Obviously we will be seeing a dentist, but....

[Pamela H in Texas]

It is strange the things that take awhile to notice.

 

I noticed yesterday that my foster daughter has only three teeth between her canines on the bottom. One of those three teeth isn't normal, but isn't double either. There is no crease in it or change in the surface (top) of it to suggest it is really two teeth.

 

Anyway, I'm most interested that she has four adult teeth formed underneath and that all her teeth are healthy (something *she* is extremely concerned about herself due to family history; she has fine teeth and at her last dental check up just before I got her had no cavities).

 

Anyone else seen this? Was everything okay with the adult teeth?

 

ETA: I did notice the strange shape of her top front tooth. I was going to ask dentist about that also. I guess maybe that took my attention somewhat?

Edited June 23, 2011 by 2J5M9K

[AmyinMD]

My 11 had this and she wound up having a missing permanent tooth on the bottom as well. It's really not that noticeable with it being on the bottom.

[JudoMom]

This is so funny you mention this. My ds7 was just at the dentist yesterday for his first (:blushing:) checkup. He's missing one of his front top teeth. I never noticed. The dentist told me she counted, counted again, called others over to look, and counted again :lol:. It's not his canine tooth, but the tooth that would be in between his canine and his front tooth.

 

Anyway, his permanent tooth is up there--she saw it on the xray. She's going to watch him, and she said she might have to sequentially pull his teeth if they don't fall out quickly enough to make room for his permanent teeth.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Oh good. Glad I'm not the only one who didn't notice immediately.

[weddell]

I'v never personally seen this, but I'm a scrapbooker and I was looking online at some scrapbook layouts other people had made. I remember one (I remember because it struck me as so odd) where someone posted a picture of her kid with a tooth that was about 1.5 times the width of a normal tooth in a space where two teeth should have been. The writer said there were two permanent teeth under so it wasn't a big deal.

[Mommy22alyns]

I'm missing a tooth, much like a PP's DS. It's the one between the canine and my right front incisor on the top. The adult tooth was malformed and they pulled it and the baby tooth when I was a kid. They thought they were going to have to put in a false tooth, but my teeth grew together just fine. You can't tell unless you're a dentist or really paying attention!

[Mosaicmind]

My dd is missing 5 permanent teeth; some of those baby teeth are missing also. But, get this: she has extra permanent teeth for some of her teeth. Can you say "Orthodontist". I have initial appointments with 3 different orthos in the next couple of weeks. I have been told it's good to shop around and get a good price on treatment. So, we will see what the damage will be.

[Dobela]

Has your foster dd been to a dentist before? In our state a dentist appointment is one of the first appointments made when they enter foster care. If she has, maybe you can get the old records forwarded to the new dentist.

[ondreeuh]

My 3 y/o has three teeth between his canines on the bottom, and FIVE between his canines on the top! Dh says he has "summer teeth" - summer (some are) here, summer there.

 

Our dentist says there's nothing to do until his adult teeth come in. They could do xrays and find out which teeth are developing, but it would be unnecessary xray exposure since they couldn't do anything about it. Once his adult teeth are in, they can do a bridge if needed to adjust the spacing.

[Sputterduck]

My grandpa was missing a couple teeth. The weird thing is that his sister had 3 copies, instead of two, of those same teeth. As in, the baby teeth, the adult teeth and another in addition to that. No joke. She got his missing teeth.:lol:

[Aggie]

My ds is missing 2 upper adult teeth. We hope that as his teeth come in that they will all move forward and it won't be noticeable.

 

Baylor College of Dentistry is doing a study to find out why some people are missing teeth. If you have the ability to sign her up for that, it might be helpful to the college.

 

One orthodontist told me about 30% of the population are missing adult teeth.

[jenangelcat]

My oldest has 3 teeth on the top middle. There's no gap and not noticeable if you aren't looking for it. If the extra adult tooth is there they can set a up a placeholder for it when they start falling out. If there is no replacement tooth and the new ones come in with a gap you could fix the gap with braces. Teeth issues like this are hereditary. I still have two of my baby teeth because the adult teeth were impacted in my gums.

[Mosaicmind]

Just a sidenote here: I have had two dentists tell me that dd can keep her baby teeth for upwards of 40yrs since there are no permanent teeth there to push them out. I am not worried about gaps I guess if that's the case but she has to take really good care of them.

[The Girls' Mom]

I have a missing permanent tooth on the top, right beside the canine...it just was never there. The gap closed up, and most people never notice it.

 

Teeth are weird things. My dh had a new tooth come up UNDER his tongue when he was around 30. We thought it was an abcess. Turned out to be a malformed tooth that suddenly decided to come out!

[Old Dominion Heather]

I have three on the bottom as well and I am missing the corresponding tooth on top as well. My dentist told me it was good that I didn't have them because they would have crowded the others.