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Worried about dd 11's teeth


LisaKinVA
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Here's a photo...she's been seen by two orthodontists. The first one wants to pull teeth, the second one is a Damon doctor who believes dd's issues can be corrected without pulling teeth.

 

If it were just crowding, I wouldn't be so worried, but dd (as you can see in the photo) is losing a LOT of gum tissue around those front teeth. The loss seemed pretty stable until recently (it started after we had her eye teeth pulled to make room for her incisors to come forward...her middle two teeth on both the top and bottom took up all of the space for four teeth). She was not a candidate for a palate expander (Boo, our youngest, with the sideways teeth...thankfully(?) is).

 

Has anyone been through this with a child (not the overcrowding, but the loss of otherwise healthy gum tissue)? Are there other questions I should be asking, should I be pushing harder? This just doesn't seem normal, and I will admit to being worried about the wait and see approach here.

 

Thank you.

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Yes, my son's bottom teeth looked very much like that around stage I of his orthodontic care at age 8. He is nearing the end of stage II at almost 13 years and his teeth look beautiful! All of the tissue loss is gone.

 

Our orthodontist's biggest concern, besides my son's substantial crossbite that caused a chipped upper tooth :(, was the gum tissue loss. That is why we acted sooner rather than later. I'm a little confused by your message, because it sounds like you had some teeth pulled, but aren't sure if you want to go with the orthodontist that wants to pull teeth. My son had several teeth pulled, including a healthy adult incisor, which broke my heart, because he was missing the same tooth on the other side. His eye teeth were moved next to his front teeth and have been shaped.

 

I would be concerned with the gum loss you're seeing, as I know you are, and would probably drop an orthodontist that thought a wait and see approach was appropriate.

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thank you for your input...it relieves some of the worry a bit! If you saw a picture of her teeth from 5 months ago, her roots were completely covered by gum tissue. The tissue loss has accelerated greatly...which is why I became a LOT more concerned. We pulled a few baby teeth (which didn't really concern me), I would like to avoid pulling 4-8 permanent teeth, which is why we went to the Damon specialist. My son had his appointment on Tuesday, and I mentioned what was going on with my daughter...he said something to the effect of "start treatment soon," and I didn't follow up with a "when?" I just sent them the photo along with THAT question. Not that we can really afford another $6,000 for braces right now, but we also can't afford for this deterioration to continue.

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I'm trying to remember, but I think we had 3-4 permanent teeth pulled. It stunk, but seriously, there was just NO room in the kid's mouth. My son's tissue loss also accelerated substantially, but he was already in treatment, thankfully. It freaked me out.

 

I'd be curious to know how he responds to your photo. Nobody can afford $6,000 :tongue_smilie: . We have no dental or orthodontic insurance, so I see "new car" when I look in our kids' mouths!

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