Question:

I have two children who both started orthodontic treatment around the same time. My oldest son lives with his father who took him to an orthodontist who extracted four of his teeth. I took my youngest son to you, and even though both children had a similar pattern of crowding, you did not extract any of his teeth. In just six months, my youngest son who received treatment from you has had much better results than my other oldest son. Why?

Answer:

With my non-extraction plan, I am correcting your youngest sons crowding problem by adjusting his bone to a size and shape that allows all the teeth to fit together. Your oldest son is having his crowding problem corrected by removing teeth to make space on the existing bone. The extraction site where the teeth were removed requires 8 to 10 weeks to heal before all of the teeth in front, and behind, the extraction site can be moved into that space. This is a much slower process than the one I am using because you have to wait for your son to heal from extractions, and then move his teeth.