What makes it difficult to move molars in the mouth?
June 16, 2015 9:07 PM Subscribe
What makes a tooth difficult to move? If an orthodontist says s/he can't move a tooth anymore forward what do they mean?
Sure an implant was suggested as well, but I've had a root canal and it failed and found out afterwards it's pretty common for them to fail. I was told before I got the root canal and crown that it would feel like my real tooth- It didn't. So I was wary of getting another fake tooth unless I had no other choice.
My ortho claims he has done this with success before, but he also told me that due to how much the teeth have to be moved it may not close the gap all the way. To close the gap they'll have to move the back molar and wisdom tooth about 6mm forward using an anchor in the jaw. It might take up to 3 years. Since I have crooked teeth anyway it's a good excuse to just get braces on the rest of my teeth too. My question is, why would there be a problem moving a tooth a wide distance like 6-7 mm? Does the tooth literally get stuck and refuse to move anymore? or does it just start to move a lot slower after 3mm and the ortho decides not to wait to let it move anymore? Since this is all happening in the back of my teeth anyway I don't mind it taking years to move them if it will eventually work.
Sure an implant was suggested as well, but I've had a root canal and it failed and found out afterwards it's pretty common for them to fail. I was told before I got the root canal and crown that it would feel like my real tooth- It didn't. So I was wary of getting another fake tooth unless I had no other choice.
My ortho claims he has done this with success before, but he also told me that due to how much the teeth have to be moved it may not close the gap all the way. To close the gap they'll have to move the back molar and wisdom tooth about 6mm forward using an anchor in the jaw. It might take up to 3 years. Since I have crooked teeth anyway it's a good excuse to just get braces on the rest of my teeth too. My question is, why would there be a problem moving a tooth a wide distance like 6-7 mm? Does the tooth literally get stuck and refuse to move anymore? or does it just start to move a lot slower after 3mm and the ortho decides not to wait to let it move anymore? Since this is all happening in the back of my teeth anyway I don't mind it taking years to move them if it will eventually work.
I'd be more concerned about possibly having damage to the tooth or root. For instance, if there isn't a good way for the tooth to move forward - if the space it would occupy has a problem, or if there isn't good jaw bone (wide enough, as moonlily suggests, or deep enough) there for it to move in to. As for just keeping trying forever, if the tooth isn't inclined to move any more but you keep increasing the tension, you could put too much strain on it and damage the root, so at some point you have to just stop.
This is all a bunch of hypotheticals based on a smidge of googling; it's fairly clear from what I can find that we don't really 100% understand how tooth movement works, and what we do know is mainly from experience/trial-and-error over the history of medicine. So I guess I'd trust your ortho's 'experience' (or a few orthodontists' experience, if you wanted a second opinion that would seem reasonable to me) in saying whether he thinks the tooth would move forward and how long it would take.
posted by Lady Li at 11:29 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is all a bunch of hypotheticals based on a smidge of googling; it's fairly clear from what I can find that we don't really 100% understand how tooth movement works, and what we do know is mainly from experience/trial-and-error over the history of medicine. So I guess I'd trust your ortho's 'experience' (or a few orthodontists' experience, if you wanted a second opinion that would seem reasonable to me) in saying whether he thinks the tooth would move forward and how long it would take.
posted by Lady Li at 11:29 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
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Molars are wide, and the roots are deeper. The jaw bone might narrow too much to provide the room and stability the molars need.
posted by moonlily at 11:07 PM on June 16, 2015