OT - Pulling baby teeth?

[steen995]

This is somewhat budget related...

We just got back from my 6 yo DS dentist appointment. The dentist wants to pull seven baby teeth in about six months to make way for his permanent teeth so that they'll come in a little straighter, even though he claims DS will still need braces around 11 yo and probably a couple adult teeth pulled at that time as well.

My questions:
Anybody else have this done for their kids?
Was it worth it?
Is there a cost benefit to doing this now that will save on braces at a later date? I mean, I'm just wondering if he's still getting braces how much "help" this is supposed to be. I mean we're looking at a couple thousand dollars for this because of general anesthesia.

My son has a lot of anxiety so he thought it would be better to wait to do a bunch at once under general anesthesia instead of just the couple he needs right now. Also due to his anxiety it was very difficult to discuss with the dentist because we were trying to be quick in our communication so that my son wouldn't over hear.

Also, should I get a second opinion?

 

[moniot]

I'm not a dentist but this is the information I received from my dentist. "teeth are lazy and they will grow in the easiest way they can." So if you have baby teeth in the way they would come in behind them or to the side. So the concept of pulling the baby teeth first makes sense. However if you are going to need braces anyway (and that is the most expensive part) wouldn't you think you could save all this and just wear the braces longer?????? JMHO. Tough decision

A second opion never hurts. Maybe someone here has a more educated thought.

My daughter has needed expanders and braces. Then they came off until the rest of her baby teeth came out and grew back. Now she has to have the expander and braces put back on again. The earlier work did prevent her lower jaw from growing out past her upper. (No bull dog look) Back in tomorrow to have it all put back in

 

[writersblock42]

I would get a second opinion. I had a friend growing up who had work on her teeth young and they ended up having to keep the braces on for so long and keep pulling baby teeth...I think it is probably better to wait.

 

[bellarella]

We are doing serial tooth pulling with my 6 year old DD. As the adult teeth are coming in we will be pulling the baby tooth next to it. She had my DH's mouth -- big teeth, small jaw. My DH had to have his wisdom teeth *and* the next set of molars pulled (so he has 8 teeth less than someone with their wisdom teeth and 4 less than someone without their wisdom teeth).

Braces hurt. The more you need to twist and turn and move the teeth the longer and more painful the process is. We figure that DD will probably need braces too, but I can tell you that by pulling one of the teeth next to her two bottom adult teeth that were coming in, they are *much* straighter now. We will, however, have to pull the tooth next to the one that we did pull already when it starts to grow because it's space is already gone.

Pulling the tooth, though, was not painful for my DD. We go to a pediatric dentist and they did a numbing gel, Novocain, and laughing gas (and I think sometimes use versed if the patient is particularly anxious).

I do, however question pulling 6 at once. If the tooth is pulled there could be a long time before the adult teeth come in. That gives a lot of time for things to shift around. That's why we are doing it one at a time. It controls where the teeth are moving to.

 

[Belle2667]

When my oldest son was 10, he had 8 teeth pulled, both baby and permanent. His jaw was too small for all his teeth. He had teeth coming in through the roof of his mouth and out the side of his gums. They put him to sleep as well to pull his teeth. He did amazingly well.

We waited until he was 15 to put the braces on. He had the lowers put on first. 6 months later, the top braces were put on. He then had them all removed 12 months after that. In my opinion, things went very well and he has a beautiful set of teeth today.

We did get several opinions before going though with it, so I would definitely recommend doing that first.

 

[crazymomof4]

I'm not a dentist and I don't play one on TV but here is my 2 cents.

My DD6 is "dentally challenged"- cavities, crowding, abcesses, etc.
She currently has 2 teeth coming in where there is only space for 1. My dentist said that many dentists will pull baby teeth to "make room". She is opposed to this bc. she subscribes to the theory that the baby teeth "hold the place" for the permanent teeth to come in. She feels that pulling them only complicates the crowding situation bc the perm. teeth come in where ever,not following the lead of the baby tooth. What she will do for DD is to file down (make more narrow) the existing baby tooth allowing more room for perm. teeth to erupt. So, there are different schools of thought on this subject and I would agree that a second opinion is advisable.

Another thought: I don't mean to scare you but I would think long and hard before allowing my child to be put under general anesthesia, esp outside of a hospital setting. There are risks involved whenever general anesthesia is used. Granted, the complications are rare, but none the less, it is something to be considered. DD had 2 baby teeth pulled on seperate occassions last summer due to abcesss. (she had bumped these teeth as a baby) She had them done under "sweet air" (nitrous oxide), not general anesthesia. She did fine and was conscious and responsive but in la la land through the procedure.....didn't care a wit what was being done to her! The effects of the gas wear off almost as soon as the dentist turns it off. A minute or two later and she hops off of the chair.

 

[stacie_d]

My own DS did not lose any teeth until he was 6. In the past couple months he las lost 4 more (over a year after losing the first two.) I'm no dentist, and I don't play one on TV, as has already been stated , but I think I would be getting a second opinion, eepecially if my child was anxious about it. My DH, who had several teeth (including permanent ones) pulled as a child had teeth that are awfully aligned. He will be getting braced in the near future. I, on the other hand, had terribly crooked teeth when I was little. But, by the time I was a young teen, my teeth are were perfectly straight.

I guess my point is that maybe something needs done now, but maybe it does not. Case in point: a dentist insisted on removing my wisdom teeth (even though they were mostly in), and now, some of my teeth have shifted. Maybe they would have anyway, but I still don't think my wisdom teeth should have been removed...there seems to be too much room now.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Since DS was 2 he had been visiting a Pediatric Dentist where there is also a Orthodontist (sp?) on site as well. Both of these Dentists wanted/advised that we "wiggle" some of DS's (he's almost 6) teeth out to make room for his adult teeth. 1 was growing in very crooked. We opted to wait a little while and checked with another dentist when his 6 month cleaning came around again. Not only had the tooth rotated on its own to almost perfectly straight but when I asked the new office about it they didn't see the need for it at this time. The old office suggested hundreds of dollars of work between pulling the teeth and putting in a spacer while the new office said that at this time it wouldn't help or harm. He will probably still need braces although looking at films this 1 tooth was crooked from the get go, the others look pretty good! My advise would be to get a 2nd opinion. I too would not want to put my child under general anesthesia if at all possible. The nitrous is general enough for kids.

 

[stacie_d]

I'm not a dentist and I don't play one on TV but here is my 2 cents.
Another thought: I don't mean to scare you but I would think long and hard before allowing my child to be put under general anesthesia, esp outside of a hospital setting. There are risks involved whenever general anesthesia is used. Granted, the complications are rare, but none the less, it is something to be considered. DD had 2 baby teeth pulled on seperate occassions last summer due to abcesss. (she had bumped these teeth as a baby) She had them done under "sweet air" (nitrous oxide), not general anesthesia. She did fine and was conscious and responsive but in la la land through the procedure.....didn't care a wit what was being done to her! The effects of the gas wear off almost as soon as the dentist turns it off. A minute or two later and she hops off of the chair.

Agreed. I have the unfortunate knowledge of a case where the use of anesthesia went terribly wrong. I would not allow my child to be put under in a dentist office unless I verified that they had the proper certification and/or license and/or training.

 

[ohiominnie]

I'd be tempted to go to an orthodontist for an evaluation. Six years old is not too early to let one have a look-see at his mouth. My ds was 5 when he had a palate expander put in for severe crowding. Even then he had permanent teeth that turned themselves a full 90 degrees while still up in his jaw to try to come in. He now has braces and a quad helix (it's basically a bottom palate expander)

The newest concept is starting braces earlier to prevent the loss of permanent teeth (or having to pull baby teeth) As a child ages, the bony structures in the jaw become more solid so by the time a child is something like 12-14, their jaw is about 90% formed. Any movement after that is very slow going and difficult. I think the ortho said something when we started this process that at the age of 8 or 9 the jaw is much more pliable b/c it's only about 50% solidified. Don't quote me on the stats, but it was drastic in just a few years how little play they had to work with as a child aged.

I WISH that I grew up in a time when early braces were the norm. I'm sure that I needed a plate expander as my mouth is nearly identical to how my son's looked. I am actually missing EIGHT adult teeth. They just kept pulling to "make room." I have a very thin jaw and from the profile, almost no chin....I'm sure it'd be quite different if my jaw had formed correctly.

HTH.

 

[Tess'smom]

My DD Pediatric Dentist does not like to recommend pulling baby teeth unless it is absolutely necessary. She still has baby teeth at 11 and will need braces in any case. A second opinion may be worth it. Good luck with your decision.

 

[ohiominnie]

Yup, my stats were off....I pulled up our otho's website and found this:

http://www.huttasmiles.com/thingsToKnow.html#Modern Orthodontics: Early Intervention Has Benefits

 

[ceecee]

I would get a second opinion with an orthodontist. At 6 he is just starting to loose baby teeth and seven is a lot to have extracted at once. I'm assuming these are all front teeth and he hasn't lost any yet?
Most general dentists would refer you to an orthodontist for an evaluation. If the orthodontist is saying that, it still wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion.

 

[CF'er]

I would second the second opinion opinion. And maybe get a third.

Both DS and DD had 2 baby teeth removed to make room for adult teeth to come in. DD's were on the top and her severely crooked front perm. teeth have turned nicely thanls to the braces. We will then go into a retainer and when more baby teeth come out back into braces.

DS had perm teeth crowded on the bottom and coming in behind the others. They put in a space maintainer and the teeth are all lining up nicely.

 

[ohiominnie]

I would second the second opinion opinion. And maybe get a third.

Hey, CF'er. Cool siggy!!

 

[steen995]

OP here. My son has lost one tooth and another is loose on the bottom. The dentist stated he felt the new one coming in on the bottom had a chance of becoming impacted if the baby teeth weren't pulled. He would like to do it now but figured it would be best to wait until some others were close to coming and he could pull more teeth at once (in 6 months) under general anesthesia since my son's anxiety is pretty, uh, spectacular. DS has had general anesthesia twice at the hospital to get ear tubes. I will be looking in to the people the dentist uses for this. I'm also going to look into seeing if the hosiptal has a dentist there that does work that they could recommend. If so, I'll probably try for that second opinion.

At least it sounds like a number of people here have experienced this. Any more advice, stories, would be much appreciated.

Ugh, I can hear my 3 yo DS in the other room starting with a croupy cough. Gotta go, the fun around here is non stop.

 

[coneeny4]

Two years ago my daughter who was 7 at the time had her four bottom front teeth removed. Two of her second teeth were coming in behind her baby teeth. Our dentist referred us to a ortho who recommended that the teeth be removed. He also told us that she would be needing braces when she was about 11.

We went back to are regular dentist and he pulled the teeth with just 2 shots of novicane. My daughter said it did not even hurt to have them removed.

 

[chris1gill]

We had to go this route for our son, although I think he was 9 at the time. He had TEN teeth pulled, four of them were adult... he went through the whole thing with just laughing gas & novacain (sp?) Our son did GREAT... the oral surgeon said he would stop if he thought DS was getting anxious... but everything was fine.... so you really don't need a general... I flat out refused the general due to health reasons for DS.... DS doesn't exactly remember everything, just being there really....

His teeth did grow in straighter I think, but he was in actual pain with all those old teeth in there crowded all over the place.... it was just an ugly scenario for our poor DS.... He's had braces since about a month after that event & he's got at least another year to go (they're fixing an overbite now)...

DS did not get the good teeth gene (poor kid)

 

[kaysmommie]

My DD6 just started losing teeth this past summer. One of the bottom adult teeth was coming in behind the baby tooth. it's quite funny that she went to the pediatric dentist just a week before and he didn't even mention it. Anyway now we are hoping it keeps moving up where it should be or DD will need braces. I wouldn't let them just rip teeth out of my kids mouth for no reason though. They can get braces earlier today than when I had them. DD seesms to have enough room for her teeth which is good. Mine llok perfect but are actually quite tight in there and I'm looking to put out and have my las t wisdom removed so I can get a bit more space. If I were the OP I would certainly get a second opinion.

 

[Gillian]

Good luck, OP! I hope it works out, I can certainly understand where you're coming from. It seems like a lot of work for a little kid though, and I'd want to see what someone else says.

Do all of you think it's worth seeing a pediatric dentist over a regular one who sees a lot of kids?

My DS is 6 also, not quite 6 1/2, and he only has 1 loose tooth and none coming in. His baby teeth came in very late as well, so maybe this is normal for him. DD 3 is a different story, and I can see from the posts of other 6 year old moms that I will have to watch her more closely, and earlier.

DH has perfectly straight teeth with minimal dental work. I hope the kids are like that too!