Your experience of DC with hypodontia

[mottisfontrose]

Just this really. Wanted to see if anyone has DC with this? My 10 year old DS has it severely. 6 teeth missing. He is at Guys and under brilliant care. However it will be a long process because of the milk teeth. Last year he was saying he likes his teeth as it makes him unique but of course now puberty has hit and it's affecting him. He had a denture which he rarely wears as it makes him uncomfortable. I am so worried about high school and bullying. Just some thoughts and reassurance - if possible! Hate myself for passing the genetics on 😞

Don't hate yourself, my DS also has a genetic condition. We are all afraid of bullying as they get older and even physically perfect children can still get bullied. Your son sounds like a confident child and he will be OK. My boy is in his late teens now and he has friends who are all shapes and sizes, one of the smallest, shortest ones has had no trouble at all, and the sporty, strong, well built one had a hard time from bullies at one stage. So you can never tell what bullies will pick on.

I'm sorry anyway your DS has this, it's hard when there is something wrong and there is no easy fix.

@Apileofballyhoo thank you so much, that's very reassuring. I hope your DS is ok. It's hard as we all worry about bullying. He is such a lovely boy and he is excellent at sport which has kept him quite popular up till now. He never mentioned his teeth before but now he is, so even if he isn't bullied I know it will start to bother him. I just want to say the right thing. Sometimes as parents we are not sure what the right approach is.

My DS has this (he also has Dyspraxia which we're not sure is linked).
He is now 15, has 4 adult teeth missing (from what I can remember!)
He has been under the care of the orthodontists team for over a year now. They are closing all but one of the gaps (almost done). One of the gaps spanned 2 teeth so they have to maintain a space there for either an implant or bridge to make it aesthetically pleasing.
There's so much they can do with orthodontics now and im sure Guys have a great plan in place.
DS has never been bullied, most kids at senior wear braces at one time or another so it's nothing unusual to them.

Good luck

@Roadtonowe thank you. Good luck to your son too! That's great he is getting the treatment and almost all done :))

I'm sure he will continue to be popular, his friends won't care about his teeth. I suppose all children worry about their appearance when they hit the teen years. My boy has red hair but he likes it. His condition makes it difficult to keep weight on and he does mind that because he would like to be more muscley I suppose but we had a lot of chat about what people find attractive and not attractive and he was kind of ok after that, accepted that people are attracted to different things. It helps that he himself tends to develop crushes that are more personality based rather than just the prettiest girls so he knows girls are just as likely to find his particular mixture of personality and looks attractive or not as the case may be. Your DS is probably a bit young to have put much thought into that yet!

I think road above is onto something there re braces, so many kids have them now it's nearly unusual not to! And I remember distinctly wearing many uncomfortable things as a teen in order to look better so your DS does have the option of the bridge if he wants.

I try with DS to take all concerns very seriously but also find plausible and logical ways to make the worries seem smaller and more manageable. Like lots of kids having to wear braces, or some kids have to wear thick glasses, or some would love to be taller or not as tall and so on. Just keep chatting to him.

There’s a helpful Facebook group about this condition - ‘Hypodontia & Oligodontia Support Group’. Everyone’s situation is different and it will depend on exactly which teeth are missing and the shape of the existing ones but I wouldn’t say 6 missing is severe. Our DC1 is missing 14. 😞

Hi OP, at 14, my (now 16 year old) son also had hypodontia with just one missing, but very protruding and misaligned "buck teeth" with a significant overbite and consideration of possible jaw surgery in the future, in addition to an unexplained calcium deficiency in his adult teeth which mean they are very discoloured. He's had nearly 2 years of wearing dental blocks, then train track braces, top & bottom, including a brace with a false tooth attached to fill the gap, none of which has really bothered him at all. He's a popular easy going lad and has never mentioned friends even commenting. At 16 now, he'll continue with braces top and bottom for a while and eventually have a bridge to fill the gap. I have been so impressed with the wonders of modern orthodontist treatment and it looks like he'll get away without jaw surgery now. Just saying to illustrate that although we as parents worry so much about bullying, I think most kids are decent and choose friends pretty wisely most of the time. My son has also acquired a lovely girlfriend who seems to adore him and doesn't seem at all bothered by the metalwork! Sorry I seem to have gone on, but I had the same worries about him getting picked on as you do about your son, but my fears were unfounded, as I hope yours will be too x

Thank you that's a great approach and I will keep talking to him. He has so many positives, physically and personality wise so I feel guilty for worrying on this one thing. And the personality emphasis really important - that can really become forgotten about with children and especially teens.

Thank you I will look up the group. I always find these groups really useful to sense check and compare processes and experiences. How are you managing your experience of it? Does DC1 have a plan in place? Yes I think 6 is ok compared to many others, I think it just appears worse because most of the teeth he has are molars and back, the ones you can't see when smiling. The missing teeth are all top front and bottom front, leaving big gaps. It's such a long process too with most of the work being down from mid to late teens.

Can I suggest you get his denture checked for fitting well? If he doesn’t wear it, the gums may change shape very slightly, just enough for it not to be a perfect fit.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'm so glad all is going well for your DS. Great to hear he is in a lovely relationship too . You're right, we are very lucky to live in this day and age where modern dentistry can work wonders. Really encouraging to hear all these positive friendships teenagers can have.

Yes good call, I really need to do that! Was thinking about this last night. I know the paediatric dentistry team who deal with dentures are different from the hypodontia clinic where waiting lists are very long (next appointment Nov) so hopefully can sort out dentures sooner.

the actor from Stranger Things has this- Galen something. It was no barrier to him getting a lead role in a succesful TV series