Baby Teeth Not Coming Out

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My daughter has several grown up teeth coming in. I can see them, but they are coming in a bit behind the baby teeth. I did some wiggling and the baby teeth don’t have any wiggle to them. Is this okay? Will they just eventually fall out?

Candice

Dear Candice,

Being a parent is not easy! There are so many little things you have to worry about, not to mention the big things. If the adult teeth were not coming in yet, I would say to leave them, even if they should have fallen out years ago. This is because there are some people who can have congenitally missing adult teeth. I have one patient who is 54 years old and still has two baby teeth in her bottom front. There are no teeth underneath. I’ve been impressed with how healthy she has kept them all these years. However, your child’s situation is different.

You said that your daughter’s adult teeth are visible and coming in behind the other teeth. When that is the case, you need to have the baby teeth removed. If you don’t, the adult teeth will be deflected and it will throw off your daughter’s bite. This will mean paying for orthodontics when she is older. Let’s avoid that, if at all possible. Because they are coming in behind, this has already started happening some. However, it is early enough where they can shift into their proper position if you get the baby teeth out.

You may want to ask your daughter’s pediatric dentist to provide her with some nitrous oxide in order to keep her as relaxed as possible during her appointment. Having teeth pulled can be scary for a child. The good news is that baby teeth do not have the same extensive root system that adult teeth have so it will be a much easier proecedure than if you needed to have a tooth extracted.

This blog is brought to you by Mt. Dora Dentist Dr. Michelle Stillman.