A question bout my daughters tooth?

Question

My daughter is 6yrs old. Last July or August the front, upper tooth on the right side became loose! she was so excited..her first loose tooth. Well, since then she has lost 3 other teeth(both bottom front and the upper front-left side). the prob is that the first original tooth is still loose. plus, the one next to it has now become looose. We thought, 2 months ago, that this top one would finally come out cause it got real looose. However, it sems to have tighned up so now ts barely wiggiling. My prob is that the adult tooth has started to grow in BEHIND the loose one. It is almost fully grown in. It actully looks as though she has 2 teeth in the same place.
My questions are this? have you ever heard of this happning before? Will this cause her to need braces? and, how can i fix this? the loose tooth titened back up, so i cant pull it out. Is it normal for 1 tooth to be loose so long? should i be concerned?
She is not complaining of any tooth pain

Answer 1

This is actually quite common. The baby tooth was on its way out, but now the permanent tooth is behind it, and now it has tightened back up and you can't just pull it out with your fingers.

Your daughter needs to see a dentist. If she hasn't gone before, this is a good time to start the routine. Either a general/family dentist or a pediatric dentist is appropriate.
This is what likely happen:
-x-rays
-a prophylaxis by a hygienist or the dentist (a "cleaning")
-an examination of her teeth
At the point that the retained baby tooth is discovered, they will likely make a plan to extract the tooth. This is straight-forward and not particularly traumatic to the child.

Don't wait on this, but know that it's not an "emergency." Just make an appointment, tell them about your concerns, and go from there.

FYI: I usually tell my pediatric patients that the Tooth Fairy brings more money when the dentist has to take out a tooth because it's too silly to come by itself.

Answer 2

You have done the right thing getting her a dentist appointment. As you have two other children you know what to look for as far as signs of the teeth go. If she doesn't seem to have any coming through you need to be prepared when you see the dentist. You are obviously really worried about this - the dentist needs to know that - don't let the dentist fob you off. If you though there was somethign wrong with her arm you would want an xray so I would hold out for that at the dentist - it takes seconds to do. Be prepared to have to hold your daughters head still and the film in her mouth - but be strong - she won't be hurt at all. It is not uncommon for children to have the odd milk tooth missing but i have not heard of no teeth developing - but find out once and for all. Good luck.

Answer 3

I would take her to the dentists to have it pulled. This happened to me as a child because I was always so afraid to pull my teeth. The adult tooth grew up on the top of my gum, like above my teeth and then the rest slide over to fill the gap once the baby tooth was finally gone. It was ugly and embarrassing and I did have to have braces. Even with the braces, my tooth is in it's normal spot but it's a little twisted.

Answer 4

This is very common. You could take her to the dentist. She should be going regularly at this age, anyhow. The dental staff will probably take an x-ray and the dentist will probably numb the area and just remove it. The root has probably resorbed and it's barely hanging in there. I betcha if she worked at wiggling it again, she'll get it out of there with no problem. One thing you can do at home is numb the area with a topical gel like Orajel, give the tooth a quick pinch and tug and it will be out. It beats a $100 visit and stress of going to the dentist.

Answer 5

this does happen sometimes, but it is very important to take her to the dentist and let them remove the baby tooth now so hopefully there's a chance the new adult tooth will move into the correct position

if left untended this could cause lasting problems

Answer 6

Happens more often that you think. Your dentist will take care of it.