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| Monday, February 26, 2007 |
| Wednesday Appointment |
I'm bringing J. to the dentist on Weds. morning. I'm really pretty nervous.
She had oral surgery over the summer -- the dentist she had seen in the middle of the country said that she had an "extra tooth" and it needed to be pulled so that her adult teeth could come in.
The surgery went pretty well, she was a real trooper. Pretty quick after the surgery, one of the two teeth which were supposed to be "freed" by this tooth's disappearance started to come in. It seemed to be coming in at the very center of where the 2 should come in.
8 months later - there's still only the one tooth. It doesn't seem to be a front tooth, but it's in the place of a front tooth. Nothing else is coming.
In another area, an adult tooth is coming in and breaking through the gum on top of the baby tooth - the baby tooth isn't even wiggly. I hear this is relatively common, and I'm not too concerned about it.
The other "missing tooth," however, makes me really nervous.
Isn't it funny that she used to have an "extra tooth" but now she has a "missing tooth"? It seems super odd to me.
She also has a pretty serious overbite, and her one true "front tooth" sits funny in her mouth. I know she'll eventually need orthodontic work, but wonder if her issues are severe enough to warrant earlier intervention than I'd typically be comfortable with.
Which is why we're going to the dentist. I'm nervous.
And I am pretty sure she is, too.Labels: kids |
posted by Zuska @ 9:07 PM   |
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| 1 Comments: |
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My sister had the exact same problem. She had to have early braces with a wire in place to push the one front tooth to its proper position so as to allow the other tooth to come into place. (The "missing tooth" was really just unable to come in properly because the other front tooth was blocking it. The x-rays should show it up there.)
If I recall correctly, my sister was about 10 or 11 when she first got her braces, which even I thought was pretty young, even though more and more of my friends had full braces by 12. She had the wire for a year or so (though I was only 14 or 15, so it's hard to remember); her braces were completely off by high school, and her teeth are perfect today.
I think the important thing is that the longer the adult tooth stays "undescended" as it were, the more risk of problems with it later, caused by root or enamel damage. So early intervension is good here!
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My sister had the exact same problem. She had to have early braces with a wire in place to push the one front tooth to its proper position so as to allow the other tooth to come into place. (The "missing tooth" was really just unable to come in properly because the other front tooth was blocking it. The x-rays should show it up there.)
If I recall correctly, my sister was about 10 or 11 when she first got her braces, which even I thought was pretty young, even though more and more of my friends had full braces by 12. She had the wire for a year or so (though I was only 14 or 15, so it's hard to remember); her braces were completely off by high school, and her teeth are perfect today.
I think the important thing is that the longer the adult tooth stays "undescended" as it were, the more risk of problems with it later, caused by root or enamel damage. So early intervension is good here!