DD(6) needs to have two baby first premolars out

[Anusername]

My daughter who just turned six have developed dental abscess for her two lower first premolars. We took her to see her dentist and she said they needed to be taken out, and referred us to Paediatric dentist as an emergency appointment. The Paediatric dentist saw her and also confirmed to take those out. We hoped that baby tooth root canals can save them due to concerns about permanent teeth alignment (loss of space, overcrowding, etc).

Since then, we have consulted another Paediatric dentist who can do root canals in the same practice, she also agreed to take them out. But I’m not 100% sure if she reaches this statement to avoid any contradiction to her colleague. I had expressed a very strong favor of keeping them during our consultation.

AIBU to consult another Paediatric dentist for this matter?

But this is all what ifs and no one can tell you or give you a solid cast iron answer. The priority is your daughter’s comfort now, not what might happen in 5 years time. If she has to have orthodontic treatment due to a small jaw then this is inevitable anyway. The time you already had to prevent this happening has already gone, its passed you can’t now force her to live with rotten teeth in her mouth to make you feel better about this decision.

@Rumors1 thank you. I questioned the Paediatric dentist when she suggested tooth extraction about a consultation with an orthodontist. But I didn’t get a referral. Should I push it?

Baby premolars do not exist.
Premolars are adult teeth and do not erupt until after 10 yrs of age.

My daughter had a canine removed due to abscess. I was told, as a bonus, it would help the new tooth come down straight.
Ultimately She had a plate, then orthodontics anyway. Like 75% if her peers

No. You don't need another dentist, you need to go back to the first one and get her teeth sorted out. Now.

And there is literally no point subjecting her to the trauma of a root canal at 6 on a milk tooth.

Hope that helps.

No.

Small jaws are not “caused” by early tooth extraction, nor are they caused by a gene.
If you don’t act on the causes of decay necessitating extractions in a 6 year old then orthodontic treatment won’t be something your child will be able to have!

Jaw growth cannot be “prevented” so no orthodontic intervention would alter this. I cannot think of any orthodontist who would see a 6 year old in these circumstances. Any necessary surgery is not done until after growth stops ie as an adult.

Something about this is making me very uneasy. You only started the thread this morning but you have already changed the story from needing 2 teeth rrmoved to saying one was extracted yesterday. I have had root canal fillings as an adult and it was horrendous. Far worse than an extraction. I really can't belive that any parent would want their child to go through unnecessary pain. Others have explained that there could be issues with adult teeth anyway. If you are genuinr, please get your poor child to a dentist ASAP and get the infected teeth removed. Your procrastination is really not serving any useful purpose.

@Anusername if you don't get the infection treated and the baby teeth out ASAP then the chances of the infection spreading not only to other teeth you risk it spreading into the adult tooth bud and damaging the adult tooth before it's even formed. Please follow the medical advice you've already had and get her treated before more damage is done to her teeth

This ffs!

If she's got abcesses, they need to come out. Are you going to keep going to different dentists until you get the answer you want?

@sueelleker why having abscess definitely means extraction instead of root canal? Not talking about pulpotomy but proper root canal

Because that’s the professional advice you have received x3.

What people are trying to explain to you is that if she needs orthodontic intervention for having a small jaw or over crowding, it’s unlikely this is going to prevent that from being the case later down the line. If her jaw is small, having a root canal isn’t going to change that.

Anyway your partner did not get his dental treatment as a child and you can get her dental treatment - so you should. Your post about her father makes no sense you are doing the exact same thing?

Root canals are really invasive and can often end up damaging the tooth anyway. They are one of the last resorts for adults who have no more teeth to grow in. Mine broke during a root canal. So you will put her through that only for the tooth to fall out either during the procedure or in a couple of years.

I am not sure if this is real as it’s really quite odd.

For goodness sake why can't you just accept what tbe professionals have told you. Your daughter has an infection in her mouth. It's too late for the tooth as it is a baby tooth. The root is practically non existent on a baby tooth there is nothing to root canal.
Just get the tooth put and concentrate on doing better with your child's oral health for the rest of her teeth.

Why has she got such significant decay at such a young age? Poor child!

A root canal is a pulpectomy. What are you proposing they are doing? What is a proper root canal in your mind?

@Menora yes pulpectomy. I understand for one tooth it cannot be done because of not enough tooth structure. But for the other one the rationale given is not very convincing. It is mentioned that since the other needs to be out so we will take this out for ‘balancing’ concern. But after reading some research papers, it seems that the first primary molars do not necessarily cause balancing issue. If I can save one of her teeth, why not?

Why would you put your child though a a root canal and then possible extraction anyway against medical advice from her dentists to save a baby tooth!! It’s a baby tooth.

If you where that concerned you wouldn’t of let the teeth so bad to start with. Your now trying to make up for the mum guilt with must save the tooth at all costs when that’s not the best decision.

I don’t know what to say to you to be honest. This is the fault of the parents but the child is the one suffering for it. I assume you will not do anything until you get the answer you want so perhaps just stop looking for answers on Mumsnet and try get an urgent orthodontist appointment so your poor child can get assessed and treated as soon as possible.

JFC: if you’d spent half the time googling and implementing good diet and oral care for young children as you have dithering over whether to give her a root canal on a baby tooth, you wouldn’t be in this position.

As someone whose parents didn’t emphasise oral health enough and let me eat too much sugar during the 80s, to my significant dental detriment as an adult - please do as several professionals have advised.

"No amount of evidence will persuade an idiot."

Mark Twain

the reason I’m considering root canal is that I know she’ll be fine because of the facilities and the care she would receive.

THERE👏IS👏NO👏POINT👏DOING👏ROOT👏CANAL👏ON👏A👏MILK👏TOOTH👏

But she doesn’t need it!! It’s a bloody baby tooth.

Put this much effort into her in general rather than a tooth that can be pulled.

head and brick wall here I swear.