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Original poster

Am I horrible for asking? DH small teeth..

36 replies

Cantdoanythingright1 · 29/02/2024 11:04

DH has small teeth and he has always joked that he still hasn’t lost his baby teeth yet. I’m guessing it’s a genetic thing as a few of his family members have it. I’ve never thought anything about it but I was brushing my daughters teeth this morning and I just thought bloody hell they are tiny.

My 2 sons don’t have it only DS who is 5 and I would have expected her to be loosing a tooth soon DH said he didn’t loose his until high school. All I asked was whether it was a condition and is there a name for it.

He’s gone absolutely mad at me and is in denial saying her teeth are normal and that I’m crazy.I never said they wasn’t fine I was just asking because I’m sure his mum would have had similar questions when he was little.

She has a lot of gum and a small amount of teeth and I’m assuming it may cause some insecurity for her as she gets older so I just wanted to know a bit more.

OP posts:
Original poster
Cantdoanythingright1 · 29/02/2024 14:52

Maybeicanhelpyou · 29/02/2024 13:25

Dentist here!
Hypodontia, is some teeth missing,
Microdontia, is small teeth.

Thanks I thought so but DH seems to think you have to have gaps for it to be microdontia.

OP posts:
AppropriateAdult · 29/02/2024 15:32

One of my children has hypodontia (and I suspect their sibling might also). They're missing about 13 adult teeth, so the baby teeth in these positions haven't fallen out as there's nothing coming behind to push them out. While thankfully it hasn't affected them in any significant way so far, they're looked after at a specialist dental clinic with regular reviews and x-rays. There's no family history that we're aware of and they don't have other features of the syndrome that it can sometimes be part of. When their jaw is fully grown they'll need permanent implants/veneers.
I'd get her seen by a dentist sooner rather than later, OP, and mention the family history. Better to know early on if there are likely to be problems.

kcchiefette · 29/02/2024 15:51

There is a condition where you can only have baby teeth and there is no adult teeth. My ex had this (not for all teeth but a few!) And he has had his baby teeth his whole life. They havent fell out because there no adult teeth pushing them out.

NoOrdinaryMorning · 29/02/2024 16:35

@Cantdoanythingright1 Nope I have microdontia and no gaps

Dobbyhorse · 29/02/2024 17:00

I’m 64 with one milk tooth, a canine. It’s never caused any problem although aesthetically it made my teeth asymmetric. My dentist reshaped and built it up to give symmetry. It’s fine. All my other adult teeth came through as normal, just the one canine still undescended. Don’t suppose it’s going to make an appearance any time soon.😂

Bushmillsbabe · 29/02/2024 19:12

AppropriateAdult · 29/02/2024 15:32

One of my children has hypodontia (and I suspect their sibling might also). They're missing about 13 adult teeth, so the baby teeth in these positions haven't fallen out as there's nothing coming behind to push them out. While thankfully it hasn't affected them in any significant way so far, they're looked after at a specialist dental clinic with regular reviews and x-rays. There's no family history that we're aware of and they don't have other features of the syndrome that it can sometimes be part of. When their jaw is fully grown they'll need permanent implants/veneers.
I'd get her seen by a dentist sooner rather than later, OP, and mention the family history. Better to know early on if there are likely to be problems.

Gosh 13 is a lot. My daughter has hypodontia missing 4 teeth and we have been told she will need lots of orthodontics, possibly implants etc. But she didn't have the baby or adult ones of these teeth

CarrotOfPeace · 29/02/2024 19:36

So is it the 5 year old you're concerned about here? If so why haven't they been to the dentist in the last 4 years???

CarrotOfPeace · 29/02/2024 19:37

Cantdoanythingright1 · 29/02/2024 11:17

We are all at the dentist on Monday so I will ask then. We have struggled to join a NHS dentist since relocating.

I have googled but he is telling me it’s all wrong and that’s not what it is.

But before you relocated? Where did you relocate to? If you had concerns about her teeth you could have saved for her to see a private dentist. There really is very little excuse for this. It's her health.

ThreeTreeHill · 29/02/2024 19:46

Your dd has small teeth because they are baby teeth.

Small teeth is microdontia, in true generalised microdontia you would have gaps as the teeth are too small for their mouth. There are a few conditions that can cause quite specific appearance of teeth such as extodermal dysplasia. Some people just have small lateral incisors or peg shaped laterals so just a few teeth are small

Hypodontia is missing teeth.

Amelegenisis imperfecta is malformed enamel

But actually sometimes "small teeth" is just worn teeth, are they small width wise or short? And teeth do vary in size

Pinkdelight3 · 29/02/2024 20:00

it may cause some insecurity for her as she gets older

Well then try to be more understanding that it may have caused some insecurity for your DH and also try not to cause insecurity for your DD by making a thing of it.

18daychallenge · 29/02/2024 23:30

I’m a dentist. It’s likely your DH has hypodontia, in other words missing adult teeth that leads to retention of the baby teeth. Hypodontia and microdontia are very closely linked, and if a person has hypodontia they almost always have at least one microdont tooth.

With hypodontia and microdontia, it is often normal to not have ‘gaps’ as the teeth gradually drift, and in some cases, baby molar teeth are actually wider than the permanent successor.

I may have misread this - but is your daughter is 5? There is virtually no chance of all teeth being microdont- I suspect she just has small teeth. If she has ‘a lot of gum’ and hasn’t been to the dentist in a while, she may have gingivitis with mild gingival swelling. This will also make the teeth look smaller than they are. Do they bleed when brushing?

Regardless, there is no treatment or intervention to be done at this age, and I wouldn’t be taking any radiographs as they won’t change anything. Just regular reviews at the dentist and good brushing until she’s around 9-10 and it can then be re-investigated if still worried x

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