I am sixteen years old and still have two baby teeth. It was four last year. All four were my canine teeth both on the top and bottom. Last year I had the bottom two removed by my dentist. That left two holes in my bottom row of teeth because the adult teeth came in far back. One of them has moved into the spot, though a bit crooked. The other canine is still behind the tooth next to it, so there is a bigger hole there. I know I need to remove the top two baby canine teeth, but I don’t want the same issue. Is there a way I can immediately replace them with dental implants? I just don’t want to look like a freak for my senior year.
Nicole
Dear Nicole,
It sounds like you have been under the care of a dentist. I would have your parents ask some questions about why this wasn’t addressed before you ended up with all of these problems. Dentists are trained to deal with this because it is a fairly common issue. Your dentist tackling this early would have saved you a LOT of grief.
How this is handled will require a set of x-rays. This is so you can determine if there are adult teeth down there at all. Sometimes patients have what is known as congenitally missing teeth, meaning that the adult teeth were never there to begin with.
If that is the case, then dental implants will work for you AFTER your jaw is fully developed. This will be when you enter your twenties. That does not mean you have to have two gaps in your upper arch. In fact, you shouldn’t because the adjacent teeth will shift into the open areas. Then, when the time comes to replace them, you will no longer have enough room for the implants. There are temporary tooth replacements that are not expensive which you can use until you are ready for dental implants.
If you are in a situation where there are adult teeth are still in place, then dental implants will not work. This is because the implants are designed to take the place of tooth roots. If you have teeth; you have roots. This often means that the tooth is impacted. Your dentist can make a surgical opening in the tissue in order to expose the tooth. It may need some help erupting, in which case a bracket can be attached to the tooth and braces will do the rest.
Your step one is to get those x-rays and see what you are dealing with.
This blog is brought to you by Baton Rouge Dentist Dr. Steven Collins.