What is a 4-by?

My ortho said that I was a good case for doing a 4-by. Or 4-bi, for-bi, for-by....I asked him to explain but he just joked and said that it was extracting 4 teeth. Then I got distracted and forgot to ask again.

So what the heck is that in terms of orthodontia? If it helps, I'm 41, have braces for the second time (first time at 8), have ceramic on top, two crowns, one root canal.....

Well crap, so he wasn't joking? *sigh* Well, less teeth to brush then! (I'm joking now).

4-bi stands for Four Bicuspids...in a normal adult dentition, you have 8 of them. There are two bicuspids between your eye tooth and your first (6-yr) molars, on the top and on the bottom, on the left and on the right of your mouth.

He's probably planning on extracting one bicuspid from each 'quadrant' to make room for the other teeth to drift into a better place.

Some dentists prefer to do one side at a time so you'll have the other side of your mouth to chew with. Since they're 'adult' teeth, the healing time may be a little longer.

You'll be just fine, though!

:)

You're very welcome! Good luck! :) Report It

Well with regards to extracting teeth, the context leads me to believe it has to do with bi-sectioning the tooth to more easily remove it. Sometimes a tooth can push through the sinus cavity or the bone and cause some trouble and it is necessary to section the tooth out before removing it.

JUST a guess though based on the info you gave - your best bet is to call the office and find out for sure. Just tell them the doctor mentioned a 4-bi and you wanted to know if that was the extraction or something else.

Oh and congrats on your braces! My husband just got his off a few months ago and it's the most I've seen him smile.

Your Orthodontist is recommending all four first bicuspid be extracted. There is either not enough room/crowding, or overbite/overjet situation that constitutes this recommendation. Your crown and root canal work is not what he is basing his recommendation on, but it sounds like you have had quite a bit of work already, wow!
The only role the ceramic crowns play in all this is that they use different cement to bond to the bracket than they do to regular enamel.

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