PSA - before extracting a baby tooth

grin

Mon, Oct 18 2010, 5:08 am

please ask the dentist to take an X-ray to verify that there's a permanent tooth formed under the gums to take its place.

I just took ds to the dentist with a painful baby tooth. I thought - no big deal - either he'll get a filling, or the tooth will get pulled and the permanent one will take its place when the time comes. But my astute dentist said that she's seen cases where the permanent teeth never formed, so she took an X_ray to check, and sure enough - it wasn't there under the gums where it should have been, so of course she knew not to pull the tooth.

I had never heard of this and never had this precaution taken before.

elf123

Mon, Oct 18 2010, 5:56 am

And just b/c there's no permanent tooth there YET doesn't mean the tooth shouldn't be extracted. There are all kinds of different cases: For example, before my son got braces, he had full x-rays (panoramic, etc.) taken of his whole mouth. I was congenitally missing two teeth, meaning the permanent teeth never grew in, and my braces had to "work around them," so they wanted to make sure that he wasn't missing those same teeth as well. (I guess it can be hereditary.) Although my son's teeth were not missing according to the x-rays, he had to have other teeth pulled, and now that he's had braces for over a year, we are still waiting for two of his teeth, which x-rays have shown are under the gums, to grow in. The ortho checks their progress every time we go and he may ultimately have to have oral surgery to bring them out.
Additionally, one of my sil's has some kids with pretty bad teeth, and there were times that they had to have extractions and spacers put in to "hold the space" for the permanent teeth.
Bottom line, if you have a good dentist, which is really important, he/she should know about all the possibilities. You should not have to tell the dentist how to do his/her job!