Anyone have a child (or themselves?) missing adult teeth?

[*********]

Moose is missing two adult teeth on top, according to his dental x-rays. They're the ones on each side next to the two front teeth.

 

The boys just had a check-up, and Moose had x-rays for the second time. The dentist said it still looks like he doesn't have those two permanent teeth (apparently sometimes it can look like permanent teeth aren't there, but then they can see them on later x-rays). She said there's simply nothing to be done about it for now, and when the time comes, we'll discuss our options.

 

I'm a little nervous because:

 

Moose has SPD, and this last time we went to the dentist was the FIRST time he's ever gotten thru a routine check-up without crying the entire time. So the idea of any extra dental work/appliances/etc. makes me nervous for him.

 

And, well, frankly I'm wondering how much this is gonna cost. :tongue_smilie:

 

So before I go googling (which, btw, why is it that I always find the absolute WORST scenario for things when I google?), I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this, either for themselves or their kids? What sort of treatment was used? The dentist mentioned something about possibly a retainer and something else I can't remember, since I was trying to pay attention to her and both the children at once. :D

[lailasmum]

It runs in my mums family to miss a couple of top teeth. Can't remember which ones but definitly in a similar area to your son. No one did anything about it and its not noticeable but our family tend to have crowded teeth and lacking a couple is a good thing. I have had one of my front teeth next to the front top middle ones (don't know their name) removed and can't say I really notice it.

 

Maybe it wont be a problem.

Edited September 27, 2011 by lailasmum

[Starr]

They can either leave them alone or use braces and implants. I guess it's early to know how it's all going to pan out. :grouphug:

[Socalmom]

My DH is over 50 and still has 2 baby teeth. :001_smile: There were no adult teeth to replace them. I think he had to have them capped a couple of years ago because they were getting pretty fragile. My older DD is missing an adult tooth. She's in braces now and we have not done anything special because of this. We have talked to her about being extra careful to brush and floss so she doesn't get any decay. As long as she takes care of it, the baby tooth will be fine for many years. Her orthodontist is in his 30's and he still has a couple of baby teeth.

 

Margie

[*********]

It runs in my mums family to miss a couple of top teeth.

 

The dentist did mention that it's genetic, but neither dh or I know of it in our families. In fact, neither of us had ever even heard of it before.

[Amy in TX]

Dd16 is missing several adult teeth. This means that when she's done with her braces, she have to have either a bridge or implants to hold everything in its new position. It doesn't seem to be an issue other than wrt orthodontic treatment.

[sparrow]

Yes, my son was missing one of the same adult teeth as your son. He's already had orthodontic treatment to treat a severe crossbite and crowding (crowding! despite missing a tooth!).

 

In his case, they pulled the matching adult tooth. He didn't have room anyway. So his eye teeth are next to his front teeth and will be filed to match once all of his orthodontic treatment is completed.

 

Pulling a healthy adult tooth in the front was a hard pill to swallow, but in his case, it made sense.

[Dana]

I'm missing those two. It was (is) expensive. Lots of necessary orthodontia starting in middle school. Once the braces were off I wore something like a retainer with fake teeth on it. Before college I went to temporary bridges and then a couple years ago went for permanent bridges over implants.

[Matryoshka]

Moose is missing two adult teeth on top, according to his dental x-rays. They're the ones on each side next to the two front teeth.

 

My dd is missing those same two teeth. There are pretty much two options - bringing the eye teeth closer and filing them down to look like laterals (the missing ones), or moving the eye teeth back to where they belong and putting in implants or two bridges. Our dentist is strongly recommending the first option, and has said when the time comes (she needs to lose more baby teeth before the work can start), she'll introduce me to people who have had one or the other done, so I can see the final product.

 

I'm a bit more blasé about this than you are, because I myself am missing 9(!) adult teeth. That does include my wisdom teeth, but that still leaves 5 missing "regular" teeth. It also means I still have a one-year molar (baby tooth) in my mouth at 46. I am only missing one lateral, and for that I got a bridge. My dentist way back also suggested pulling my second lateral (which is a peg and needed bonding) and moving my eye teeth in, but we decided against it in my case because I'm missing so many back teeth - I don't think I would've had anything left to chew with!

 

In my dd's case I'm leaning a bit toward the moving/filing eye teeth, but I'll take my dentist up on that offer to see what the two options look like before making a final decision.

 

With my lousy teeth, I'm just thrilled that only one of my three dd's is missing teeth, and that it's only two!

[skirch]

Yes, those are the lateral incisors. My daughter and I are both missing those teeth. In my case, my braces pulled all my top teeth together then the orthodontist filed my canines down to look more like the missing teeth. As an adult though, things started shifting back after my wisdom teeth came out.

 

Once the braces were off I wore something like a retainer with fake teeth on it. Before college I went to temporary bridges and then a couple years ago went for permanent bridges over implants.

This is pretty much the plan dd's orthodontist has for her.

[Ellie]

My older dd is missing two adult teeth--both lateral incisors (the teeth between the two front teeth and the eye teeth). So when she was 13ish, she had her two front teeth, then baby eye teeth, then adult eye teeth.

 

Eventually those baby eye teeth would have fallen out (they had no adult teeth pushing them out of the way, KWIM?), and then dd would have had gaps in her beautiful smile.

 

Her bottom teeth were crowded.

 

So her orthodontist recommended removing two bottom teeth and the two baby eyeteeth, then braces to pull her teeth together. He had to shape her two eyeteeth so they wouldn't be so pointy.

 

Dd has a beautiful smile today; I'm SO happy we did what we did.

[The Girls' Mom]

I am missing one of those two teeth. Most people never notice. My teeth are fine, plus I got the bonus of not inheriting the overlapping front teeth that runs in my family. My dh actually had his eye teeth pulled to make room in his mouth. You can't tell. He will likely be fine, and have plenty of room for all his teeth. :D

[zimom]

My son (now 19) is missing those same teeth... long story (really long story) short, what they did was pull the teeth in with braces, a little buffing of the teeth to mold them so they 'looked' right and he has a nice smile.

 

Now if he would just wear his retainer. Should not have been a long story but his orthodontist drove us crazy. Leaving a space for implants was an option (part of the long story)...

 

We were told it tends to run in families but we do not know anyone else on either side.

 

Oh, btw, do not know if it was related or not but he also had a fused baby front tooth.

[Mrs Mungo]

Eldest dd is missing an adult tooth. We are supposed to go to the ortho in the near future to decide what to do about it. About the time they decided it was time to do something about it in Hawaii, we were getting ready to move.

 

eta: The roots on the baby tooth dissolved in her case. The tooth was fine, but once the roots dissolved (as baby teeth normally do), then the tooth became a problem and had to be pulled. So, they do not always last, no matter how well you care for them.

Edited September 27, 2011 by Mrs Mungo

[Allearia]

On my 6.5 year old's x-rays, the dentist couldn't see any of the back teeth. He said they may come later, or not. And that we should take special care of his baby teeth, though of course he is the one who has needed a lot of work done already.

 

I have decided not to worry about it yet as it will be years before something would need to happen and I am just hoping they will come in eventually.

[kathkath]

My 5yo is missing two molars. The dentist said course of action is TBD though if he is careful they can last til he is 40 or so.

[Kalypso]

My dd15 is missing a molar on top. The dentist and orthodontist have left it alone because she didn't need it removed for any reason. They have both said that she will need an implant when it comes out, but she must be completely finished growing for an implant. They expect the tooth to last for a long time because it has a good root.

 

My ds12 is missing 4 molars. 2 on top and 2 on the bottom. Though braces may improve the looks of his teeth, the dentist and the orthodontist feel that we need to leave his teeth alone so the baby teeth will hopefully last until he is an adult. When they need to come out, he will need implants because of spacing issues. I have been told that these baby teeth can last a long time into adulthood if they have a good root.

 

So, that's our story.

[caitlinsmom]

My dd has a specific condition (the name escapes me) where she is missing an abnormally large amount of permanent teeth, 9 all together. She is only 8 so there isn't a lot we can do now. We have to go to the dentist and the orthodontist every 4-6 months. Both Doctors work together on our case so everyone can be in the loop at all times.

 

We will be watching for just the right moment to pull the baby teeth, keep space open with braces and then finally when she is about 16 we will have to get implants for her. If the missing teeth were closer together we would have had the option for a retainer/false teeth mix but alas they are not.

 

She has to maintain a strict brishing flossing routine so that the baby teeth she does have can be kept for as long as possible.

 

He case is a bit more severe than your dc but just thought I would throw that out. :)

[Mary in VA]

Yes, my 21 yo dd is missing two adult teeth on the bottom. Not sure what the specific name of the tooth is, but about the fourth in from the center. The original plan was to maintain the baby teeth as long as possible and build them up later. But within a year of getting her braces off they both abcessed and had to come out, at different times. One of them was actually fused to the bone, so it's to bad it had to come out! So at that point the ortho redid her retainer and she has been wearing it at night since. She is now a senior in college so we had to decide what to do before she graduates and is off our dental insurance. One problem was the top teeth have nothing to hit against when she chews and it can cause them to move. Also, the jaw bone can be absorbed and get smaller if there is not tooth in the location. We decided to go ahead with implants. It was a good thing we did because her jaw bone was very thin. Any thinner and she would have needed bone grafting first. So they put the titanium rods into her jaw and we are waiting the four months for those to heal before they put the artificial teeth on them. Talk about expensive!!!!! But we knew our dd wouldn't be able to afford it on her own for years, so we wanted to do it for her.

 

Sorry for the long saga. We just basically had to wait to see what happened!

 

Mary

 

ETA: my dh's aunt, who is in her 80s still has a baby tooth. So they can last!

[dirty ethel rackham]

Ds15 has braces (desperately needed.) They are making a space for a missing tooth on top (front tooth), but are leaving a baby molar in place because it is likely that he will keep that one until his late 30's. When he gets his braces off, they put a fake tooth onto a wire and cement that to the back of his adjoining teeth (kind of like a bottom retainer.) When he is older and done growing, we will do an implant. I'm not worrying about the molar because the baby tooth will work for a long time. He can take care of it on his dime when he is an adult.

 

At age 5, I wouldn't worry about the tooth situation. Nothing you can do about it now, just see how things play out. Any treatment (temporary or permanent) will not be for several more years. By that time, if your child is getting good therapy for the sensory issues, it may not be the big deal you fear. BTW, this is my kid who had major sensory issues. After a few years of intensive therapy, he is just a normal teen.

[Ailaena]

Dd found out she was missing all 4 of her first molars when she was about 8. We had 3 options: Do nothing ever, do nothing until she stops growing then put in implants, or pull all 4 teeth and use braces to move the rest of them to fill in the gaps.

 

At the time, I wanted her to keep the baby teeth forever, especially since her own dentist still had two baby teeth at 42 years old. The dentist said it was a good idea to put it off until she had her own dental insurance, because implants are expensive:tongue_smilie: Ultimately, we had them pulled and used braces to close the gap (and fix an overbite and prevent crowding) to the tune of @$10,000. The bottom teeth were impacted, which I thought would have been a good thing had she decided to keep the teeth, but alas, it would have caused some serious issues, so out they came. Fortunately for her, she is diligent about wearing the retainers because I will NOT pay for another round of braces (if it was preventable).

 

Not the same thing as missing incisors, but I know orthodontia can move teeth around and make his smile something you will be jealous of :D

 

 

 

eta: None of the treatment happened until she was nearly 12

Edited September 27, 2011 by Ailaena

[iamrachelle]

I am missing four adult teeth as well... we didn't have fancy implants (back in the dark ages :D) so I had bridge work put in. It's pretty common and easy enough to fix these days with orthodontics and implants..

[Cinder]

Ds is missing an upper canine. The dentist told us not to worry about it unless the baby tooth falls out. Well, at 13yo the baby tooth fell out, so off to the orthodontist we went. He offered two options--an implant (which would also require expanding the gap) or try to close the gap. Or we could just do nothing and leave a gap, but this didn't appeal to ds. Since either option would have cost the same and put ds in braces for the same amount of time we let ds choose. He decided to go with closing the gap. It was a long, slow process--any faster and you risk losing *all* the teeth. Ds wasn't very diligent with wearing his rubberbands, which made things a bit slower and at one point, the ortho warned ds that if he didn't use the rubberbands then all the work they'd put in would be to waste. Ds finally got serious and they got that gap closed. His upper teeth do not align directly over his lowers--they're slightly off center. But you have to look closely to notice. He's in a retainer now, and hopefully his teeth will stay in place!

[AuntieM]

It runs in my mums family to miss a couple of top teeth. Can't remember which ones but definitly in a similar area to your son. No one did anything about it and its not noticeable but our family tend to have crowded teeth and lacking a couple is a good thing. I have had one of my front teeth next to the front top middle ones (don't know their name) removed and can't say I really notice it.

 

Maybe it wont be a problem.

 

Same situation here. The missing teeth were not truly missed because my child who inherited this (from dh's side) has a small mouth anyway.

 

The only issue we had was that there was nothing to push the baby teeth out, so they had to be extracted eventually.

 

I have one ds who has a sensitive gag reflex; delaying orthodontics for him has helped, in his teens he is much more tolerable of folks working in his mouth.

[Denisemomof4]

I am missing those exact teeth. How I wish a dentist had told me that there were no permanent teeth in there! Because I didn't have that knowledge, and I was a stupid kid, :glare: I forced the teeth loose because I wanted my bigger teeth in. I remember they were hard to get out so I slammed a door with string attached to them to get the teeth out. What a mistake. Because I did this I had to get braces to separate the teeth wider, then I had a retainer with the fake teeth for years. I now have a bridge.

 

If I hadn't done that, I think they would have capped my baby teeth to make them the same size as the others, but I don't specifically remember the details.

 

I'm thinking a retainer at a minimum but likely braces to make space for two full sized teeth. Maybe your dentist mentioned retainer to keep the space when he loses the canine?

[samba]

My ds10 is missing 6 permanent teeth (4 on top and 2 on the bottom). Right now he has a palate expander and they are recommending implants for down the road.

[~Jo]

Missing adult teeth sounds like a pretty common occurrence :D My oldest dd is missing 3. She just had an implant done on one - it had one of those silver temporary crowns put on it when she was about 8 because the baby tooth cracked. They were trying to make it last until her adult tooth came in - which of course it never did. The cost of the implant is about $3,000 a tooth for us. Our dental insurance covers about $80 of the oral surgeon's work :001_huh:

 

The dentist told us that the others should last her quite a while if she takes care of them. However, hers are not front teeth.

[higginszoo]

I was missing 3 adult teeth. I also had a lot of crowding, so they just pulled the odd one ... I probably would have had to have the other 3 pulled if they'd been there.

[jennsmile]

I got an implant as a teen for the tooth I was missing. We did it at a dental school. I got the screw placed at the same time as my wisdom teeth were removed. Fitting the tooth was not too traumatic. They take molds of the mouth and make impressions. Compare your tooth color to the color of fake teeth and match it up. Once the screw was healed they put on the implant. Filled the top part with tooth color filling. And it has been good to go for 13 plus years.

[HLDoll]

My brother was missing an eye tooth. Unfortunately, the tooth next to it came in crooked and dissolved the root of the baby tooth, so keeping the baby tooth wasn't an option. He went into braces and they held that space open for a few years. When the braces came off, his retainer had a false tooth there for a while until they could do the surgery to implant a post and prep for a false tooth. His smile is beautiful today. I have no idea what it all cost as part of his orthodontic treatment.

[Sputterduck]

My cousin was missing his top two front teeth. Poor fella. They gave him snap in teeth while his mouth was still growing and then put in permanent posts and fake teeth once he was done growing. You really cannot tell. His teeth are beautiful.

[Murmer]

Yep, I didn't have 1 of my adult teeth...because my mouth is small anyway they pulled the other 3 when they came in to make it even and used orthodontics to space everything correctly...it wasn't too big of a deal other than the dentist not doing enough novocaine but that was because he was a bad dentist.

[Momof3littles]

We have the opposite problem. DS1 has a supernumerary adult tooth. It is an upper central incisor and he'll need to have it extracted at some point. His is inverted too which is weird, but it still supposedly will erupt into his mouth. We can feel a bump there right now and they will wait to see if it erupts as it will be easier to extract if it does. He's 7.5 and is losing the corresponding baby tooth soon so we'll know before too long.

 

It was picked up on an early xray he had as a toddler for a small cavity.

[abacus2]

I am missing those two teeth. Braces straightened my teeth and the pointy teeth were filed down a bit. No one notices. I was also missing one wisdom tooth (yay!) And one more on the bottom. My mouth is small so the the odd tooth was pulled.

[Nestof3]

I had those exact teeth missing. I have a Maryland bridge now (got it when I was a teenager).

[Kile529]

My mom, sister, and I are missing those same teeth. They're Laterals. My sister & I have 3 children each...and 4 or 5 of the kiddos are missing their laterals as well. My sister & I had our pallets split, retainers with fake teeth, braces with fake teeth, and now flippers. Going the fake teeth route is pretty expensive. I refuse to get implants until we can even see if we can afford our kids' requirements. After living with fake teeth for now 22 years.....I will do everything I can to ensure my kids don't have to live like this....it's so embarrassing when a tooth falls off the flipper & you have to search for super glue just to look normal again. lol If our orthodontist thinks it's okay, we'll be moving the teeth together and filing down the next two teeth.....

[Kile529]

I had those exact teeth missing. I have a Maryland bridge now (got it when I was a teenager).

 

My sister tried those...but they wouldn't stay on at all. Her teeth were right at the "just big enough that it should stick just fine" point. She's take a drink and they'd fall right off.

 

Other than implants - there's also a crown/bridge thing? They file down the teeth on either side and cement over veneers? That's expensive too...and my teeth "might" be big enough to do that too....lol

[Farrar]

My cousin is missing the bottom four. In her late 20's (I think?), they pulled the two to the sides (I think one had actually fallen out with her other baby teeth even though there wasn't one to replace it). Then they pushed them together. She still has them. They're pretty adorable, actually.

 

If anyone has girls in the 9ish-15ish range who are experiencing dental drama, I *highly* recommend the graphic novel Smile, which is a true memoir about a girl who had her front teeth knocked out in middle school and the many year saga that followed. It's touching and funny and about growing up and being sure of yourself (as well as dealing with crazy looking teeth).

[PeacefulChaos]

DH never got two of his adult teeth on the bottom. He still has his baby teeth there.

[amey311]

I'm missing permanent teeth, but they were pulled (because my permanent teeth are SO much bigger than my baby teeth).

 

Call your dentist and ask him to write down what he told you, or see if you can make a 15 minute phone appointment or something. Then at least you'll know what the possible plan is. He (or his office staff) should also be able to give you a cost estimate and information on what should be covered by your insurance, and if any of it needs to be pre-approved.

 

My dentist just sold his practice and one of the new "upgrades" the new guy has done is allowing email contact - so I can email to request an appointment, get email or text reminders, etc. I think it would be great for your situation so you wouldn't have to try to remember everything that was said at the appointment, you could get a printed (or emailed, or faxed) summary with a treatment plan and cost estimates.

[jenangelcat]

When I was 16, I went in for x-rays because I still had 8 baby molars and the top baby pointy teeth. None of them were even slightly loose. The pointy adult teeth were impacted sideways in the gum and my dentist said they wouldn't come out so we left the baby teeth there (I still have them). The molars they pulled to let the adult teeth come through.

 

My oldest (5) is missing one of her baby teeth, one next to the middle uppers. We haven't x-rayed yet so I don't know how we'll be proceeding.

[Mommy22alyns]

I'm missing one of my lateral incisors on the top. The adult tooth was malformed and they pulled it along with my baby tooth when I was a kid. The plan was to give me a dental implant, but my teeth grew together and really only a dentist could tell I'm missing a tooth.

[Jenny in GA]

I don't have the time to read the other replies, but yes, I have always been missing an adult molar; I guess two over from my canine tooth. When I was in college, I was told it would fall out, very possibly within a couple years, because the roots were dying, and I would need a bridge at that time.

 

Today I'm 42 and still have the baby tooth. So far it is not even loose. Nobody, including myself, would ever know it was a baby tooth, other than a dentist.

[Garga]

I'm missing one of the front bottom teeth. You can't tell. If it had come in, I'm not sure where it would have fit. I haven't had to do anything special about it.

[Laura Corin]

I'm missing one of my top teeth. My centre line is not quite central (everything shifted over to fill the space) but no one has every remarked on this. It hasn't been an issue.

 

Laura

[Trez]

I was one tooth and have a permanent baby tooth. My brother and my father were also missing teeth. In my case, I did not get braces or anything and I have a bit of a gap between my front teeth and on the right side.

 

My daughter was missing teeth on both sides and the orthodontist choose to space out her teeth and she currently uses a retainer with the two false teeth. She will have the permanent false teeth implants once her mouth start growing.

 

My so is also missing two teeth and the orthodontist has decided to shift all of his teeth forward.

[Danestress]

DS 13 is missing an adult tooth. His orthodontist and dentist agree that it's best do to nothing - that some people missing an adult tooth will live into their 40s with the milk tooth, and to just let time determine the course of action.

[Crimson Wife]

Both my parents, my brother, and I are missing our lateral incisors. My dad got a bridge, my mom had her canines built up, and my brother and I had braces then implants.

[Nestof3]

My sister tried those...but they wouldn't stay on at all. Her teeth were right at the "just big enough that it should stick just fine" point. She's take a drink and they'd fall right off.

 

Other than implants - there's also a crown/bridge thing? They file down the teeth on either side and cement over veneers? That's expensive too...and my teeth "might" be big enough to do that too....lol

 

Ho can it fall out? It is adhered with some sort of super strong adhesive.

[cindergretta]

My dd15 is missing an adult tooth. She is missing a lateral incisor. They have never made any kind of a plan. The adult teeth are just kind of growing together to close the gap left after the baby tooth fell out.