Tooth development -- Any detists out there?

[KoalaMommy]

I have a question about tooth development.

My dd is 27 months old, and so far she only has one of her canines. I've read that these are supposed to arrive by 20 months or so.

Should I be concerned? 7 months after the late side of normal seems really late to me. She has all the other teeth she should have, and got them in a totally normal time frame (except that she prefers to cut teeth in 4's)

We have dental insurance, but none of the doctors covered under our plan will see a child her age, so I'm hoping (it's a long shot) there's a dentist mama out there in MDC land. I can take her to the dentist if I absolutely need to, but we don't have a lot of extra money to do that if it's not important.

[kaPOW!]

I took my 20 month old to the dentist a few weeks ago and when she saw that he had his canines in she said: "Oh! Well those are early."

I've heard there is A LOT of room for difference in the arrival of teeth between children. It's not at all like some of those other things that indicate a developmental problem. At least, that's my understanding but I'm not a dentist!

[JaneS]

She have any digestive or nutritional issues or slow growth otherwise?

[nancy926]

Find a pediatric dentist if you can. It's recommended now that kids see a dentist by their first birthday, just to establish a relationship and get things checked out early. A lot of general dentists won't see little kids, for some reason....but ped dentists are specially trained to examine young ones.

I have no idea if 27 months is late for canines or not, but it does seem so. At a dental visit, your DD could get an X-ray that would show whether the teeth are there or not.