Ok to delay 6 weeks after molar extraction before getting braces to close the gap?

[michaelg1]

Hello and thank you for reading this, I have a friend who is currently living abroad and facing hefty dental work and several questions.

She just had a left upper first molar extracted earlier this week due to it being damaged from both decay and cracking beyond repair.

From the x-rays taken she will also need an impacted wisdom tooth extracted from the lower left side and potentially need both the upper wisdom teeth extracted as well.

She was already a candidate for braces due to crowding on both the top and bottom, so these extractions will provide space to pull and align the remaining teeth back into place.

The feedback from her dentist is that there will be no need for a dental implant to replace the 1st molar that was already extracted, as that space will be used to resolve the crowding issue through braces.

Her questions:

1. Is that a perfectly ok course of action to follow? Leaving the 1st molar gap as is and allowing braces to fill the space?

2. The lower left wisdom tooth is clearly impacted and should be the next tooth to come out; however for the upper two wisdom teeth combined with the already extracted 1st molar would there be a possibility of creating too much empty space to fill through brace-work?

3. The bills are quite hefty for all this work and she has no insurance over there; she would very much prefer to spread the cost out by delaying the braces until late August. Given that the 1st molar has already just been extracted, and the wisdom teeth can follow either in late July or early August, would this be a feasible orthodontic plan? Or would delaying braces for another 6-8 weeks cause issue for the empty 1st molar socket?

Her dentist there has already ok'ed the above plan, to spread out the dental work and begin braces in late August, but from what I know braces are usually applied around 2 weeks after extraction. Would delaying for 6-8 weeks cause complications such as bone loss that would interfere with the braces and negatively impact or delay the alignment period? What is the maximum amount of time that can pass between an extraction and being fitted with braces before the consequences of delaying become severe?

Thanks again for your help and advice!

MG