UPDATE: Adult teeth coming in behind baby teeth

[karinothing]

I noticed yesterday that DS1 has an adult tooth coming in behind his baby teeth. His baby teeth are not loose at all and the adult teeth is pretty far up already. Poor kid is going to have to get teeth pulled isn't he?

Will this be a horrible experience for him? I have never had any dental work done.

[ohgillian]

This has happened to DS and it has worked out fine. Eventually the baby tooth started to loosen up (the adult tooth was at least half way showing) and then fell out quite quickly.

[karinothing]

Jun 19, 2018 10:53:59 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

This has happened to DS and it has worked out fine. Eventually the baby tooth started to loosen up (the adult tooth was at least half way showing) and then fell out quite quickly.

Was it loose at all when the adult tooth erupted? Did the dentist monitor it? Did the adult tooth move forward then?

[AHappierHour]

His baby tooth will come out in his own and the adult tooth will more forward. It will be ok

[pantsparty]

I had 7 teeth pulled in middle school. It was fine, the adult teeth came in pretty quickly.

[keyslover]

Not necessarily!
DD2 (7 in 2 weeks) has a shark tooth 😜. We have already had a ortho consult and go back in October to reevaluate.

They have said the baby tooth will come out and the adult “should” move into the space.

She has other issues (crossbite that will require an expander) so we did an early consult with a few orthos. It was nice because they had different approaches and we could see what we liked best.

[ohgillian]

Jun 19, 2018 10:57:03 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Jun 19, 2018 10:53:59 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

This has happened to DS and it has worked out fine. Eventually the baby tooth started to loosen up (the adult tooth was at least half way showing) and then fell out quite quickly.

Was it loose at all when the adult tooth erupted? Did the dentist monitor it? Did the adult tooth move forward then?

The baby tooth wasn't loose at all until the adult tooth was at least half-way visible. We didn't take him to the dentist for it (ETA: although he has been to the dentist since then and the dentist didn't comment on the adult tooth being weird at all). And yes, somehow the adult tooth seems to be in the right place, not oddly far back. 

[mel]

I would bring him to the dentist. I had an adult tooth that grew in behind my baby tooth and it's still further behind than my other teeth (my parents couldn't afford braces). They may recommend pulling, depending on how rooted the baby tooth is.

As far as the pulling, if that's the route the dentist suggests going, DS had a tooth pulled due to a cavity that split it. He was given laughing gas and it was really NBD. The laughing gas wore off quickly and he has no memory of the pain at all. We let him take his lovey with him to the appointment and his dentist was great about talking to him and joking with him during he procedure to keep his mind occupied.

[Deleted]

I would ask your dentist. When I was in elementary school, I had my first round of braces/orthodontia work done to fix something wrong with my bite (later, I had a second round in high school to actually adjust my teeth). Even though that work was largely to correct my bite, I had some issues with some adult teeth coming in behind baby teeth a couple years later, which would have affected my jaw, at least according to my dentist. So, yes, I had to have probably three or four teeth pulled over the course of a year, just so it wouldn't screw up the work that was already done. It sucked, but it didn't involve a surgeon or anything -- my dentist gave me a shot of novocaine, which numbed things up enough to make the pain of pulling teeth tolerable.

Hopefully, if your DS hasn't had any orthodontia work done already, your dentist will just let the baby tooth get loose and fall out on its own.

[karinothing]

Thanks everyone! He is 6 and hasn't had any ortho work done already. He hasn't lost any teeth yet. I just noticed yesterday that he has more molars coming in. Poor guy must have a sore mouth!

We are going to the dentist on Thursday, so we will see what they say.

[puppyluv]

I had 5 teeth pulled when I was a kid and wasn't traumatized. The first one was a front tooth because of the situation you described. It was super easy; no big deal. However my adult tooth there did grow in a little off line, behind my other teeth and was fixed when I had braces.

The other 4 came out a few years later because my top back teeth never loosened. The dentist put me under for that one. I dont remember being in too much pain but I had to eat soft foods for about a week.

[ginap]

This happened to my daughter (both of her bottom teeth came in) and the baby teeth started loosening up and fell out with no issue. I was worried about them needing to be pulled but she was fine.

[CurlyQ284]

This happened to me for almost every tooth as a kid, they fell out and I think I had the last 1 or 2 teeth pulled. I had braces for 18 months starting in 8th grade, whether it's related to that I have no idea.

My son lost his first tooth 2 weeks ago and the adult tooth was halfway up when it fell out although his tooth was loose for a couple weeks. I didn't think anything of it since I had shark teeth as a kid, but we go to the dentist in 2 weeks for his cleaning so I suppose I'll ask about it now!

[cmeon]

It can take a few weeks for baby teeth to loosen up, I wouldn't worry if this is a recent development. It's amazing how adult teeth can move into place once they have room!

That said, both of my kids have had baby teeth pulled to make room for their giant adult teeth (which were replacing much smaller baby teeth). It hasn't been a big deal for them, they get it done in the morning and are fine by the afternoon. X-rays helped see which teeth were going to be problems and which we could wait on.

[candreco]

Could go either way... the baby tooth might loosen up as the adult tooth comes in, or it might not. DD has had both situations, and having to have the baby teeth pulled wasn't a big deal, just done by the dentist in office. For my own teeth, I had literally one baby tooth that came out on its own, the others all had to be extracted by the dentist or the oral surgeon (I actually still have one baby tooth where there the adult tooth never developed).

THe procedure itself isn't bad (opt for the laughing gas!), and while your mouth is a little sore after, it's not unbearable and ibuprofen is enough.

[circa1978]

DS had two shark teeth so far. It's been totally fine. The others fell out in a hurry.

[litebright]

I've seen it go both ways. My DD1 had her first two teeth pulled because of shark teeth -- they came in far enough behind that they didn't put enough pressure on the baby tooth to dissolve the root, and she still had significant roots on the baby teeth. They were not going to get loose and come out on their own. Once the baby teeth were pulled, the adult teeth moved forward into the correct spots.

DD2 had a similar situation but her adult teeth came in (behind the baby teeth) in such a way that the baby teeth did get loose enough that we could get them out without having the dentist intervene.

[Shreddingbetty]

My kid's bottom 2 teeth grew in before her baby teeth were even loose. Dentist said no problem those teeth will move forward when the teeth fall out and that's exactly what happened. I'm just sad that when she finally lost the teeth she pretty much had no gap because her teeth were at least half way through already.... No cute toothless kid

[thatgirl2478]

DD1 had the same situation, except her baby teeth were loose for a while, but tightened up again as the adult teeth grew in.  We had the baby teeth pulled because I was concerned about not being able to brush the fronts of the adult teeth.  The pulling was fast and though bloody, not traumatic for her.  The Dentist numbed her with topical numbing stuff (the stuff they use before hitting your gums with the needle) and that seemed to help some.

[thatgirl2478]

Jun 19, 2018 11:08:30 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Thanks everyone! He is 6 and hasn't had any ortho work done already. He hasn't lost any teeth yet. I just noticed yesterday that he has more molars coming in. Poor guy must have a sore mouth!

We are going to the dentist on Thursday, so we will see what they say.

My DD was 6 when we had her baby teeth pulled.  And yeah, he's probably getting his 6 year molars which I believe are adult teeth.

DD1 is 7 now and they are recommending orthodontic evaluation.  We have 2 appointments (different offices), to discuss what may need to be done, in a week.

[cajunmom]

It could be fine, it could be a problem. DD's best friend is 12 and she's only managed to lose one tooth on her own. All of the rest of them have had to be pulled because her adult teeth came in too far back and didn't prompt the babies to get loose and fall out.

I wouldn't automatically assume it's going to be fine like some posters suggest but it definitely COULD be fine, because it's really common. It's good he has a dentist appt soon so you can make sure.

[YahYahs]

Both of DD1's front-bottom teeth were like this. They started out only mildly movable when the adult one grew in behind. She was ultimately able to pull both herself, no dentist intervention needed. The adult teeth shifted in place and you'd never know.

ETA: She did see the dentist shortly before both fell out, just coincidentally during her routine cleanings. We were told to call if it didn't come out in X amount of time. 

[karinothing]

Jun 19, 2018 12:52:48 GMT -5 cajunmom said:

It could be fine, it could be a problem. DD's best friend is 12 and she's only managed to lose one tooth on her own. All of the rest of them have had to be pulled because her adult teeth came in too far back and didn't prompt the babies to get loose and fall out.

I wouldn't automatically assume it's going to be fine like some posters suggest but it definitely COULD be fine, because it's really common. It's good he has a dentist appt soon so you can make sure.

Yeah I made one just to check. I am a bit obsessive when it comes to teeth. Luckily our dentist does what they call quick evals of you think there is a problem. I had no idea this was so common

[TrickyBob]

I don't have children but my eye tooth came in in front of my baby tooth. This pushed the adult tooth forward and it is noticeably more exposed than my other teeth. My dentist growing up was of the opinion that the adult would push the baby tooth out, this didn't happen. I would suggest having the dentist check it and keep an eye on it, if the baby isn't coming out, then maybe get it pulled.

[auntie]

I've had this go both ways.

DS had a tendency to shark teeth. His orthodontist wanted most of them pulled because x-rays showed roots that were undissolved and interfering with the permanent tooth dropping into line. He had a couple others (baby molars) where the root and tooth hollowed out which he was able "flick" out- one of these fractured and part of it had to be pulled.


It's not awful. DS's pedodontist used nitrous along with Novocain until he was OK with just Novocain.

[calamity]

Jun 19, 2018 14:30:19 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

I don't have children but my eye tooth came in in front of my baby tooth. This pushed the adult tooth forward and it is noticeably more exposed than my other teeth. My dentist growing up was of the opinion that the adult would push the baby tooth out, this didn't happen. I would suggest having the dentist check it and keep an eye on it, if the baby isn't coming out, then maybe get it pulled.

Teeth are so weird, aren't they?

My eye tooth was "lost" in the roof of my mouth.  They had to cut open the roof of my mouth to get it and then pulled it over with braces.  Crazy

[karinothing]

Jun 19, 2018 14:44:39 GMT -5 calamity said:

Jun 19, 2018 14:30:19 GMT -5 TrickyBob said:

I don't have children but my eye tooth came in in front of my baby tooth. This pushed the adult tooth forward and it is noticeably more exposed than my other teeth. My dentist growing up was of the opinion that the adult would push the baby tooth out, this didn't happen. I would suggest having the dentist check it and keep an eye on it, if the baby isn't coming out, then maybe get it pulled.

Teeth are so weird, aren't they?

My eye tooth was "lost" in the roof of my mouth.  They had to cut open the roof of my mouth to get it and then pulled it over with braces.  Crazy

Owww

[pinkdutchtulips]

Shark teeth happened to dd too - no issues, the baby teeth came out on their own

[sarahsays]

Jun 19, 2018 10:57:14 GMT -5 pantsparty said:

I had 7 teeth pulled in middle school. It was fine, the adult teeth came in pretty quickly.

This was my experience too. I'm not traumatized at all. 

[The Foozzler]

I am going through the same thing with my DS now. He is 6 and came to me recently and told me he had a new tooth. I looked in his mouth and both lower front teeth are almost completely grown in behind his baby teeth. No sign of even a slight wiggle. I plan to bring him to the dentist this summer to see if they need to be pulled.

Everything I've heard about shark teeth says that they usually make their way forward to the correct spots.