“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen” Winston Churchill

A colleague of mine recently called me and asked if I thought extracting a lower central as part of an orthodontic treatment plan was acceptable. I responded that the extraction of a lower central is a completely illogical treatment modality. I explained to my friend that the reason for doing it is called dental alveolar compensation. Basically removing a dental unit (tooth) to compensate for a skeletal imbalance. This type of archaic treatment is popular in the hands of clinicians who are not capable of moving skeletal components like we do everyday.

This idea is to make the mandible (lower jaw) smaller instead of making the upper jaw longer or wider. I have been orthopedically (painlessly) making jaws bigger, longer and wider for over 30 years. It is an art and has taken years to perfect, but in my office we provide big broad beautiful smiles, not tiny deficient jaws notable in all the extraction patients.

Should you or someone you love have questions about an orthodontic treatment plan that involves extracting teeth, please contact our office for a complementary consultation.

Sincerely,
Michael W. Dagostino DDS