Tooth removal/spacers

[onthemove]

DD is 6 and has lost a number of teeth and her 6 year molars are coming in. At the dentist today they said one of the molars is coming in at an angle. They said they need to pull the baby tooth next to it and put a spacer in so the molar doesn’t crowd out the next adult tooth.

Is 6 the right age for this? I had a baby tooth pulled but I think I was more like 10 or 12. This just seems a little sudden. I’m not trying to defy the dentist, I just am not familiar with it.

[waverly]

I don't have experience with this at that age, but one of DS's wisdom teeth came in sideways, so I did have to remove that in order to get his last adult molar to come up. The wisdom tooth was blocking the molar from coming up.

I assume that this wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that the molar is coming in sideways which should be easy to see on the X-Ray. If the tooth is on an angle, it does make sense that it would cause the other adult tooth not to come up. You could ask how much time that you have, but I don't think you necessarily want the molar to come in on the angle in general because it would be blocking the other adult tooth.

I would ask the see the X-ray and you can also get a second opinion.  We had to go to oral surgery, and the X-ray was very clear.  At the oral surgeon we were able to discuss all our options including our option to wait.  We decided to get the surgery because the option to wait might mean his adult molar tooth doesn't come up.  

[pinkpeony08]

My kid has had a lot of shark teeth and really poor spacing when they first pop up, but them have shifted into place. We had the orthodontist weigh in for a quick curbside consult when we were there for by older child, who has been actively followed by the orthodontist. He said they could pull baby teeth to get going on orthodontia or just wait til he loses more teeth and see where the dust settles.

I would get another opinion before making any decisions.

[heygrey]

I would be getting a second opinion from an ortho. Our dentist refers to ortho for all questions like this and the ortho consult is free. DS started yearly check-ins with the ortho at age 7 to monitor spacing and bite issues. He is 10 and still hasn't started treatment, but I'm guessing we'll get there in a year or two.

[Susie]

My DD has had 5 baby tooth extractions so far, all incisors.  She's 8 now, and none have been recent, so she was probably 6-7ish when they were taken out.  She's starting with a palate expander in January shortly after turning 9, but no specific spacers.  The whole point of removing the baby teeth was to provide space generally, in a manner that wouldn't have a permanent negative impact.  It was really just to buy time.

She's been seeing an orthodontist for a couple years at this point, every 3-6 months, for check-ins and assessing when her orthodontic treatment should start.