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Children's health

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Original poster

Replacement front teeth for 3 year old

7 replies

justwondering72 · 10/12/2013 08:15

my 3 year old Ds had his two front teeth extracted when he was 18 months old. when they first came through, there was no enamel on the bottom third of them, so they just wore away until the root was exposed, then they got infected and had to be removed. since then we've been trying or best to keep them as healthy as possible, and have been taking him to a paediatric dentist.

she has recommended that, now he is three, we have his missing teeth replaced. as far as I can understand it would be two false front teeth secured by glueing them to his back teeth. the main reason would be aesthetic so he is not teased by other children, for eating and it might stop the permanent dribble running down his chin. spacing for adult teeth doesn't seem to be a worry. he has a slight lisp, this might have something to do with the missing teeth.

I'm not convinced either way. DH thinks we should go with the dentists advice. Ds says he wants his new teeth to come now.

anyone any experience of this? All advice welcome.

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mrssprout · 10/12/2013 08:59

My DS had one of his front teeth removed at about 3 when he slipped in the bathroom, hit it on the bath & the nerve was damaged & it started to discolour. He had a gap until his adult tooth came through about 3/4 years later. There was never any suggestion by the dentist of a replacement & it didn't cause any problems, just meant a gappy grin for a few years. He only lost one though so it may be more of a problem with two gone.If you are not sure is there any chance of seeing another dentist for a second opinion before you do anything ? My DS saw a paediatric dentist so she had lots of experience of kids doing similar things.

duchesse · 10/12/2013 09:09

So many children between 4 and 7 have gappy teeth I can't imagine teasing would be an issue. The dribbling might be a bit more compelling but if it's bothering neither him nor you, is it really a medical reason to do it? I'd be tempted to refuse tbh if there's no medical reason to do it. He'll get adult teeth in there within 3 years anyway, so I guess he'd have to have another procedure to remove the falsies as his adult teeth come through. DD2 knocked a tooth right back in her mouth when she was 3. It straightened up and hung in there for a year before falling out. She had a gap for couple of years, before her permanent tooth came through. In fact she started shedding teeth at nearly 7 and all 8 of her incisors were absent at one point (!), which made eating apples tricky for a few months but nothing worse than that.

tobiasfunke · 10/12/2013 09:16

Unless you are worried about the dribbling I would agree not to bother. Ds lost his first tooth a week after he turned 5 and I'm sure some of his nursery friends had missing teeth. It doesn't seem so long to wait. Ds's compatriots all have weird tooth shaped gaps at the moment and I don't think they even notice.

mercibucket · 10/12/2013 09:17

get a second opinion

dd is 6 and her teeth are just appearing so it is a wait but if the issue is not about keeping a space, why bother? dd had no front teeth for a year

Original poster

justwondering72 · 10/12/2013 09:48

The dribbling is just messy and it's giving him chapped skin on his chin as it's so cold and dry just now.

I'm definitely swinging to not getting it done. We are in France, and it turns out our health insurance won't cover this treatment, so we'd have to pay about 200 euros to get it done, for something that doesn't seem to be necessary just now. From what I can see the US is the main country that seems to routinely do such treatments purely for aesthetic reasons - not so in the UK.

Mercibuckets - are you in France too? Are children especially mean here?? I can't see it TBH.

OP posts:

crazykat · 10/12/2013 09:58

I smashed all four top front teeth on a ride at the park about 2.5/3 years old and had to have them all removed. My adult teeth came through about four years later. During that time I wasn't keen on smiling in photos and showing the gap but then I didn't really like photos taken anyway and still don't. I wasn't ever bullied or teased about it as at 3 years kids didn't really notice the difference and as I got older others started losing their teeth so had gaps anyway.

I'd say leave it, he'll be fine as its aesthetic. Getting the false teeth may make it an issue for your ds and he's picking up in how adults feel iyswim. However if your ds wants them then I'd go for it. I would ask him and try not to push him in either direction based on what you and your dh think.

Mrsmorton · 10/12/2013 19:08

I'm a dentist in the uk, I don't routinely treat children(my disclaimer!!) who aren't in pain but I'm not familiar or comfortable with this as treatment for a 3yo. crazykat seems to make sense.

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