My son is 13 years old. He has been seeing orthodontist for about5-6 years. He has had many many teeth pulled. He has 4 teeth that are not coming in. The orthodontist is going to put chains on these teeth and pull them down. I have never heard of this and it scares me.Have you ever heard of this? Is there a chance of them coming in on there own. I would rather wait, but he doesn’t want to wait any longer.
Hi there,
Firstly, it is quite common for orthodontists to have chains placed on teeth to bring them down into the mouth if they are delayed or in a poor position. Secondly, every tooth has an average age range within which they are meant to erupt into the mouth. Sometimes we choose to watch and wait for these teeth to erupt by themselves, however, if they are already behind schedule or leaving the teeth to their own devices would mean that the overall malocclusion worsens because adjacent teeth move into the space that should be occupied by the unerupted teeth, then we choose to use the chain to speed things up.
We do not take this procedure lightly and I would expect that the orthodontist has taken all these factors into consideration. Also, whilst it may seem best to allow the teeth to erupt on their own, having the braces on for prolonged durations is also not good for the teeth.
I hope this has been of some use in addressing your concerns,
Kind regards,
Saba Qureshi
Specialist Orthodontist (Sparkle Dental Boutique)
Saba Qureshi
311 Boston Road Hanwell London W7 2AT
Web: www.sparkledental.co.uk Tel: 020 8567 4344
