I'm looking for long-term research on the effect of removing teeth (not wisdom teeth). Our orthodontist has told us the next step is to remove 4 permanent teeth. However, when I called the dentist, he said absolutely NO WAY, he has seen 75 to 80 percent of people who have this done develop TMJ later in life. (That percentage may be an exaggeration on his part, I didn't tell him I would be quoting him.) And if there is evidence for this, I want to know about it before finding another dentist that will pull the teeth. From what I was able to learn from him he said that orthodontists see patients when they are between the ages of 12 and 20, for the most part -- they don't see the long term impact tooth removal will have on patients. And that orthodontists will ask people to have teeth removed in order to make their job faster. With some of the teeth moved out of the way, the treatment can pull the teeth in more quickly? (I think the receptionist was passing this part on to me -- and she was helpful, but this too sounds a bit questionable to me). The receptionist said that sometimes this can be due to the fact that treatment is started late -- and we were unable to begin treating our children earlier in their jaw development. They are 17 (male) and 18 (female)and began treatment 9 months ago. They have overcrowded teeth and large over-bites, and the orthodontist told us at the outset that had we started sooner, we would have seen better results. That's fine.
My questions are --
1. Is there a way the orthodontist can continue treatment that does not involve tooth removal -- is it possible that if the braces remain on our children for longer than the prescribed 24 to 28 months that there will be some benefit -- Is he just asking us to remove the teeth to make it quicker?
2. Is there any information or data (most preferably published research) linking TMJ to having permanent teeth removed earlier in life. My research thus far has only mentioned wisdom tooth removal. I consider wisdom tooth removal more necessary per se. This removal seems somewhat cosmetic/voluntary, although both children report that they strain to close their lips and would like that to change, if possible. I just want to know the risks we are taking.
Thank you very much!