my canine is high do i need an extraction?

Q. Dear Dr, I have relatively straight teeth apart from one canine which never quite had enough room to come down properly. I am 26 and now am ready to do something about it. Do u think extracting this tooth is the option? NB It is quite high in my mouth if this makes sense. Would I need braces aswell? Thanks R

A. Dear R,

It all depends on just how high up in your mouth your canine is- and is it on the lip or palate side. The canine is a very important tooth when it comes to how your teeth function together and ideally should be kept if possible. However if it is very high the extraction route is a possible option. From a cosmetic point of view the premolar next to a canine has a profile that looks similar to a canine and can be a good cosmetic substitute for a canine. If the canine was to be saved a fixed brace would be required to allow enough space and to move the canine into this space.

Regards

Related Questions

Join this Discussion
dr julian caplan

Dr Julian Caplan – Director on the board of the BACD

Aviva Cosmetic Dentistry
101 St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, AL1 3EN
Web: www.avivacosmeticdentistry.co.uk Tel: 01727 854429

View My Profile Dr Caplan

  1. Linnette says:

    I am 33 years old and I have 8 months that I got braces . My doctor told that in 1 and half year my teeth should be corrected .

    My concern is that all my teeth are moving, EXCEPT MY UPPER CANINE TEETH ( my upper canine teeth are littlle bit up but not extremely high ) however i haven’t seen yet at least a little bit of improvement on my teeth.
    .

    another extra concern is that i just only feel a very light pressure and not pain at all when the braces’ rubber bands are changed, i only felt these symptons the first day i got the braces after that none of that..

    TWO QUESTIONS:

    do canine teeth take longer to move down than the rest of teeth?

    should i feel pain and pressure on my teeth everytime i have the rubber band of my braces changed?

    how long is estimated in my age to have the teeth corrected with braces??

    Please advice

  2. Not telling says:

    Hello i have the same problem BOTH my canine teeth are up high teeth extraction could help but if you still want your teeth LOL you should probably grt braces the teeth wont come down on there won im due to go to the dentist today and find out if i need braces if i had to pick between teeth extraction or braces it wouldnt matter what but u would need false teeth for teeth extraction i hope this helps and ill let you know if im getting braces asap

Leave a Reply

Please be aware that we publish names entered into this form.

Tags: , ,

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at 1:15 am and is filed under Dr Caplan's Answers, Experts Answers, Q. Missing teeth, Q. Orthodontics.