05/11/2026
Nonextraction FTW 🙌
Another headscratcher, another win for the nonextraction camp. (This case was actually very similar to his twin, which was posted previously).
Dr Trev believes that the esthetics, both dental and facial, significantly improve when you don’t extract adult teeth to create room. You get FULLER SMILES AND LIPS. Which might not be as important at age 12, but people start noticing these things about themselves by age 30-40!
We treat smiles for the “future you”, because we want to maintain youth in smile appearance for as long as we can. As humans age, lips tend to thin and we also see the upper lip “fall” and cover more of the upper teeth over time. So we want to protect the tooth position early!
Extraction treatment might be a more popular choice if you decided to poll a few random orthodontists, and this option is probably an easier treatment path (especially considering the impacted tooth!); but Dr Trev prioritizes the following over simpler mechanics: improved lip fullness, smile width esthetics, and possible related airway/breathing (we had to expand A LOT to get to the finish line which is generally great for nasal breathing!)
Mom is happy, patient is happy. We are happy. 🤙
P.S. and for the sticklers (like me); I will use in-house active retainers to help tuck in final detailing movements of teeth 6 and 11 👨⚕️
