Question:
I recently called another orthodontic office and asked the lady answering the phone some questions. One of the questions I asked was if the orthodontist takes out teeth to straighten the other teeth. The lady at that office told me that some people have more teeth than other people and those people need to have teeth extracted. I am pretty sure this is not true. Is it?
Answer:
No, it is not true. Most people have 32 teeth. Some are missing a wisdom tooth and a very small amount of people may be missing a permanent tooth. A very small percent of the population also have what are called supernumerary teeth. These are extra teeth and a vast majority of these teeth are impacted. Supernumerary teeth are usually deformed teeth and of limited to no use to a person. It would be very rare for supernumerary teeth to be causing crowding.