How to tell 7 y.o. she needs 6 baby teeth pulled?

[Anonymous]

With a child that young I would be afraid of having to do a second set of braces down the road.


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130073442

[Anonymous]

How bout, 'you need 6 baby teeth pulled'?

[Anonymous]

When i was getting braces as an adult, I went to about 10 different orthodontists for opinions on how to proceed. I pretty much got 10 different opinions. So I would definitely get a second opinion before moving forward with these extractions.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I stepped away for a while.

DD has a narrow jaw and a cross bite. Her adult teeth will come in crooked if we do nothing. DH had a palate expander as a teenager, and it was extremely painful to him. Both DD's pediatric dentist and my dentist of 30 years recognized the palate expander as a recommended course of action. The trend has been to put palate expanders in before the palate is fused, which is why DH's palate expander was so painful - his palate bone had to be broken first. While it is not comfortable for her at this age, it is not painful in the sense of having your bone broken. This orthodontist is the one who treated my dentist's son with the same type of issue. I trust my dentist, the pediatric dentist and the orthodontist and all encouraged early insertion of the palate expander.

I personally had at least 4 baby teeth pulled nearly 40 years ago. This is done to allow the adult teeth to drop in straight, as opposed to coming in crooked because the baby teeth aren't moving. DD having baby teeth extracted is not unexpected, the ortho has mentioned it before. What is hitting me is the reality of asking DD to do one more thing. And I wasn't expecting it to be 6 teeth. Not sure what I was expecting.

A second opinion is a good idea, and I'll consult with the pediatric dentist too. DH is planning to revisit with the orthodontist why it needs to be done before we even talk with DD about it, but I don't see the need to have some teeth extracted changing except for perhaps the number.

The theory is that we can prevent much more severe orthodontia when she is a teenager.

As for needing a second set braces down the road - that is what happens if you don't wear your retainers. My husband is living proof of that. I heard that NPR story when it aired. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

BTW, braces are much further down the road, but not now.

[Anonymous]

I have a "serial extractor" who needed 6 baby teeth pulled and will need two adult teeth pulled. We have only down two at a time. He has already had an expander and phase I done twice. My pediatric dentist laughed when I showed up with the plan to extract 6 teeth. He agreed that two needed to come out but would not, under any circumstance, pull 6 baby teeth on an 8 year old.

We did the two teeth, went to another ortho did expander then phase 1. A few month later we rechecked and decided to use retainer for a few months. After that plans changed and we redid phase 1. He is now 11, had multiple spacers and won't even need braces for at least a year. Still dealing with the adult teeth removal (genetically missing teeth) but he definitely didn't need those 4 other baby teeth removed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a "serial extractor" who needed 6 baby teeth pulled and will need two adult teeth pulled. We have only down two at a time. He has already had an expander and phase I done twice. My pediatric dentist laughed when I showed up with the plan to extract 6 teeth. He agreed that two needed to come out but would not, under any circumstance, pull 6 baby teeth on an 8 year old.

We did the two teeth, went to another ortho did expander then phase 1. A few month later we rechecked and decided to use retainer for a few months. After that plans changed and we redid phase 1. He is now 11, had multiple spacers and won't even need braces for at least a year. Still dealing with the adult teeth removal (genetically missing teeth) but he definitely didn't need those 4 other baby teeth removed.

This was me but I was like 13. My sister still has a baby tooth and she is an adult.

[Anonymous]

I would get a second opinion, and have the dentist break the news to her.

[Anonymous]

I had 8 adult teeth pulled due to crowding before my braces were put on. That was in the early 1980s when I was 11 or 12. I think early intervention is more recent and had it been more common when I was a kid, maybe I could have kept some of those teeth.

I also had big teeth and a small jaw and had at least four baby teeth plus two permanent teeth pulled in the early 80s.

[Anonymous]

My child has an expander right now. Her teeth are very crowded. My ortho said "don;t let anyone tell you to pull teeth". Onvioulsy her situation could be totally different but just supporting the idea to talk to more than 1 person. With a 7 year old you have alot of time before growing stops.

[Anonymous]

i was about 8 when i had about 8 teeth pulled (and then my wisdom teeth after first year of college). i had severe over-crowding as well. i'm sure i was terrified, but i became a regular at the dentists office and wasn't nervous after a couple of trips. i still have fond memories of my dentist. i got braces at 10 and they were off by 13. i had a retainer for several years. i did end up getting braces onmy four bottom teeth when i was about 16. now i have great teeth.
but i would get a second opinion too. 6 is young, but it's not unheard of when you have serious issues.

[Anonymous]

My youngest son lost all 8 of his early baby teeth before his 7th birthday, but his brother who is 2 years older lost his 8th one the same week as the youngest lost his last. The youngest one has a big mouth unlike me, so he'll never have issues. I had a small mouth with big teeth and needed 8 teeth extracted when I was a teen.

[Anonymous]

That palate expander is awful. I had it for two weeks as a child, then taken out and had a removable expander made and wore it for six or nine months. It was like a retainer but I could widen it every other day. Why the need fo the horrible permanent expander is beyond me.

[Anonymous]

My kids each had 4 baby teeth pulled before orthodontia started. The pediatric dentist did them two at a time. We said they were having them 'taken out' -- I couldn't stand to say 'pulled', because I'd had both baby teeth and 4 permanent teeth pulled in my childhood and it was a horrible experience for me. Both of my kids did just fine. The oldest had to be given a little something to make him a little loopy first, because he was a nervous patient when he was younger. In my house, the Tooth Fairy leaves double the reward for teeth when the dentist takes them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids each had 4 baby teeth pulled before orthodontia started. The pediatric dentist did them two at a time. We said they were having them 'taken out' -- I couldn't stand to say 'pulled', because I'd had both baby teeth and 4 permanent teeth pulled in my childhood and it was a horrible experience for me. Both of my kids did just fine. The oldest had to be given a little something to make him a little loopy first, because he was a nervous patient when he was younger. In my house, the Tooth Fairy leaves double the reward for teeth when the dentist takes them out.

Why??????? WTF is wrong with having them fall out on their own when they are ready to come out? Oh yeah- the dentist wouldn't get paid for that.

Denistry is filled with scammers--my dentist of 35 years told me this. I have recommended at least 5-6 different people to him over the last 10 years when they were given weird recs from their dentists--including my own DH who at 41 has never had a single cavity in his life or braces. My siblings and I all have fairly straight teeth,no braces, no root canals, very few cavities--all without the pediatric dentistry hoopla-sealants, extractions, etc.

My kids now see my dentist instead of a pediatric one.