No adult tooth in sight...what to do???

[lovbeingamommy]

Hello everyone, my 4 1/2 yo ds lost his first tooth - lower, front. It was no big deal it was lose and came out when he was brushing his teeth. Dh and I didn't think too much of it especially since I found out that the first tooth is lost between 4 1/2 - 6 yrs. However, last week we met up with two of dh's friends (husband and wife.) I mentioned that ds had lost his first tooth to the wife since she is a dentist although not practicing at this point. She asked me if we could see the adult tooth starting to come up and I said no that it just looks like pink skin. She told me that you should be able to see the new tooth within a month after the baby tooth falls out because that's what should be pushing the baby tooth lose and eventually to fall out. From what she was saying I could end up with a 5-6 thousand dollar bill for orthodontics if I don't take ds to the dentist now and get it remedied . She really scared me with what she was saying...ds has never been to the dentist in his life and I wasn't planning on going until I found a suitable holistic dentist. Does anyone know if what she said is true and by not having the adult tooth appear within a month is causing damage to my son's future mouth health?

[mama1803]

Our orthodontist explained that the loss of a baby tooth and the eruption of the adult tooth are the result of two different enzyme reactions in the body. In ideal circumstances, the two reactions are in sync and happen in tandem. Many times it does not and there is a time period between the loss of the baby tooth and the eruption of the adult tooth.

The idea that the adult tooth pushes the baby tooth out is old school thought.

I personally wouldn't worry about it.

[deditus]

Yeah, I don't understand what the problem is. Does she think that there is no adult tooth to come in? Or that the other teeth will get crooked w/o it? I don't think there is any evidence to worry about at this point.

[CarrieMF]

relax. It'll come in when it is ready to. All that they could possibly do is cut the gums & if the tooth isn't ready it'll just close up again.

All my kids have had at least 1 tooth take a long time(more than a month) to pop up once they lost the baby tooth.

[Kyamo]

It is certainly possible that an adult tooth could be missing. Three of my adult teeth never formed (plus the four wisdom teeth). I never had braces. So I have less teeth than most people, and they are spaced weird, especially on the top.

HOWEVER - nothing is going to be permanently ruined in a couple of months. Wait and see. If you still can't see any evidence of the new tooth under the gum in a month or two, then if I were you I would consider having a dentist take a look.

[Dar]

My kid always had long lag times - months - between losing a tooth and the new one showing up.

She is 17 now and has never needed any kind of orthodontia.

[lovbeingamommy]

op here - thank you everyone for your advice on this issue . It's been almost two months and there's no adult tooth in sight. I noticed tonight that the tooth right next to the tooth that came out looks like it's ready to come out too . I talked to dh about it and he doesn't see how waiting until mid-November, when he goes for his 5 yo visit at the naturopath, will cause any harm. There's no way I would want any kind of gum-cutting done or an unnatural procedure unless something was really wrong. Hopefully, the naturopath will at least be able to give me some type of advice on what to do or if there's anything to seriosly be concerned about. Thanks again :-)

[tanyalynn]

OP, I wonder if this is more common when teeth come out on the early side? DS is 4.5yo and both his front lower teeth are somewhat loose, not sure when they're actually going to come out, but I'm glad you started this thread. Let us know what your ND says?

[Kyamo]

Originally Posted by lovbeingamommy

There's no way I would want any kind of gum-cutting done or an unnatural procedure unless something was really wrong.

Gum cutting won't do a thing if there is no tooth underneath. I think the first step would be x-rays to see what is under the gumline and if there are likely to be any issues.

[lovbeingamommy]

Well, ds' second tooth (lower) came out yesterday while eating a cookie. He felt something hard and spit it out and there it was. It didn't bleed at all and looked like it was really just hanging by a thread for the past two weeks. We'll be heading to the N.D. the week after next when he turns five. I know she's not a dentist, but hopefully she'll be able to at least give us some guidance on how the gums look and if we need to see a dentist.

[SubliminalDarkness]

*shrug* I don't think it's a big deal. My DS1 has lost almost all his baby teeth, quickly followed by adult teeth. Except this one.... Which is now coming in after probably six months(I stopped keeping track). it's been fine. Varying degrees of normal and all....