removal of baby teeth at 14yrs

[neverendingteeth]

Advice needed.
Ds 14yrs only lost a few teeth. His orthodontist has said he needs to get 9 extracted to help his adult teeth come through faster. The idea being that once that happens he can start having braces.
Just had the dentist on the phone. They are great but I was surprised when she said they would extract 3 on one day and 6 on another day. (only a 40min appt so seems very quick)

I am just concerned that my 14yr old will have 9 less teeth for a while and how this will affect him . I know it would be good to get it over with before he goes back to school but just a lot to take in if honest.

My son was still loosing teeth at 15-16!

I was the same. Personally unless he's got some awful terrible problem with rotting teeth I would leave well alone!

Why do they need to rush it? Sounds awful

I'd go to a different dentist

My children all lose their teeth late and our dentist liked the hands off approach. Braces can come later and the longer they had their baby teeth, the better as the adult teeth are protected and essentially new for longer, she told us. Turns out braces weren't needed either. DD (16) had awfully wonky teeth for a short time but now has lovely straight mostly adult teeth that settled naturally. DD (13) are also turning perfectly straight. We have yet to see about DS (11) but both his adult and baby teeth are strong and healthy and just need to go through straightening up. If it doesn't happen on its own then we'll talk braces then.

The reason they want them out is because it causes more problems. My DSD needs to have 6 out at once because they are forcing the adult teeth that can't come through to grow in different awkward positions.

hi, thanks. I am not happy about removing so many teeth so fast even if they are "up there waiting" but looking at the image it does seem like the adult ones are pushing into others and causing problems.
Waiting to hear from ortho about impact of delaying extractions and spreading them out. Think this would be less stressful for Ds.

There's probably no real impact of delaying it a bit but it may just be better to get it over and done with if it's inevitable. Depending on the tooth it can take a while to get over a tooth extraction - I had one out a month ago and I'm only just about managing to eat properly on that side again, will be a while yet before it feels 'normal'. Mine was a giant molar though. DD had some out at incisor and canines out and barely noticed it to be honest.

Thinking about it, I wonder if you could ask for one side to be done, and then the other side a month or so later to minimise the impact.

my daughter was same and had to have them removed as the adult teeth were trying to come down. It can cause a lot of issues with adult teeth later on if not removed

baby teeth removal is not same as adult tooth they are relatively very easy to take out and don't take much healing

DD2 had some taken out at 13 but not so many. Two on one day and two on another.

Did your son need braces though? All of the baby teeth need to be out and the adult ones through before he can get the braces. And if the op’s going nhs then there’s a 3-5 year waiting list. If his teeth take another 2 years to fall out then he’s not going to end up getting the braces until he’s in his 20’s.
Op getting a baby tooth out is nothing. Both my daughters went through this. Both said it was painless and both had got used to it within a couple of days.

You can ask for a second opinion but I'd trust the expert. Are they front or back?

Baby teeth removal is not same as adult tooth they are relatively very easy to take out and don't take much healing

Ah @jolaylasofia In which case, I'd just rip off the bandaid and get it over and done with. DSD is having hers done under a general.

thanks for all messages. Just waiting to hear about impact if we delay a bit and trying to see if can split into 3 appts of 3 instead of 3 one day 6 the other. Mixed bag of 4 canine/incisor. Then 1st and 2nd molar which if other teeth have not fallen yet am guessing these will hold on for a long time.
Ortho sent me the scan and yes you can def see adult teeth pushing in wrong direction so part of me certainly agrees this needs to be done.
Just need to work out best way for 14yr old. I thought holidays but he is horrified at the idea.

I had 10 baby and 4 adult teeth removed by the time i was 12 due to overcrowding and the baby teeth not coming out quickly enough, never needed braces - my dentist was able to do the removals in surgery under GA in those days (1970s).
When my children had the same issues, in the 2000's I was told they don't like to extract teeth these days and prefer to wait for them to come out naturally. Of course its nothing to do with the fact that they won't do braces until all the baby teeth are out and once a child is 18 they have to pay for braces and other dental treatment............................. (or am I too cynical?) Eldest son just managed to get his teeth sorted before he was 18 but DD is now 23 and has all sorts of overlaps but can't afford a dentist.

This, they have hardly any root, I had one removed as a child and didn't even realise he'd done it, no blood, nothing!

we decided to spread it out over a longer period. So 3 every few months and he was happy with that. Dentist said might even work out that braces not even needed so fingers crossed! With regards braces I asked the orthodontist what would happen once 18. Seems as long as treatment started before then no charge. Only if treatment starts after 18 would we be charged.