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I was never able to get braces as a child. My parents did their best but they couldn’t afford it. As a result, as an adult I have crooked teeth. I also have two bicuspids that are still baby teeth. There are no adult teeth beneath them so I have done my best to ensure they would be as healthy as possible. I’m guessing they’d need to come out. Will I need dental implants are can Invisalign work around missing teeth? I really don’t want braces at my age.
Andie
Dear Andie,
I understand about the situation with your parents. Most are doing the absolute best they can. Life is expensive and we can’t always afford things we want, even when they are good and important for us. I’m glad you’re not angry about that. As for your missing teeth, Invisalign is a fantastic way to straighten your teeth without anyone even knowing you are wearing orthodontics. They are invisible even at a conversational distance. Plus, they have very high patient satisfaction rates, which means they live up to the hype.
In general, Invisalign is pretty good about working around missing teeth. You didn’t say which bicuspids are still baby teeth. I agree that they’ll likely need to be pulled. You don’t want to spend all that money straightening your teeth and then have one or both of them need to come out later and throw off your bite.
Whether or not you will need dental implants to replace them will depend on their location. Bear in mind that I haven’t actually examined you. But, as a basic rule in cases like this, if they are both adjacent to one another that will give you an asymmetrical bite, which could lead to other problems. If they are one on each side, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about replacing them.
The good news is that even if tooth replacements are necessary, you can still straighten your teeth first to get them into proper alignment, leaving a space for the missing teeth. There are also inexpensive tooth replacements you can get while waiting on your dental implants.
This blog is brought to you by a friendly dentist in Baton Rouge, LA Dr. John Theriot.