Dentist Wants to Pull Baby Molar, Says His Permanent One Is 3-4 Years Behind Sch

My daughter needed teeth pulled, too. We saw THREE orthodontists and they all said the same thing, though 2 said they could wait a little bit longer and one said we could go ahead and start right away. I used to think it was crazy to start orthodontist treatments so young until I finally listened to my own dental hygenist who had been telling me for a while to go ahead and take my kids for the free consultation. Mind you, my dental hygenist gets no kickback from the ortho (she didn't even recommend a specific one to go to and I went to 3 of them) so why would she recommend it if she didn't think it was a good idea? I look at adult's mouths now and wonder how much better their teeth and general overall appearance would be if they'd had ortho work done when they were younger and it helped their permanant teeth grow in properly. Look at Michelle Obama's jaw/teeth/profile. My daughter had a palette expander, teeth pulled, and now has braces and I am FLOORED at how much her face has changed for the better over the 1.5 years since she started ortho. Every time I see Mrs. Obama, I wonder if she would be even more beautiful if she'd had the same work done. Her mouth seems so small for all of her teeth, and when her mouth is closed it seems like she has an underbite the way her jaw comes forward. Anyway... go to at least one more ortho for a second opinion. If they say something completely different, go to a third or more.

I personally had to have one of my baby canines pulled at age 16 because it just wasn't budging. I had braces at the time and they used the braces to pull the permanent tooth down into the correct position - if you have the baby teeth pulled now and spacers put in then I'd think you'd be less likely to require orthodontics.

It's possible that since his front permanent teeth took so long to show up he may just have pokey teeth and it'll all work out without intervention, but only a dentist can really give you a worthwhile opinion on that. Get a second or even third opinion (talk to friends and find one or two who love their kids' dentist) and then go from there.

First of all, I'm very offended that a poster assumes that the dentist is a crook and it is so annoyinG when people make comments to professionals or about professionals personal purchases. I don't come into ur bank, or grocery store, or gas station, or wherever u work and say oh, guess that 15 gallons is going towards ur boat payment. It's just rude and classless! Yes there are some Shady dentists out there but It is a small percentage! Sorry for my vent on ur question but wrking in the dental field we hear that a lot. Yes, dentistry is costly, but running a dental office is very expensive!
Not only does dental school cost a fortune, the equipment, materials and staff all add to the overhead.

I am a hygienist and I get nothing if u see an ortho except for possibly an easier mouth to clean once the braces come off!
With that being said, are you saying his 6year/ 1 permanent molar is not in yet, or are you talking about a premolar. Premolars replace the baby molars. Permanent molars come in behind the 2nd baby molar. Just trying. Clarify whch tooth, bc if it's a premolar then it's not unusual for a boy to not lose those til 12-14. It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion, but I will tell you this does happen and typically the earlier the intervention, the better.

Our daughter had something similar. She was in 4th grade one of her front baby teeth had not fallen out. They could see the other tooth up there through xrays. They pulled the tooth and within weeks the permanent tooth came in..

It was not a big deal (since it did not have real roots). . And boy it made a huge difference.
The Dentist says it just happens sometimes.. The teeth just do not come out for some reason..

Trust your instincts, I would get a scond opinion. Kids can be on their own schedules. Good luck

It will be ok :O)
It sounds like your Dentist is trying to do things in stages, and as needed. In my opinion, it's a great way for orthodontics! In today's world, Dentists know so much more, and can do so much more BEFORE they actually put "the braces" on..........at least that was my experience.

The "space" thing is to allow for BIGGER teeth........baby teeth are small, and the adult teeth are larger resulting in over-crowding..... right? My son had "a device" put in the roof of his mouth to space out and widen his whole upper area..........that was in for about 7-8months, and that process alone began to straighten my son's teeth (we began at age 11). Then, another "device" for about 4 months, then the actual braces were put on!

Let your dentist do the spacer thing, and whatever else he believes would be his"first choice" of care for your son..........I see more and more kids at early ages having "preventative" measures trying to either avoid braces, or be ready for them so the process moves quicker.

I haven't been in a situation about "molars', but I will be in a similar one........my youngest needs a few teeth extracted to allow his permanent teeth to come in......he's 7!!!!! Dr says to wait a little while longer because is loose and it all may happen "naturally" within the next year.......BUT! we did talk about possible extractions about 8 months ago........but at yesterday's appt, it changed possibly :O)

I would make sure your son is ASLEEP for any extractions, though! The last thing you want to do is to remember anything at all!

~N.

My daughter had to have 3-4 baby teeth pulled, including 2 baby molars at the same age to start bringing her adult teeth up, Ortho said she had a big crowding issue which was causing baby teeth falling out to be delayed. I had the same thinng at her age b4 braces were put on but we waited :< I have had friends w/ kids the same age and we have all questioned this but gone ahead. We had duaghter's baby teeth removed at 10 on our ortho's recommendation. He recommended 2 oral surgeons to take took them out, so we felt he was not making the suggestion for the $. I will warn you it was costly, so get an estimate 1st. We were given an estimate based on how difficult the teeth were to take out and of course our charge was the high end of the estimate. A yr or so later the adult teeth were in to allow the ortho to start on the process of putting on her braces. I thought it seemed early, but it all worked out very well. Our daughter had her braces on for just under 2 yrs starting at age 11. Her braces were removed last spring and the results were welll worth it. She has a beautful smile now and her confidence was given a boost. We could have waited as the ortho said to see if the teeth would come out on their own, but chose not to. Our daughter is so happy with the nice straight teeth and pretty smile, just in time for her to start high school this fall. Good Luck to your son on whatever you choose.

I would go with the recommendation of the dentist. I had a similar problem, and when my permanent molar came in, my baby tooth STILL didn't want to come out, and after 2 years, they ended up having to finish pulling it, and it caused more problems than it was worth.

if you are concerned about doing it, you can always seek a second opinion and then make a decision.

Most of my baby molars had to be pulled because they had roots as long as my permanent ones. Some of us just have really stubborn teeth. I didn't lose my last baby tooth until I was 16. Let the dentist do what he has to do and don't worry about it. If you wait, you could end up with really big problems down the road.

Not with one of my kids, but with myself...I had 8 baby teeth pulled when I was 13!!! YES, 2 weeks before I started my 8th grade year....the new adult teeth started to come thru within 2 weeks of the baby teeth being pulled.

Sometimes nature needs a little help. :)
I say better to do it at 10...plus it's a back molar so it won't be notacible.

Good luck
K.

My son complained about his teeth being loose for months, but never came running to show me a tooth in his hand. I hadn't looked in his mouth in a long time and at the age of 12 or so, I wasn't supervising his brushing anylonger so I had no idea what was happening in his mouth. I finally had enough of the complaining one evening and demanded to see his mouth. He opened wide and OMGosh was I shocked to see pretty much 2 rows of teeth growing! His adult teeth were coming in, in a slightly larger circle than his baby teeth and the baby teeth were being pushed to the center of his mouth. It was like looking at an aligators mouth with 2 rows of teeth. I had him at the dentist the next day in a panic and xrays showed the baby teeth still had thier roots since the bigger teeth weren't putting pressure on them. The dentist said this has to happen to sort of dissolve the baby teeth roots so they can come loose and come out. Thats why when a baby tooth comes out there is no root, but when you have a permenent tooth pulled there is the big root. Thats what hold those teeth in for the rest of your life. So, the baby teeth were slightly loose but not enough to come out and the big teeth were shoving them out of the way and making room for themselves. It just wasn't the way teeth are supposed to grow in but it was a sign my son was going to be bigger and have a larger jaw than some. The dentist wanted to pull about 10 teeth but with a tight schedule he didn't have time right then. He told us to let him have as much gum, taffy, caramels, corn nuts and jerky as he could take for the next 2 weeks and get as many teeth out on his own or he would have to have them pulled. Our son didn't like the idea of having them pulled and I sure didn't want to have to pay for it, so we followed those orders, and within a few days teeth started coming out right and left! Poor tooth fairy was pretty busy in our house for a while! I look back on those few months and realize now that my son was just being too easy on those baby teeth and worried it might hurt to have them loosen up and come out so he had avoided eating a lot of chewy foods. So once he knew what the option was, he got brave and busy chewing and ended up not needing any baby teeth pulled. You are lucky it's only 1 tooth involved and it isn't so bad to have it taken out by the dentist. Kids dentists are so good at handling first time appointments and the stuff kids are scared of. They've seen it all before and know how to deal with them in a gentle, kind, understanding manner. Ask if the tooth has any chance of coming out on its own first and give your child a chance to wiggle it and pull on it and see if he can get it out before the appointment. He will feel so good about himself if he can. My son grew up to have a pretty decent looking mouth full of big teeth. good luck! (o:

sounds like your dentist has decided to scare you into making his next yacht payment.. get a second opinion. teeth do typically come in on their own. if the child is not complaining of jaw pain and there is no swelling, then dont worry about and take the child to a different dentist, before this dentist decides to try to sell you other unneeded dental work.
K. h.

Sounds valid, ive heard of this being done many times,i am pretty sure I had this done when I was six. If in doubt get another opinion

One of my daughters had a total of 9 baby teeth pulled (not all at once) because my family is slow in losing baby teeth. I remember losing a baby molar when I was in 8th grade!!! In order to straighten her teeth, the baby teeth had to be pulled to allow the permanent ones to come in. The spacer is a square piece of metal (like a cookie cutter the size of the outside of the tooth) that keeps the space so the permanent tooth can grow in. When my daughter's baby teeth were pulled for this, the roots were so long (they hadn't dissolved yet) that a couple of times I thought the dentist had pulled the wrong tooth! If you don't get them pulled, your son will be in braces for years until all his permanent teeth come in.

I've never had this particular experience, but it sounds like something I'd trust the dentist on and have it done.

Yes, my son has had to have his teeth pulled (mostly because his front adult teeth were so big and wide and pushing the rest of his teeth so the adult ones were coming in crooked (I had mine pulled too, still remember that. My teeth were actually starting to come in in a double row)

My son had those spacers too. Basically they're just a "frame" around the space the adult teeth needs to come up in and it 'holds' the other teeth from shifting into that space, which would cause crooked teeth when it does come in.