That's very informative. In her case, I assume that yes, all her teeth came in because she was in her 30s, but they were not straight. She had the orthodontic work done later in life to straighten the teeth. It was not an option for her family when she was young, but it was apparently a priority for her when she had the means to pursue it herself. I have no idea what the cost of this work would be (for an adult or a child).
If there was some problem with the teeth that prevented them from erupting, then I guess you'd just have to have them removed. What's the alternative? Implants for teeth that won't fit anyway? That seems unnecessary. I was really talking about removing healthy teeth simply because they didn't fit in a straight smile. More commonly, all the adult teeth make an appearance, but there is not room for them to "single file" and so they are crowded and look crooked. If you can only expand the top row, that would be enough for cosmetics (few people reveal much of their bottom teeth when they smile). I wonder if bottom teeth frequently have to be removed for reasons of crowding. I mean, bottom teeth are much smaller. So you'd think it'd mainly be an issue for the top anyway.
I don't know. The subject of removing permanent teeth has not come up for my children yet, so I haven't looked into it. If it does, I'll probably seek a second opinion, but probably not a third or a fourth. Unless both were very young and inexperienced orthodontists, or otherwise had a reputation for butchering their patients' smiles! I had large teeth and one of the most crowded awful smiles ever when I was young, and was able to have braces without removing any teeth. One of my children's teeth seem to be coming in just like mine. The other is just as crowded, but not in the same pattern.
