Help! Anyone who has gotten their teeth straightened?

[Anonymous]

I am 23 years old and my teeth are really crooked on the top! Now that I am an adult I can't have braces without a surgery that costs $20,000 (orthognathic surgery). So I am just curious, have any of you had crooked teeth that were fixed by pulling teeth? and then applying braces? If so, how old were you when you got it done and just how crowded were your teeth?

Any answers or advice would be awesome! thank you! :)

[TimePhantom]

I never had to get teeth pulled, but my brother and many other friends did. Sometimes it is necessary to get the right teeth in the right spots. If you are feeling nervous then go get a second opinion, I think pulling teeth should be a last resort.

[Asker]

Well I have been to 2 orthodontists and both said that I need orthognathic surgery which is really dangerous, and painful, and on top of that, I can't afford it! so I am wanting to pull teeth but the orthodontists I went to don't recommend it! I just don't understand why pulling teeth works for other people and not me... do you know why people are against pulling teeth?

[TimePhantom]

If your orthodontists said not to pull teeth, then don't do it. It may not be necessary and pulling a tooth can effect a lot of other things with your mouth. Why do you want to, it's not going to make your teeth look any better. Maybe look for some alternatives, like invisalign. Or ask the othro how good they can get your teeth without the surgery or pulling. Sometimes these othro's tell you just what you need for perfect teeth, and maybe you can greatly improve your teeth but not

[TimePhantom]

Get them perfect just from braces. When I was getting near the end of having braces my ortho gave me the choice of either getting them taken off, and having it so my top two front teeth would not align perfectly with my bottom teeth, or keeping them on another year to fix the problem. They always want to get them to be as close to perfect as possible because it looks better for them, and it also costs more for you.

[Anonymous]

My friend had her teeth pulled when she was young, I believe she was in middle school/high school at the time. She had several extra teeth that had to come out, I want to say she got at least 5 pulled out.