Should You Get Braces With Missing Teeth? [Video Explainer]

No two smiles are exactly the same, and it’s normal for patients to come to us with overlapping orthodontic issues. Patients who have lost some teeth and struggle with misalignment may wonder whether they should get braces with missing teeth before restoring their smile. This is an important question, especially given how large an investment replacing missing teeth can be for patients.

At the Orthodontists Associates of Western New York, we believe that braces and other orthodontic corrections should usually occur before replacing missing teeth to set your smile. This is especially true given how common it is for teeth to shift out of place after tooth loss.

Why You Should Get Braces With Missing Teeth

If you have missing teeth in a misaligned smile, you may wonder if it’s better to replace your missing teeth before or after correcting the smile.

In many cases, you should get braces with missing teeth before the restoration. At times, it’s important to have an orthodontist evaluate your bite before a general dentist tries to replace the missing tooth. That’s true regardless of whether the restoration will be a dental implant, a bridge, or partial dentures.

The alignment of teeth prior to any type of restoration is important. To put it more simply, undergoing orthodontic treatment before restoration is like having a solid foundation to build a house on. When we create a more stable structure for the replacement, the result will last longer.

Another reason it often makes sense to correct alignment before replacing missing teeth is that misalignments can result from tooth loss. Your teeth are not fixed into place like posts in concrete. They rely on the pressure of neighboring teeth to hold their positions. When supporting teeth are no longer there, the remaining teeth can shift into the gap in your smile. Replacing missing teeth can help preserve alignment, but the orthodontist and restorative dentist should coordinate treatment so the final result supports a stable bite.

When a general dentist is performing restorative work on a patient with malocclusion, or a bad bite, their treatment plan needs to account for it. An untreated malocclusion can make restorative treatment more complex and may affect long-term results if alignment issues are not addressed. So it’s very important to pursue orthodontics early on so that you have a good relationship between your upper and lower teeth. Whenever you’re considering restorations on misaligned teeth, you should take a moment to have an orthodontic consultation beforehand.

How We Prepare Your Smile for a Tooth Replacement

We won’t do the final restoration and replace the missing teeth at our practice. However, we coordinate our approach with your dentist to improve your results. Our role as orthodontists is to create the space that allows the dentist to do their best work. We need to correct alignment issues and create space for the tooth replacement.

Many times, patients may be too young to have that replacement immediately following braces. This is common in patients with congenitally missing teeth. In these instances, a patient may need to wait until they can have those teeth restored.

As orthodontists, we make custom retainers with false teeth to fill the spaces left by missing teeth. Once a patient reaches the appropriate age, a restorative dentist can replace those teeth with dental implants or bridges.

Learn More at a Free Consultation

Our orthodontists understand that considering braces to correct alignment, as well as tooth replacement, can be a serious investment in your smile. That’s why it’s so important to get the order right. Based on our team’s experience, we believe it’s best for your smile and oral health to get braces with missing teeth before the restoration. Regardless, we tailor each orthodontic correction to your unique bite issues.

At our practice, we’re passionate about giving each and every patient a healthy, beautiful smile. We never charge until the start of treatment. That means it costs you nothing to learn if orthodontic intervention with braces is best for you. Schedule a free consultation at one of our seven locations across Western New York.