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What To Know About Braces And How Wisdom Teeth Affect Them

30 November 2019

Oscar Allen

Does one of your children need braces to fix the alignment problems with their teeth? If so, you may have concerns about having braces put on their teeth before their wisdom teeth grow in. Here is what you need to know about how wisdom teeth may impact corrections made with braces.

When Braces Can Be Used

It's possible that your child currently has a very wide or large mouth. This will leave plenty of room within their mouth for wisdom teeth to eventually grow in and emerge from the gums. The wisdom teeth will grow in naturally, and there won't be a problem with the new teeth running into corrected teeth and ruining their alignment. 

A mouth that is already crowded can cause problems with incoming wisdom teeth. That's because those third molars can push on the teeth and cause them to move forward. This will ruin the orthodontic work that was done, which is why an orthodontist may want to wait and see what their mouth looks like until after the teeth grow in. 

Of course, wisdom teeth are not the most predictable teeth, and the way that they come in may require surgery to remove. If your child's wisdom teeth are completely impacted and growing underneath the gums, a dentist will have to remove them no matter what to prevent the oral health problems that will occur.

Options To Deal With Wisdom Teeth

Your orthodontist may provide several solutions to deal with wisdom teeth that have not come in yet. One technique is to use space savers, which are metal brackets that are attached to the rear molars to help maintain their spacing. This will prevent those rear teeth from moving backwards in the space where the wisdom teeth will grow in

Another option is to shift the teeth forward to make room for the wisdom teeth. If there are already a lot of spaces between your child's teeth, the solution may be to move them closer to each other so that there is space for the third molars to grow in. 

If you have concerns about wisdom teeth affecting the ability to get braces, it is always worth scheduling a consultation with an orthodontist. They'll be able to perform an evaluation and take x-rays, which should give you a better idea of what potential complications you will run into by having braces installed earlier rather than later.

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