Can any dentists offer advice?

[Greentomatoes21]

My daughter's bottom two milk teeth have been wobbly for months. Maybe as many as eight months or so. In that time, her bottom two permanent teeth have grown behind the baby teeth. They're almost fully through. She wobbles the milk teeth but they certainly aren't looking like falling out imminently. I'm worried about the position of the permanent teeth and wondering if the milk ones will ever fall out on their own?? I just googled and read about tooth extraction - this would terrify her, I am hoping some dentists can offer reassurance that nature will do its job 😬 or advice on what we should do.

She'll be 7 in December and hasn't lost any yet.

Not a dentist but my DD had the same thing with her two bottom teeth. The adukt tweth were pretry much fully through before they came out. We used to call them shark teeth - it's pretty common and I've seen many other children with them. I would also think if they are wobbly they are very likely to come out by themselves. I only know of one child who had to have them extracted and it was very simple for the front teeth. Do make an appointment though so someone can check them.

I’m surprised your dentist hasn’t said anything at all one way or the other. You are taking her to the dentist every 6mos correct?

Thanks both. Yes, she's been going every six month since she got her first teeth. However, our dentist has suspended routine 6 monthly appointments for the time being due to a covid backlog (still!) So she was there I December (when this wasn't a problem) but I haven't been able to make an appointment since, despite trying.

My ds had this and they didn't come out so the dentist took the out. It was very quick and he was fine about it. It was nothing like when he to have a non wobbly tooth extracted - that was done in hospital with gas n air. Even that was fine - he mainly has fond memories of a day off school and a trip in a taxi!

Thanks @basilmint, that's reassuring. I will try ringing for an appointment but last time I rang they said we had to wait a year rather than 6 months...that was December so still a few months to go.

@Doveyouknow how old was he?? Am reassured that he wasn't traumatised by it. Did they have to numb the area for the baby teeth? I don't think she'd cope with injections in the mouth!

Can you get a new dentist?

This isn't a routine check up you are trying to book, your dd needs dental treatment so doesn't have to wait a year even though that is their check up policy - insist on an appointment.

And the dentist will 'wiggle them out' and if is in any way competent will do so without causing any trauma. That's what our dentist and orthodontist ( for 7 year old) refer to extraction as to make it not sound scary. And it is much much easier for a baby tooth which has no roots than a big adult tooth.

Have you had dental trauma in the past? It sounds like you are expecting to be traumatic for your dd. It is a very routine procedure - play it down and don't make a big deal about it. She will take her cues from you of how to feel about it. Plenty of breezy reassurance and she'll be fine.

Nope, no dental trauma for me at all. Been going every 6 months my whole life. My daughter currently looks forward to going to the dentist and has had only positive experiences so far. I'd like to keep it that way and am trying to understand what course the dental treatment might take so that I can prepare her if needs be. I would imagine some children might be apprensive about having teething extracted, no matter how much you it or play it down. In the same way an injection into the arm doesn't really hurt and we all play it down for them - and yet children aren't exactly queuing up excitedly to have it done. As it is, it sounds like it's fairly common and painless, which is what I had hoped to hear. As I've noted above I will ring next week to get it checked in person. Thanks everyone.

Just to follow up, dentist here, this isn’t anything to be particularly concerned about. It is very common, and it is also very common for parents to be concerned by the presentation of retained baby teeth and erupted adult teeth.

It is likely that the baby teeth will be lost in time, without intervention.
Extraction of these teeth will require local anaesthetic, even if there is no/very little root. A child's individual ability to cope with local anaesthetic and the subsequent removal of the teeth is something which is unique to each child/situation and is something you will need to consider when discussing the option of extraction with the treating dentist.

bumpertobumper is incorrect regarding the appointment that you are trying to book. A routine check-up/assessment appointment is exactly what you want to book. On the NHS, an examination appointment is an essential (mandatory) starting point for any course of treatment. The only exception to this is in the case of an 'emergency', which is this not.

I'd relax about this, get them checked when you can and talk through the options with your dentist. In many cases like this, I will monitor for a few months and if there really is not movement/natural exfoliation, only then will I intervene.

All the best.

My daughter had this on two of her top teeth and was just told by the dentist to keep wiggling them which she did quite happily, eventually they came out in their own once the adult teeth were fully through. She was more put out that she didn’t get extra money from the tooth fairy for having put so much effort into wiggling them out!

All of my daughters teeth came through like this, her teeth were all over the place for a while, with big ones and little ones all in there together.
But they did all eventually move to where they are supposed to be.
The dentist said that some childrens teeth just don't get wobbly but did encourage her to try and wobble them as leaving them too long can make it harder for the adult teeth to end up in the correct position.

Thank you so much everyone. I have got her booked in for a routine appointment (in a couple of months time) and will go from there. Hopefully it will have sorted itself out naturally by then. I agree that children would experience local anesthetic in the mouth differently and I would prefer, if possible, to wait until further down the line for to have something like that done.

Many thank for advice.