Losing teeth...

[zanelee]

At what age do kids start losing their baby teeth?

[TiredX2]

It varies a lot from person to person.

I have heard that children who get teeth later tend to loose them later as well. Generally it seems like most kids loose their first tooth at 5-6, though a much larger range is totally normal. One friend's son lost his last baby teeth in high school. DS is in kinder and at least one child has already lost 4 teeth and another 3 (I don't know about anyone else, DS has lost zero).

[mata]

I've known children who lost their first tooth when they were almost five. My daughter got her teeth very early, but didn't lose her first until she was six and a half.

[zanelee]

Thanks! The reason I'm asking, is ds is 4 1/2 and has a cavity in his front upper incisior. We really don't have the $ to pay for having it fixed...(upwards of $600!!!!) plus I'm not keen on having any foreign substance put in his mouth.
Do ya'll think I should just wait it out?
TIA!

[TiredX2]

You can probably talk to your dentist about it.

How deep is it? Is it causing pain? Do they have any alternative suggestions?

[TiredX2]

$600? Is it *really* messed up. Because DD's and DS's cavities weren't nearly that expensive!

[zanelee]

Well, the dentist we went to was a pediatric dentist. Wasn't all that impressed with her, but I was impressed with the amount of money she spent to fill her office with kiddy distraction stuff! Plus, the dental heigenist(sp?) chided me on breastfeeding, and that that is where my ds's cavities came from. : It's not like I sugar coated my nipples and let him dangle from them every hour of ever day! Anyway-
I'm not really wanting to go back there. And we don't have any mercury free dentists around here. So I have to be very careful.
The cavities aren't that bad, and they aren't causing any pain. I just worry because I've been through it all, and am still going through it with my (genetically) bad teeth. So that's why I was thinking, if it's not that long until he starts loosing them anyway, I might as well leave them alone.
BTW-He got his teeth a bit earlier than the "norm", so maybe he'll start loosing them a bit earlier too.

[melanie83103]

My son has had a lot of dental problems, and I'm also counting down until he looses his baby teeth. If your DS is 4.5, I would wait it out. As long as it's not causing pain, why fix a tooth that's just about to fall out?

[TiredX2]

We also go to a pediatric dentist. Very fun, lots of toys, newest equipment, NO mercury fillings and DS's last four cavities : only cost about that much combined.

Is there a public health dentist around?

[jkpmomtoboys]

Be very, very careful about the cavity. If it goes for too long, I understand it can affect the adult teeth coming in later...

So sorry about your dilemma!

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by melanie83103

As long as it's not causing pain, why fix a tooth that's just about to fall out?

Because it can affect the tooth that's underneath. If it gets bad (i.e. root canal bad) it can affect his other tooth for life.

If it's a small cavity, I'd "watch and wait". If it's large, I'd get a second opinion. Our kids go to our regular dentist. They're fine with that.

[LynnS6]

Oh, and I wanted to add that our ds lost his first tooth in Sept. (5 years 4 months), and his second about 3 weeks later. Those were his two bottom teeth. The upper teeth show no signs of loosening yet.

Is there a dental school around? Sometimes that's a lot cheaper too.

[zanelee]

Well, the tooth is not discolored, it's not causing pain...
I'm certain we're not to the root canal stage yet. (knock on wood!)
At what point do you guys think I need to stop waiting? If pain sets in? Or if it gets large? I certainly don't want to compromise his adult teeth...

There isn't a dental school around that I know of, but we do have lots of "regular" dentists around. (regular meaning...drill 'em and fill 'em with lots of mercury! Heck no it's not toxic! I've got a mouth full of 'em! Now, where did I put my brain?)
We also do have a public health clinic that does teeth. We tried to get dh in and they were just awful and rude on the phone. He told me to quit trying and they could go *!@# themselves! Oh, and unless you're in pain, they won't get you in until 6 months to a year later anyway.
<sigh>

[simonee]

My DD got her baby teeth on the exact schedule (1st tooth at 9months and then two every two months). She's now just 7; she lost her first bottom teeth a bit before her 6th bd and just lost her last top incisor last week.

She had cavities on the two "outer" top incisors (not hte 2 middle ones). One was filled/capped for $350 by a ped dentist who used no mercury (the price quoted to you sounds really high), the dentist recommended just waiting to see what happened with teh other one as the decay was very mild and only on the back, and that tooth came out last week and the decay hadn't spread at all.

I would watch closely; it's easy to see when it gets deeper. And then treat it aggressively -- but there MUST be a dentist somewhere where you live who uses resin (white) fillings on front teeth, even if only for cosmetic purposes! Even dentists that fill molars with mercury usually make exceptions for front teeth, so I'd recommend shopping around a bit, and then if you find another dentist just spend an extra $20 on a new toy to bring -- it would still beat the ped price.