My Son Lost His Tooth a Long Time Ago; Adult Tooth Not Coming In. What to Do?

Updated on November 24, 2010
A.D. asks from Sammamish, WA
12 answers

My son lost his bottom tooth a long time ago (I would say since June). The tooth was wobbly and maybe we took it out too fast. But nothing is coming out. The other tooth around that tooth have come out and adult tooth has appeared. Now, I can just go to the dentist and ask, but we don't have dental insurance and it is very costly just to ask a simple question. So I want to know if anyone else went through this with their own children. Does it eventually come in? I am hoping that it is taking an extra time for this tooth to come out.

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B.M.

answers from Seattle on

My son had the same thing happen a while ago. It was a top tooth, one of the center ones, and it took over 6 months to come in. But it came in just fine. The dentist told us that these things happen from time to time, but it's nothing to worry over.

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L.B.

answers from Stockton on

The one thing I would worry about is the other teeth migrating into the open space. I know when my son had to have a tooth pulled they put a spacer in to keep the area open for the new tooth. He may not have an adult tooth (that runs in my family.) I think maybe the trip to the dentist now might be cheaper than a trip to the orthodontist later. Sorry, I feel your pain about dental expenses.

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T.F.

answers from San Francisco on

That happened to my daughter. Fortunately the timing was such that our concern coincided with a checkup at the dentist. The Dentist did a type of X Ray that is scheduled at a certain age just to see where all the teeth were. Everything looked fine but my impression this was the only way to know for sure. I didn't give it a second thought as I had a tooth that stayed on the roof of my mouth under the skin. It had to be moved down with orthodontics. Anyway, This is tough. Can you talk to your dentist and possibly get on a payment plan? Sounds like you aren't going to the dentist or not soon? One thing that might help you is we don't have dental insurance either. My husband and I are both self employed. We set up an HSA (Health Savings Account) It includes a high deductable medical insurance plan connected to a savings account. The idea is you save money and pay medical out of the savings account (there are tax savings involved). Any left over can be saved for retirement. It's still very expensive but is a priority for us, we've been fortunate that we can do this even though some months we squeek by.

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W.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Sometimes it does. Some of my son's teeth came in (fell out because a new one was coming out) and some of the others took their sweet time coming in. He also had some removed so that he had room for the larger adult tooth coming in so I dont remember if the longer times was due to naturally falling-out teeth or the pulled ones though.

I totally second the HSA account! and the expense of the dentist being less than the expense of orthodontics later.

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E.R.

answers from Chicago on

I would take him to the dentist, in case the tooth is unable to come down. This happened to me when I was a child and eventually I had braces put on and had to have oral surgery to attach a wire loop around the tooth up inside my gum to gradually pull it down into place every time my braces were tightened.

I am sure you can find a dentist who works on a sliding scale with fees according to income- have you gone to your local Town Hall or someplace like that? Talk to a social worker or someone in child services. They should at least know who to recommend to you and can probably help you find out if your son is able to get free to reduced care. Don't be embarrassed to do this- this is your son's health! Go talk to someone about it right away- the surgery and followup I had as a child was painful and the problem took over a year to correct!

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M.V.

answers from New York on

The only way you can know for sure is to have an xray done to determine if there is an adult tooth under the gum. It is really not uncommon for someone to be missing one or more adult teeth, but its better to know for sure because if this is the case, chances are that orthodontia is in your son's future.

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C.B.

answers from Cleveland on

My dd had a top front tooth that took over 8 months to come in. My DH was very concerned so I called the dentist office to ask about it. The dentist said that some teeth are just slow to come in and can take 1 to 1 1/2 years to come in. I wouldn't worry about it.

S.G.

answers from Oklahoma City on

my daughter's is doing the same thing, lost her tooth about 2-3 months ago, nothing hard in her gum indicating a tooth, going to call the denist

just fyi, i called my dentist because my daughter has same issue, my dentist is bringing her in for an xray to make sure those teeth are there and where they are, said sometimes they are just not there, and then have to worry about teeth misplacing themselves and will need spacer, etc...i'd call dentist just to make sure nothing is wrong

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

My daughter was missing a front tooth for a LONG time. It was the only one that took a long time to come in, but I'd say at LEAST 6 months or so. At least that. I asked everyone and they said it was fine...he should be good!!

K.I.

answers from Seattle on

My son lost his top 2 teeth early and we waited a whole year before they came in.

I think you should be OK to give it a few months before you go in and ask whats up?

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H.R.

answers from Anchorage on

My daughter had the same situation - no problem, don't stress over this, it will come out - our dentist said it will happen when it happens, don't worry she won't be a toothless forever ! :)

L.G.

answers from Eugene on

Dental colleges see people for free. Find out where one is in WA...most likely around Seattle and make an appointment. The dental colleges also know where clinics are that see people for free.

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