Metal Mouth Message Board

My son will be 8 this July. He only has ONE permanent tooth so far!!!

Here's the thing...in kindergarten he got a tooth knocked so we took him to the dentist. They xrayed him and he was fine although they found he has an extra tooth up inside his top gums. The dentist kinda gave a run around and sent my hub with him to a pediatric dentist. Spent out the rear at the pediatric dentist only to have him sent to an ortho. Took him to (my current) ortho who said he should wait for everything to grow out, and then work on fixing it.

Well its been two years and nothing is growing out...he lost one front tooth and it grew in permanent...the other teeth are mildly loose but not really going anywhere. I think he may possibly have one more permanent tooth trying to come in behind a baby one. Whatever it is, he is messed up. haha.

Anyone know if I should still wait this out? I think I'll talk to the ortho next time I go. I don't trust the dentists in the building I go to but I do trust my ortho (they are together but the ortho makes his own decisions for his own patients, even though the two practices are linked).

Was hoping maybe someone else had experience to know if this is bad or normal and how long I should "wait it out".

Maybe you should get a consult with a couple of pediatric dentists just to see what they say. Maybe the baby teeth will go ahead and fall out on their own but maybe they will need some help. It would be worth a try to have it checked out even if just to calm your worries.

I was a bit like your son. My first 2 baby teeth fell out when I was 7.5 years old....I kept waiting hoping I would get a tooth fairy visit LOL. I had lost a total of 8 baby teeth and had the 8 permanent ones come in by the time I was 9.5-10. I was sent to an ortho when I was 10.5. They decided to pull the rest of my baby teeth (12 teeth 4 at a time) over the next couple years age 11-12. This was done under general anesthesia by an oral surgeon. He said he'd rarely seen such long roots on baby teeth. All permanent teeth grew in fine, but if they hadn't helped them along when I was growing, maybe there would not have been room?. Also my 6 year and 12 year molars came in on time. I did end up gettng braces in my teens and have them again now (another story).

starzz wrote:I was a bit like your son. My first 2 baby teeth fell out when I was 7.5 years old....I kept waiting hoping I would get a tooth fairy visit LOL. I had lost a total of 8 baby teeth and had the 8 permanent ones come in by the time I was 9.5-10. I was sent to an ortho when I was 10.5. They decided to pull the rest of my baby teeth (12 teeth 4 at a time) over the next couple years age 11-12. This was done under general anesthesia by an oral surgeon. He said he'd rarely seen such long roots on baby teeth. All permanent teeth grew in fine, but if they hadn't helped them along when I was growing, maybe there would not have been room?. Also my 6 year and 12 year molars came in on time. I did end up gettng braces in my teens and have them again now (another story).

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My oldest daughter is in braces now and my dentist referred both of my younger ones to the orthodontist as well.

He feels much like yours. My youngest child will be 9 in September and he sees her every six months just to "keep an eye on her".

Maybe your ortho could just keep an eye on your child. My oldest had an extra tooth by the way and she had it extracted when she was 6.

We found a great dentist for kids and we are in the process of getting dental insurance to cover the kids so I feel better now...

Hi -

I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to say that I didn't have all permanent teeth until I was 12. If your son is only 8, it seems like it would be good to wait a while. However, I know it's been many months now. You can give an update on your son to let us know what you decided.