Child's adult teeth are missing

[TrojaninTroy]

I wonder if there are any dentistry technicians who could help with this?

I had a virtual consultation with the orthodontist yesterday, alongside DS, who is nearly 8. As far as I knew, our dentist had made a referral for him because of over-crowding in his bottom jaw. The orthodontist confirmed this, but to my surprise told us that his dentist had reported that his two top lateral incisors (so right next to his two very front teeth) are not in gum. This condition is known as hypodontia. She said he would likely have to have bridgework or implants put in when he is older. This came as quite a shock, as his dentist had not mentioned this to us.

I discussed this with DH later. DH was the one who took our DS to his original dentist. He said that the dentist had never taken dental x-rays. So we are a bit puzzled as to how the dentist came to report hypodontia.

Is there anyway that teeth missing in gum can be detected without an x-ray? I am hoping against hope that a mistake has been made, as this seems quite a big deal for DS.

DS (8) has this. About 6 of his upper adult teeth are missing. He had three baby teeth removed to make space for the adult teeth that are there, and he wears a retainer to keep space in his gums for them to move into. Otherwise the baby teeth might move around while the adult teeth take forever to move.

He'll wear the retainer for 3-4 years then we'll see what's what. He's completely fine with the brace thankfully.

Oh and sorry yes, he had X-rays to diagnose it.

My mother has this - and we were at the orthodontist with DS1 and he took one look at DS2 and asked if he'd ever had an x-ray, and then booked him in for one - at that point the baby ones had fallen out and the adult front and canines had come in right next to each other so even if he had, there was no where for them to go. X ray showed they were there though and he's had a retainer to expand his palate so they can come through when ready.

I've found this thread very reassuring after extensive googling following DS's orthodontist appointment yesterday - so thank you all!

Apparently he's missing 6 adult teeth (he's 14) so we've now been referred to the dental hospital for more joined up care in terms of restoring teeth and moving the ones he has.

I am missing some adult teeth and have 3 milk teeth still going strong - only last year in my late 40's did I have to have one baby tooth out (it had fused to my jaw bone so it wasn't pleasant, I'm hoping he can avoid this...).

My question is will he stay in the NHS system now for treatment into adulthood? And are there restrictions on what NHS treatment he can have or potentially will we have to pay for some options?

It sounds like you need to organise an X-ray to have this confirmed.

DS (13) and I also missing adult teeth, but we found out about ds’s via x ray.

My daughter is also missing her two upper lateral incisors but she never had the baby teeth come through. The dentist might of made the diagnosis when an adult didn't come through when your son lost his baby tooth.

It is odd that he hasn’t had X-rays before. All of my children had X-rays when first visiting the dentist. It was how extra teeth growing upwards were diagnosed.

A dental x-ray is necessary. The dentist may be saying that there is no evidence of the tooth being close to eruption rather than that it is completely absent, as you really can't tell definitively without an x-ray.

The other thing is often they are actually not completely absent more just "misplaced". Two of my three "missing" teeth were subsequently located, one was eventually removed, the other was moved into place with surgery and a brace.

To add to my post, I also have over crowding and had several teeth removed to make space. My wisdom teeth have never made an appearance either.