Does anyone know if having baby teeth that haven't fallen out on their own qualifies you for nhs braces?

[Habitatty282]

I'm so confused. DS is 13, he still has 12 baby teeth. Everything else about his teeth is 'normal'. We've been told by the orthodontist that we need to just wait for his baby teeth to fall out and then they'll be able to assess if he's eligible for nhs braces.

Does anyone know what would happen if they didn't fall out? She wouldn't I've me a straight answer, just said in 20years she's never known that to happen. I'm wondering if he's going to be left with a load of baby teeth!

I still have 4 baby teeth I'm 40s as no adult teeth to push them out, my siblings lots more. Has he had an xray to confirm he has adult teeth underneath?

He's just late with his teeth - its not intrinsically a problem. I still had four milk teeth at 17 and had them removed at that point. My adult teeth came through fine - I'm 48 and have never needed a filling (I believe its connected if only because by the time I had adult teeth I was old enough to brush them properly).

At 13 my DC2 had only lost 6 milk teeth- fewer than his brother who's 3 years younger (and the younger one still had lost less than most of his classmates!). Now at nearly 15 DC2 has just lost a batch (they go in groups with long gaps in between) and has 4 milk teeth left.

I don't know about NHS braces as I'm abroad. For us it makes no difference as long as children start orthodontic treatment before their 18th birthday. Anything started after that isn't paid for at all and before 18 its according to severity (mostly parents contribute about 1/3 of the cost).

Rhapus123 yes his adult teeth are all present and correct, sitting frustratingly close to the baby ones, they're just there doing nothing!

ThatsNotItAtAll

At 13 my DC2 had only lost 6 milk teeth- fewer than his brother who's 3 years younger (and the younger one still had lost less than most of his classmates!). Now at nearly 15 DC2 has just lost a batch (they go in groups with long gaps in between) and has 4 milk teeth left

That's really reassuring to read. I've got it in my head that his milk teeth should all be out by now. I've never heard of them falling out so late! It's been 4 years since he lost one, I can't imagine them spontaneously falling out after such a long break!

I also still have some baby teeth, and I'm 40

My DH (aged 53) still has 2 baby teeth. When he died, aged 75, my FIL still had 4 baby teeth!

I can understand older generations still having baby teeth but I'm hoping dental care has progressed enough now that they won't leave DS with any. Surely they'll reach a stage where they decide they're not coming out on their own a they'll pull them?

It depends if the adult teeth are missing or impacted. If yes then he will qualify. If he's just a slow developer and the teeth come
Oh well aligned then no he won't.

Chances are that they will fall out. DS has just had a brace at 14 as they always put it off because of his many baby teeth. I wondered if it would ever happen too!
Prior to having the brace, they took out 5 teeth, one of which was a baby tooth. His adult molar teeth had huge roots and were about an inch in length! The baby tooth had hardly any root and I’m sure a couple of good pushes and they would come out.

My DS is 15 and has recently had braces fitted. He still had four baby teeth and had them extracted before the braces were fitted which was a precondition of the treatment. The extractions and the braces have all been done through the NHS.

He’s only 13, an x Ray shows everything is present, just give him time to grow. The fact that everything is there is the most important

@Habitatty282

I can understand older generations still having baby teeth but I'm hoping dental care has progressed enough now that they won't leave DS with any. Surely they'll reach a stage where they decide they're not coming out on their own a they'll pull them?

I a dentist someone proposed pulling out my healthy baby teeth I'd be pretty shocked!

What exactly is wrong with having them? They've never caused me issues

Octomore my uneducated understanding is that baby teeth are generally not as robust as adult, the won't last as long, are more likely to need filling/root canals, the roots aren't very strong and superficially they don't look great next to adult teeth. I can understand 1 or 2 not causing any trouble but you wouldn't want 12 of them!

But the X-ray shows his adult teeth are there underneath, you just need to wait for them to grow through

Dentists aren't usually in the business of extracting healthy teeth for no reason

The baby teeth are very unlikely to be stopping the adult teeth from coming out. They just haven't yet been pushed out by the adult teeth.

The dentist will intervene if/when the adult teeth start moving if it's clear that the baby teeth are causing a problem. In the meantime it's far better for him to have the baby teeth than to have gaps while waiting for the adult teeth to get moving.

Things may have changed but I had four taken out and braces fitted but not until I was 18.

DS is 17 and still has baby teeth. He can't have braces until they are all out.
We saw the dentist last month and he said as long as the referral to orthodontics is made by his 18th birthday then he will be in the system to have his braces once his baby teeth have fallen out.
We were seen at a specialist dental hospital a few years ago because there were no signs of adult teeth. They said they don't pull out baby teeth unless they are painful or rotten because it affects the growth of the adult teeth.
DS didn't lose his first tooth until he was 9 or 10. I think he's got either 2 or 4 baby teeth left now, I can't remember the exact number. We've got to go back one month before he turns 18 to do the orthodontic referral.

fairgame84 that's really interesting, thankyou.

My daughter had baby teeth that didn't come out. The dentist removed them very easily. Dd didn't even seem to really notice! Not what I expected at all

hedgehogger1 how old was she when she had them removed?