Did your kids need baby teeth pulled?

[shelly3girls]

If so please tell me what to expect. DD sees an orthodontist to monitor her growth. She will definitey need braces and we are hoping to avoid an expander. Today they discovered that her two of her adult eye teeth are coming in completely sideways pushing against the root of her adult front teeth. The dr. recommended us to an oral surgeon to have the baby teeth removed. He said this should give the eye teeth the proper direction to grow. I don't know who is more worried, me or her.

Also, how many days will it take to recover? I would like to plan so that she does not miss any sports. That would upset her the most.

TIA!

 

[Whosemom]

My dd just had FIVE, count 'em Five! baby teeth pulled. Three of them (molars) you could see the permanent teeth coming up under. The other two were just a teeny bit loose, but we figured, what the heck. Its not like she was suddenly going to start pulling them. This occured at a lunch time appointment and she went to school the next day.

 

[PADISFAM]

how old is DD? DS probably going to end up in the same boat. He is 11 & has only lost 8 teeth (the 4 incisiors top & bottom) he has seen an Othodontist, but so far we are just monitoring. How about your other 2? My DS 5 (will be 6 next month) doesn't even have a wiggle yet.

 

[J'aime Paris]

My dd is 9 and has had to see an ortho last year already. She had to have her bottom eye teeth pulled for the same reason. I scheduled the appt. over x-mas break (mean mom, I know!), to give her some recovery time.
It was completely unnecessary!!! She was eating and playing like normal the next day.
The procedure was over quickly. They numbed her up so she wouldn't have any pain, then the doctor removed the two teeth in less than 30 seconds each. The only suprise is how the teeth looked. When baby teeth fall out naturally, it is only the tooth that comes out. When you pull a tooth before it is ready, the roots are still attached. And the roots are about 3 times longer than the tooth. That was weird and unexpected!!
No worries for you or dd. Hope that answers your question. And BTW, the tooth fairy still comes for pulled teeth!

 

[ajh88]

I personally had to have oral surgery when I was 13 (almost 14). I am *praying* that my DD does not have the orthodontic issues I was blessed with. In my surgery, I had 6 baby teeth (yes, I still had 6 baby teeth when I was 13!) removed, 2 wisdom teeth remove..d, and a window cut in my gum (one of my canines was embedded in bone in my gum and would never have "come down" on its own - they cut the window so my orthodontist could attach the braces to pull it down). It seemed like a LOT at once, but the upside was that I only had to be put under once. It seems as though I was really out of commission for about 3-4 days, but I don't think they recommend physical activity like sports for probably at least 1-2 weeks. Mine was done over summer so I didn't miss school.

Would they really need to sedate/anesthestize her to pull two teeth? Or is there more work to it than that? (Most of my teeth that were pulled were just done like normal extractions - of course, that has been a long time ago.) Regardless of how it goes, to you and your DD - I know it can be scary.

ETA: If it just a normal extraction in the dentist's office, she'll be back to her regular self probably the next day! I guess I assumed it would be oral surgery since you said your doc referred you to an oral surgeon - sorry if I misunderstood!

 

[mickeywho?]

My 10 year old just had one of his eye teeth removed. The first one fell out months ago and because this one wasn't even loose all of his adult top teeth were shifting over to the left.
It was our pediatric dentist that requested this - she gave him 2 months to wiggle it out or she was pulling. It never budged for him. So last Thursday he sat in her chair, a little bit of freeze gel, a needle on either side (he hardly felt it), and then the pliers. She said she'd count to 20 but only got to 10 and it was out. It's massive! I think there was more tooth under the gum than out of it - so there was no way it would have come out on it's own. He walked out a bit in shock that it was so easy and was thrilled the next day to find a larger than usual payment from the tooth fairy!

 

[dbarker]

DS9 had to have five (5) baby teeth pulled. The expander is next (I'll find out more tomorrow morning).

We went to an oral surgeon. He was a little sleepy and groggy that afternoon, but was back to his old self by evening. The recovery time was really short.

 

[mom2prettyprincess]

When I was young I had to have my eye teeth pulled to make room for my adult teeth that were coming in and then on to have braces. I think in all I had 4 teeth pulled between the top and bottom. I did not have to have the expander! THANK the good lord! My cousin had to have one of those and she was always in pain! Have the teeth pulled I think it will be a better outcome in the end. But hey I'm no orthodontist either.

 

[PlutoPony]

DS had 6 pulled at the ortho's recommendation. Think he was 10 at the time and it was done because the permanent teeth that had come in were getting uneven wear because of crowding - not a good thing. We did this in 2 sessions - 3 on one side of the mouth (2 upper, 1 lower) and the other 3 a week later. This allowed them to only numb one side of his mouth at a time which was absolutely the right way to go. Our dental insurance is pretty decent, but they would only pay for Novocaine and I opted to pay OOP for laughing gas. That did help take the edge off for him and IMO was worth the money. It only took 30 minutes or so - about 20 to get the mouth numb, then actually pulling the teeth was very quick. He was romping around later that day and back to normal by the next morning other than eating. DS really was a trooper thru this and did very well, the only thing that really bothered him was how long it took for the numbness to wear off. Either he's pretty sensitive to novocaine or they wanted to make sure he didn't feel anything....

BTW, even doing this (and pulling another baby tooth later that just wouldn't come out) DS still had to have a palate expander-but it was only in for 3 months. Poor kid just has a really small mouth. He's getting a Herbst appliance the last week of school (oh joy), and hopefully everything will come out next spring, just in time for high school .....

Hope things go well for your daughter!

 

[RyJMom]

My now 10 yr old had to have 3 baby teeth pulled last summer when he was 9. I was so worried about it but it was no big deal for him. I went back with him but I didn't look because I think I would have lost it if it was gross. Within about 3 minutes it was done. They must have really been ready to come out. The dentist thought it was really funny that I was about to pass out over this and my son was just fine. We did have to change out the gauze a few times for about 20 minutes but that was it.

 

[shelly3girls]

Thank you for all of your reassuring replies. DD is 9 and has already lost her first 2 eye teeth but the other two are in there pretty solid. She will be awake. I don't really know why they referred us to the OS b/c DH took her and really didn't ask enough questions. DD knew more than he did. Hopefully I will get more info when I call to make the appointment.

 

[Dr. M]

Hi! I'm a dentist. I also practice orthodontics and oral surgery. I suspect the reason your dentist/orthodontist refered your child to an oral surgeon is because he/she doesn't do extractions (orthodontists are not allowed to practice anything other than orthodontics). However, a general dentist is allowed to practice "general dentistry" which includes just about everything. Getting out a baby tooth (no matter how long the root) is a simple procedure and recovery time is quick. Have some Motrin ready and give it to your child before the numbness wears off. You will most likely find that you won't need a 2nd dose. She'll do great, don't worry

 

[karliebug]

My DD had 4 baby teeth pulled and an expander put in . She recovered quickly from the surgery as baby teeth have little roots- not like when I had wisdom teeth out years ago. The expander was painful for her though because every nite I had to use this key and crank it. It was worth it though because now she is 13 and in full braces but her teeth are going to look beautiful.

 

[pigget74]

My DD has been seein an ortho since she was 7 she is now 10. She has only lost 3 teeth on her own. She has had all baby teeth pulled and 4 adult teeth pulled as well. The most they would ever pull at one time was 4. She was fine by that night. When we wstarted her front teeth made a perfect V now thye look great. We know that we she will need braces--hopefully only to close some of the gaps.
My DS only had to have few pulled and then this past Christmas break he ahd to have oral surgery. His eye teeth would not come doen so they had to surgically make an opening attach awire to tooth and braces--his teeth are almost in all the way now. This summer we will do the same thing for his 12 year molars. He was fine by that night after major surgery.