Quote:
Originally posted by nash
As an orthodontist, do you work towards "perfect teeth" or is it ok to just have symmetrical teeth?
I didn't (still don't) really care about how my teeth look, but, I have one front tooth for both the botton and top set of teeth. I have no idea how I came to be missing those two teeth (actually I have a story about the top one) but that's fine with me. Tooth number 7 (lateral incisor, I hope I got that right) is missing and one of the ones 23-26 are missing. I don't know which one 'cause they all look and feel the same to me but my canines are in the right place and I didn't really need braces for the bottom teeth. Tooth number 9 is shifted so it's in the middle and number 8 and 10 are matched up, even though 8 is slightly bigger than 10.
I only had braces for 1 1/2 years, by the way. Any comments?
|
Only time for one question, I'll get to the other post later
We work for perfect alignment. If I had you as a patient I'd get every tooth where it should be and then work with a dentist to get the missing ones replaced. Symmetry is important, but perfect teeth are symmetrical, while not all symmetry is esthetic.
Now your teeth may be perfectly healthy like that, and I can't say for sure without seeing. Orthodontics is about 40% function/long term health and 60% looks. Most people, even the ones with major functional issues, come in because of looks. They might have jaw problems and impacted teeth, but they come in because the front ones are a little uneven.