think this plan will be a disaster for your daughter. If I understand correctly, he wants to remove the baby teeth, which is fine, but then shift the canine teeth over. Let me post a picture below to show you what that will look like.
Unless your daughter WANTS to look like a vampire, it is not a solution I would recommend. Here is what I would like to suggest.
- Extract the baby teeth. That part is fine.
- Have a dental flipper made so that she will have some teeth there as her bite is being prepared.
- Use Invisalign to open the space for replacement incisors.
- Once her bite is in place, have new dental flippers made to keep it open until she is old enough for dental implants.
- When ready, get dental implants.
A dental flipper is relatively inexpensive but will give her a complete smile while she is waiting on the permanent solution. In the meantime, Invisalign will allow her to have her bite aligned properly without anyone even knowing that she is having orthodontics done. They are invisible, even at a conversational distance.
You don’t have to use dental implants for the replacements. There are other options. However, implants are by far the best tooth replacement and will be the closest to having healthy natural teeth there.
When it comes time for finding the implant dentist, make sure it is someone with great post-doctoral training. Additionally, it will help if they can do both the surgery and the restoration. This way there is less of a chance of miscommunication between the two caregivers. If that is not possible, it will be important that the dentist determines where the implants go and not the oral surgeon.
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.