My canine baby teeth are still in my mouth. For one of them, I can see an adult tooth behind it. I don’t see another tooth for the other one though. Can I take out the baby teeth and get dental implants? My smile embarrasses me and I am going to be a senior soon. I don’t want to look like this for my senior pictures.
Carrie
Dear Carrie,
I am simultaneously glad you wrote and a tad sad that you are having to deal with this on your own. I don’t understand why your dentist did not deal with this years ago. There are simple steps that could have been done to prevent the situation you are in now.
The first thing you will need is some good x-rays of your entire jaw. The purpose of this is to see if you have an adult tooth beneath your baby canine and why it hasn’t erupted yet. There are two reasons why it may not have erupted. The first is that it is not there. It would be rare for there to be a congenitally missing canine, but it is not unheard of.
The second possibility is that needs some help. After having the baby teeth extracted, your dentist will need to make a surgical opening so it will come up. Others are a little more stubborn and need orthodontic help in addition to the opening to get them to come. If there isn’t enough room for it to erupt, braces can help that too.
As for the other tooth that has erupted but is in the wrong place, you will need orthodontics to get that in place.
If you have adult teeth there, dental implants will not be useful to you. There will be teeth in the way and you just need to get them in the correct position.
If there are not teeth there, then dental implants can be a great permanent solution. However, you have to wait until your jaw is fully developed to add the implants. That does not mean you have to go with baby teeth or an empty spot until then! You can get an inexpensive replacement, such as a dental flipper to fill in the spot and allow your smile to look attractive in the meantime.
Enjoy your senior year!
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.