Second opinion for my daughter's teeth

by Seana
(Denver CO)

I was hoping to get a second opinion for my daughter's teeth.

I have x-rays attached. My daughter is 12. Her ortho wants to pull teeth C and H and in high school add two implants. I understand C needs to be pulled and #6 needs to have braces put on. My concern is that he wants to pull H because he is not sure if it is a big tooth or little tooth and wants to add an implant.

I am hestitant to extract this tooth. He says that I am not thinking of her overall looks, but I am just not that comfortable pulling a good tooth because he is not clear if it's a big tooth or baby tooth. He says if does fall out in 10 years she will have to get braces all over again - that seems crazy to me (or that he is not doing his job).

I am not against what he is recommending I just would like some thought as to pulling a perfectly good tooth and doing an implant. If I were confident that we could add the two implants in high school and they would last a lifetime - I would do it in a heart beat.

I have had the same problem my daughter had and the implants are not working for me. I have had one nightmare after the other for over 20 years. I don't want to see her go through the same thing. She does grind her teeth. The implants would go in where there are missing teeth. I have never had her diagnosed with any health problems but autoimmune disease does run in our family -all of these reduce the risk of implants working. I just want to be cautious with getting implants.
I really appreciate any feedback.

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Second opinion for my daughter's teeth

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Pull Tooth for Ortho NEW
by: Sharon B., RDH

Hi Seana,

I was not able to see the x-rays that you tried to post, but I will go off of what you are telling me. The tooth you are talking about is a very common tooth to miss in the adult dentition. What most people do is hang on to baby teeth until they are about 30 when those teeth finally fall out because they just aren't made to last any longer. It is at this point when I would recommend your daughter getting a implant to replace the tooth. Until then if it were my child I would ahve them go through with the braces. That tooth will act as a placeholder for an implant if and when the time is ever needed. High school isn't hold enough. She will need to be at least 18 years of age and a fully formed jaw/mouth/etc. before it is recommended to place an implant. You don't know what will happen in 8 years, and if she needs an implant then they can make one that will fit that space.

Thank you for your response NEW
by: Seana

Dear Sharon,
Thank you so much for your feedback. Your response is exactly what I feel is the best way to handle my daughter's teeth right now. I had mentioned this to my daughter's orthodontist and he said I wasn't thinking of her aesthetics and she would have to have braces when the tooth fell out again. And then he dismissed me. I appreciate that reality check. I will try again.
Seana

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