Does my child need to see a dentist?

[YorkshireFelix]

Sorry posting here for traffic. Dd is 10 and autistic. Extremely nervous of anything medical related.

She's got a baby tooth near the front which is being pushed out by an adult tooth underneath. It's now pushed right forward in front of her other teeth but It's half still attached to the gum. It's not with just a small thread which can be easily wobbled free, it's attached by a small chunk. The way it's pushed forward means it's very difficult for her to eat and it's pushing against the inside of her lip so it's really uncomfortable.

Ideally I'd want the dentist to look at it but it will cause her significant distress. If we leave it for now and encourage her to wobble it (which she's still not really keen on) will it fall out eventually?

Has she been visiting the dentist for checkups previously?

It might sort itself out on its own or it might not but at some point she will need to see a denitist.

I have a disabled and also autistic son. Obviously I don't know your child and it may be best to leave it till she is older but I have found that dentists are pretty good about anxiety and autism nowadays. It might be worth starting some gentle exposure ladder dentist stuff now so that it is easier for your daughter to manage when she eventually does need it.

You can start by just walking or driving to the dentists regularly, then going inside and coming out again,then trying a quiet waiting room etc. whatever steps she has a good chance of managing. The first few times we saw a dentist they just had a chat and it was very relaxed and no pressure to look in my son's mouth.

There are even specialist services you can be referred to if after lots of trying, she can't manage a standard dentist.

Try asking In a local parents group for a recommendation for a good asd friendly dentist and see how it goes.

If she ends up needing urgent treatment for a something and has no previous experience of dentists it will be terribly traumatic for all of you.

I’d call your dentist and describe the issue (the tooth and the nervousness) and see what they recommended.
Id err on the side of caution that she probably needs to be seen.

Agree with @Geneticsbunny some dentists are fantastic, worth getting some recommendations.

Do they have happy gas at the dentist? All ours offer it here in Australia for nervous patients or you can be put to sleep even just for a clean. Would that help?

My ds 9 had similar. Dentist rubbed some numbing cream on and it literally fell out with a gentle tug. Not an issue at all.

Put some bonkers on it and get her to wobble it. She should be seeing a dentist every year for a check up. If she doesn’t use one already and electric toothbrush used twice a day will be helpful.

Thanks everyone.

She does have regular check ups and the dentist we see is absolutely lovely and great with her. It's quite a drive though (just under an hour away) so not easy to just pop in at short notice, but obviously I will if I need to!

He mentioned last time we saw him a few weeks ago that he could see some adult teeth pushing out some of the baby ones and they should all come out on their own, but we might need to review if any are causing any trouble. I'll keep encouraging her to wobble it today and keep an eye on it.

Bonkers = bonjela

Had similar with my daughter over the summer. It would just not budge! Initial dental advice was to persevere and keep wobbling but after nearly 3 weeks my daughter begun complaining that it was hurting so off to dentist.

Dentist tried numbing gel to remove manually but it really wouldn't budge and my daughter was getting more anxious so it was extracted under local.