Are there any orthodontists out there?

[stoparguinganddoit]

Hello! Aibu for traffic.

Finally got to see the ortho today. Child is 14+

Still has milk tooth- Upper canine missing. Has all other adult teeth and has done for at least 2 years. We mention the baby tooth each time we go to dentist. Brushed over as nothing to be worried about. Last time we went I asked about referral for ortho. Dentist said they'd refer (for no particular reason other than I'd asked).

Ortho did full xray. Canine is 'severely ectopic' and referral to hospital made. Hospital 30 miles away as local is 'too busy and not accepting new patients'.

I've no idea on time scales, child very upset at idea of 'operation and chain' to pull tooth down. Apparently there's a long wait.

Any advice, please? As it's been referred to hospital, what can we expect? Are there private services available? Costs? Should it have been picked up earlier?

TIA

Ortho and maxilllofacial nurse here. In my trust an ectopic canine gets added to an 'urgent' waiting list however that is in comparison to the normal waiting list which can still be around a year. Depending on severity of canine it can be done simply under local anaesthetic or done under GA. I also work in theatre where we do this operation routinely. The braces can be on doing lots of work BEFORE the operation to either extract or pull down the canine so time isn't necessarily wasted. Operating with braces on already happens 75% of the time. Will feel sore and bruised for a few days, stitches are dissolvable and the gold chain attached the tooth will gradually be pulled into alignment by the orthodontist. Sometimes the canine is ankylosed and doesn't move however there is still options to replace or close the gap. Hope this helps.

Not necessarily picked up earlier see lots of 13/14 years olds with deciduous canines. Private options for this surgery is not available in my trust however you could get private orthodontics to start the treatment earlier while waiting for oral surgery referral.

Many thanks for your reply. Should this have been picked up earlier? I feel I've let child down by not pushing it. Is it a year for first appt? Or a year before treatment starts (I know each trust will be different). Thanks again.

Sorry, didn't see your second post.

It can be a year to reach top of waiting list for treatment to begin your assessment should be done within 18 weeks where possible. Honestly this is standard treatment in a hospital setting so my advice is not to worry too much. If it's ectopic not just impacted then it's highly likely it would never have moved even if the baby tooth had been extracted earlier.

Just gone through similar with DD14. She had the same with a canine, her ortho initially said a chain was needed to pull it down however they then decided that this particular treatment wasn’t right as the tooth would probably not move enough. It was then removed under GA, not too traumatic, just sore for a day or so and the stitches dissolved. Once the decision was made to remove the tooth everything seemed to move quite quickly, it was only about a 3 month wait for the op then braces not long after everything had healed. She has had braces for 18 months now, around another 6 to 9 months to go, been a long haul but totally worth it, we can see a huge improvement already.

My dd had to get a canine baby tooth removed but it was done at the dentist. She did have a referral to get the adult tooth uncovered and attached to the chain thing but it took so long to come through that the adult tooth ended up coming through into the gap by itself.

Can I please ask was your child late to get teeth?

I had this problem as a teen. Can’t help with timescales etc. But please ensure your child that it is much better to deal with these things as a teen than as an adult.

I cried my eyes out when I got braces (even though I knew I was getting them) because my teeth were my pride and joy! Very straight and very white. However, as an adult now I am glad I had it done as my mum never had the procedure as a teen and as an adult had lots of problems to correct the adult canine tooth which was pushing her front tooth almost out - resulting lots of dental work to stop any further damage. Also, her baby tooth was forever wobbling and therefore needed it’s own dental work too...

Hi, not an orthodontist, but my daughter is currently undergoing treatment for a similar problem. She's now 14 and was referred to the original orthodontist aged 12 due to the need for braces and an ectopic canine. The original orthodontist referred her straight to our local hospital for assessment, all in all, that took about a year for referral and assessment, decision was made that she would have two pre molars removed and the canine exposed. This was done in April last year, she had a chain fitted onto the tooth and subsequent top braces. Today she has had her bottom braces fitted and the difference in less than a year is incredible. It's not easy, and I found that I had to ring around a bit to chase appointments, but is well worth it.

I had this. I was 16 by the time I got the surgery due to a lot of faff in varing ways as also didn't get picked up until I was round 14, so think the age is common (same happened to my sister).

She doesn't need to be worried about the process of the chain its self it sounds much worse than it is when they explain it to you.

Thanks all. I'm just annoyed as the dentist never bothered about it. We only got the ortho referral as I asked about the wonky teeth. Otherwise we'd still be none the wiser.