Hi Moms!
My twelve year old stepson is going to his first dentist visit next week. Won't get into why he has never been. It's a long story. He still has all but four of his baby teeth. I know this is not "normal", but just wondering what they might do about it. I know he has some cavities in the baby teeth, and was wondering if they may just pull the decayed teeth? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
My son is 9 (oct 28th) and still has all but 2 of his baby teeth. the top ones and one bottom one have been "wiggly" for a while but the dentist says although its unusual, it's ok as long as the xrays show teeth under the gums and they're not pushing through without the baby ones getting wiggly first. If he got teeth late he will lose them late. My son started getting teeth around 10 mos...
Hey,
My oldest daughter will be 13 in March and still has baby teeth. Unfortunately for her one of them is her right side incisor, the permanent tooth is 3 times bigger than the baby one - she hates it. Everytime she has the bi-annual cleanings she asks about it. The dentist says her permanent tooth is not there yet???? She still has others also and tells me when they are loose. Usually she will ask me to pull them out - I HATE IT, but I do it for her anyway. I just think all kids are different and when teeth are ready they fall out. Luckily for me none of my children have ever had a cavity - I am the Toothbrushing-Natzi in our house. They will thank me for it later - I know from personal experience of the consequences of the other way.
Nightmares still haunt me from my child hood.
Regards
M. F
I can't say exactly what they will do. But I can say what little experience I've had. When I was 9 they realized that my stubborn baby teeth were keeping my adult teeth from pushing through. I had all 4 front teeth pulled. When I was 13 they discovered that there was a baby molar in the back they'd missed and I had it pulled as well. It wasn't until they were removed that my adult teeth came through. And they told my mom it was amazing they didn't get infected, the way that impacted wisdom teeth can. They will likely do x-rays to have a good look at his adult teeth underneath and then proceed from there. He could have a similar problem to mine, or it could just be that his adult teeth aren't ready yet. I suppose some kids teeth do pop in later. I noticed someone else asked if he was a preemie. I did happen to be a preemie myself.
They will most likely make an appointment to have them taken out.
Make sure they not only do x-rays but if they want to pull the babies have them show you in the x-ray where the adult teeth are. I have heard stories of people our age whose dentist pulled baby teeth and there were no permanents waiting to slip in so they still had that gap-- which they either still have as adults or needed to have closed with years of braces, depending on how many they pulled.
At his age they should just pull the baby teeth out.
He may not have the permanent teeth underneath. A congenital condition or he is a really LATE teether...LOL
I would not worry since you do have the appt. Is it with a Pediatric Dentist? I worked with one for several years, and I would advise you to see a specialist if you have one available to you. I partially agree with a couple of the comments above, but most trained dentists should be capable of seeing whether there is a permanent tooth to replace the primary tooth. They will, most likely, want to take a pan-x (the one that goes all the way around the head), and you should check with your insurance to see if they will cover that cost. You don't want any surprises at the check out counter! =] As far as his teeth go, if he has cavities, they will want to fill them. Pulling teeth, or leaving cavities in primary teeth in the hopes that it will fall out soon is not the best idea. If they suggest filling them, it is only because he will have the tooth for a good while. By any chance was he a preemie? Just curious. Has anyone else in the family had the same type of problem? My advice is to trust your dental professional to guide you in the best direction for you and your step son. If you are leary of his/her treatment plan, you can always get a second opinion. Best of luck to you both. Please post an update and let us all know how it comes out.
There are a number of possibilities, so just make sure you know the full situation before making any decisions (get X-Rays).
Sometimes, children will only get one set of teeth. Obviously, in this case you don't want to pull them.
Sometimes the baby teeth just won't come out. I went through this with a fair number of my son's teeth. In retrospect, I think he was timid about wiggling those that became loose, and eventually some were wedged in by the eruption of the permanent teeth underneath.
Those teeth, then were safely pulled, and the "adult" teeth moved in to position normally.
You just never know... My son actually grew THREE teeth in one spot (rather than just the normal two), and my daughter has one empty space in her mouth where no baby tooth came in (but the dentist says the permanent tooth is developing normally inside)!
They'll probably do some x-rays and determine if the baby teeth need to be pulled in order for the permanent ones to "drop". The x-rays also will tell if the decay has affected the other teeth. Your dentist will discuss what program will follow. Good luck
Hi J.,
My son too had his baby teeth until he was about 10-11. The dentist extracted them only because looking at his x-rays saw that his adult teeth were right above waiting to come out. This may be the case with your son. If he happens to have cavities they will most likely extract those as well. While they cannot leave your son with no teeth in his mouth at all, they may not extract all of them at the same time. Afterward his adult teeth did not grow in correctly and i ended up having to put braces on his teeth, which he has on now and will still have on for another year or two. I hope this helps.
