Braces or no braces?

Well, personally, I wouldn’t want to pull out the 4 adult teeth… but that’s just because I’m afraid I’ll have no teeth when I’m old, or they’ll all fall out too soon or something.

Anyways, good luck with your decision.

I just re-read the question, I don’t think I answered your question, but I have no idea how to either.

Outside of the cosmetics, you should be considering the potential health problems that may occur by deciding on one over the other.

if you don’t have the teeth pulled, she will have to have retainers cemented in, and have them for the rest of her life. She should always wear retainers anyway, but with the crowding the chance of the teeth reverting to the pre-brace position is alot higher. My daughter is 14 and if it were me, I would do the longer treatment. You’ll have a better, more permanent result. As you’ve already made the investment, that is what I would do given the circumstances you describe.

that is a tough one. what do her teeth look like now? i think regardless of if you get the 4 teeth pulled (which would not be fun), and then she didn’t wear her retainers, the teeth would get messed up again anyhow. it happens to everyone who has braces and then neglects to wear their retainer. so the easy solution if she wants them off now is…she just has to realize she has to wear her retainer or get one permanently put in. i dont think a permanent one would be that bad. i’d love to have one. i have those plastic ones and i accidentally threw the bottom one in the trash and the top one gets lost constantly or i forget about it. permanent would be a lot more convenient. so…if it were me i’d want them off now and i’d not want to get all 4 teeth pulled. and i have had braces and teeth pulled and every other dental work possible and i would want to deal with the dentist as little as possible. so if they’re nice now…i say get em off.

I think I would have to see what her mouth actually looks like to judge. If there’s a noticeable need for braces then I would say get them, but if theirs some sort of weird thing in her mouth that isn’t noticeable to anyone except orthodontists and people who specialize in teeth, then I’d say get them off.

I say that last thing because my teeth look perfect, yet my orthodontist is telling me I need to keep my braces on for a couple more months. Obviously he sees something that I do not, so maybe that’s what he is seeing with your daughters mouth.

When I was younger my orthodontist told me to have about five teeth pulled. We had it done, but now I have spaces. It isn’t too noticeable to other people, but it bothers me and I wish i had never gotten them out! It could be a different story for your situation, but that’s what happened in mine.

Keep in mind that as she ages her teeth will naturally move forward. Once her teeth are aligned the way she wants them she will need to wear a retainer every night to keep them from moving. As to whether to pull teeth or not, I would say if she is happy with how her teeth look without pulling them, don’t. She may end up needing others pulled later in life and be happy she kept these four that you are considering right now.

Ok, we are going to the ortho on Monday. He’ll tell us what the normal positioning of the teeth are, and what her teeth are positioned at. i personally don’t think that she needs the braces. But the shifting of the teeth may be an issue. i think my daughter is diligent enough to be able to not lose her retainers, but that’s easier said than done. However, i do agree with @Parrappa, her teeth look find to me, but it may just be something that the orthodontists see.